As we saw in Chapter 4, during the War of the Spanish Succession, two types of naval operations in Spanish America were planned by Britain to deprive Spain and her ally France of their financial resources: seizure of the silver fleets, and colonial expeditions to establish a new colony. In the period between 1714 and 1729, however, neither type of operation was actually attempted by the government, and naval operations in this period were confined to those of a precautionary character, such as the blockade of Porto Bello and Cartagena of 1726–29.

This chapter investigates the reasons behind this change in British naval policy in Spanish America in this period. In particular, it sheds light on one important factor in naval operations in Spanish America, the significance of which has not been fully recognised by historians: the British government's consideration for the interests of the South Sea Company, which emerged as a new factor in Spanish-American trade after the Treaty of Utrecht. This chapter reveals how this consideration for the company's interests affected and limited British naval operations in Spanish America.