Juan de Silva arrives in the Singapore Strait

Juan de Silva served as the governor of Spanish-controlled Philippines from 1609 till his death at Malacca in 1616. His term as governor fell within a crucial period for the Spanish in Asia and the Americas. At the time, the Spanish and Portuguese empires were ruled by the same king (Philip III of Spain ruled as Philip II of Portugal), and financial resources were stretched to the limits by the on-going war with the Dutch in Europe as well as in the colonies. Although the Portuguese and Spanish empires were governed by the same monarch, they continued to be administered as separate world empires. Political and military cooperation between the two empires were sporadic and often half-hearted. In Southeast Asia where the two empires also maintained colonies and settlements, the Spice Islands (Maluku and Banda) proved to be the most significant flashpoint. After the Dutch had successfully wrested the island of Ambon from the Portuguese in 1605, the Spanish stepped up their presence in the Malukus, maintaining forts and garrisons on the islands of Tidor and Ternate.

When Juan de Silva took over as governor of the Philippines in 1609, he managed to score initial successes against the Dutch. His defeat of François Wittert near Manila in 1610 fuelled optimism among court officials in Europe, as well as among the viceroys in Goa and Mexico City, that the Dutch could be dealt a decisive military blow. To facilitate their battle against the Dutch, the Spanish viceroy of Mexico financed the construction of an armada made up of well-armed, large vessels. The fleet was composed of ten galleons, four oared galleys, one patache and three frigates. Aboard these vessels were about 5,000 men, including soldiers from Europe and Mexico, and 500 Japanese mercenaries. On the Portuguese side, the viceroy of Goa equipped four carracks-of-war. By the second half of 1615, the two sides were ready to unite forces and jointly proceed to the Malukus to fight the Dutch. This plan, however, never materialised. The carracks of the Portuguese viceroy were destroyed by the Acehnese and the Dutch while anchored in the port of Malacca in September 1615.

The Spanish armada set sail from Manila in late January or early February 1616 and dropped anchor off Singapore on 25 February. De Silva then proceeded to Malacca, but shortly after his arrival there under pomp and fanfare, he mysteriously passed away. Meanwhile, the soldiers and crew aboard the Spanish ships off Singapore were languishing, and as diseases made their rounds aboard the vessels, the corpses of the dead crew were disposed at sea. With Governor De Silva dead and the soldiers aboard the Spanish ships decimated, the commanding officers resolved to return to Manila. The armada set course for the Philippines on 4 May 1616. The expedition had proven to be an unmitigated fiasco. Not a single shot was fired, and the cost of constructing and equipping the fleet reportedly amounted to more than one million Pesos de a ocho (Ryals-of-Eight, Spanish dollars).

The legacy of Juan de Silva’s armada off Singapore was the inspiration for the name given to a new maritime artery, the so-called “Governor’s Strait” or “Strait of John de Silva” as it is known from pre-1800 cartography and maritime charts. This is equivalent to the main fairway used by international shipping today.

References
Blair, E. H., & Robertson, J. A. (Eds.). (1903–1909). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803 [Microform]. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark. Call no.: RCLOS 016.9599 PHI-[LIB].

Blair, E. H., & Robertson, J. A. (Eds.). (1903–1909). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898. (Vols. 1–55). Cleveland, Ohio: A. H. Clark Co.

Blair, E. H., & Robertson, J. A. (Eds.). (2000). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898 [Electronic resource]. Quezon City: Bank of the Philippines. Call no.: RAV 959.9 PHI.