Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, a state ship

In 1804 a flotilla of 4 Spanish Royal Navy frigates was transporting treasure and produce from the Viceroyalty of Peru when it was attacked, without a declaration of war, by a British flotilla off the coast of the Algarve in Portugal. One of the frigates, Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, exploded and sank, along with its cargo.