Maritime Defence of the Viceroyalty of Peru (1600-1700)

The intrusion into the South Sea in the seventeenth century first of Dutch fleets of exploration and trade, and later of English traders and English and French buccaneers, was to make the development of some measures for defence if not a constant preoccupation, at least from time to time a very urgent necessity, and a costly one. The reluctance on the part of the Crown to support and give financial aid to permanent land based defences, the great length of the coastline of the viceroyalty, and above all the overriding concern for the protection of the Peruvian treasure fleet, are clear indications that the provision of defence at sea was to become an issue of the first importance.