The Action of August 1702 was a naval battle fought between the English Royal Navy and the French Navy off the coast of Santa Marta, Colombia amid the War of the Spanish Succession.
Vice-Admiral John Benbow was sent with a Royal Navy squadron to the Caribbean to prevent the French admiral Jean-Baptiste du Casse from capturing the Spanish colonies there. Benbow intercepted Du Casse's fleet as its sailed to Cartagena de Indias, meeting it in battle off Santa Marta. Over the course of six days, Benbow's attack was hampered by the refusal of several of his captains to join the fight. When Benbow and HMS Breda engaged one of the French ships alone, the admiral was mortally wounded by chain shot to the leg, and he was forced to retreat to Jamaica after Captain Richard Kirkby and the other officers declared that the French were too strong. Du Casse sent a letter to Benbow acknowledging the near-defeat of the French and advising him to hang the captains who deserted him, and Benbow saw to it that Kirkby and Captain Cooper Wade were executed for cowardice, while Captain Thomas Hudson died before he could be tried and other captains' sentences were commuted. Benbow developed a fever after his leg was amputated and died of his wounds in November 1702, before any sentences could be carried out.