Ignacio María de Álava y Sáenz de Navarrete (24 October 1750 – 26 May 1817) was a Spanish naval officer, present at the Battle of Trafalgar. Naval career Álava joined the Spanish navy in 1766. In his early years, he was involved in fighting the pirates of the North African coast (whom the Spanish navy had been fighting for a long time). In 1781, he commanded the corvette San Luis, which took part in the Spanish blockade of Gibraltar during the American Revolutionary War. He took part in an attack on the floating batteries of Gibraltar, and was involved in the Battle of Cape Spartel on 20 October 1782. Shortly after, he was promoted to capitán de navío (naval captain), and was transferred to the frigate Sabina. From 1787 to 1790, he was flag captain in the fleet of Admiral Don Juan de Lángara. In 1790, commanding the San Francisco de Paula, he brought relief to the city of Oran, which was besieged by Algerian pirates. In 1792 he was promoted to brigadier (Commodore), and given command of a squadron in Lángara's fleet. In 1793 and 1794, Álava took part in the campaigns in the Golfe du Lion, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1795, Álava, who had been promoted to jefe de esquadra (rear admiral) the previous year, was given command of a naval squadron that sailed around the world in order to undertake several missions in the Spanish colonies, for example reorganizing the naval forces in the Philippines. While in the East Indies, he witnessed the British raid on Manila of 1798 and led the combined squadron at the inconclusive Macau Incident of 1799. He would not return to Cadiz until 1803. By then he was a teniente general (vice admiral). On 15 February 1805, Álava was appointed second-in-command of the Spanish fleet in Cadiz, under Admiral Gravina. When Gravina joined the French Mediterranean fleet under Villeneuve for its voyage to the Caribbean, Álava remained as commander of the ships in Cadiz. On 20 August 1805 Gravina and Villeneuve returned, and Cadiz was blockaded by a British fleet under Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson. On 19 October, the combined French and Spanish fleet left Cadiz, with Álava on board of his flagship, the 112-gun Santa Ana. On 21 October, they met the British fleet and the Battle of Trafalgar ensued. Alava was severely wounded in the battle, and the