Battle of Ebro River

The Battle of the River Ebro (217 BCE) took place during the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE).
It was a Naval battle between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian Navy resulting in a defeat for Carthage.

Hasdrubal commanded the Carthaginian Army which had crossed the River Ebro to attack the Roman positions. Himilco commanded the Fleet which followed the Army up the coast, both camping together on the beach at night.
The Roman Commander, Gnaeus Scipio Africanus, knew that his army was outnumbered, so instead, he decided to defeat the Carthaginian Navy by a surprise attack, helped by 20 Quinqueremes from Marseille.

Hasdrubal anchored his Fleet in the River Ebro and sent the sailors to forage for supplies, but he did not post scouting vessels along the coastline.
The Fleet was discovered by two vessels from Marseille who reported back to Scipio, unseen by the Carthaginians. The Roman Fleet was based in Tarragona, and Scipio placed units of experienced Legionaries on each vessel before sailing south.

The Carthaginian Army scouts were the first to observe the Roman Fleet and send an alarm back to Hasdrubal by fire signals.
The sailors ran back to their ships which set sail in complete disarray to meet the Roman Fleet which was, by now, waiting in the mouth of the River Ebro. The Carthaginian vessels were undermanned and a quarter were new recruits. Hasdrubal drew up the Carthaginian Army along the coastline to give its Navy support.
The Roman Fleet was positioned in two lines, with the 35 Roman vessels in front and the 20 vessels from Marseille behind.
As the Carthaginian vessels emerged, the Roman vessels successfully used the tactic of Ramming against four vessels and Boarding against two others. The rest of the Carthaginian vessels beached themselves and their crews joined the waiting army.
The Roman Fleet then grappled 23 beached vessels and towed them away.

It was the end of Carthaginian Sea Power in Iberia.
Hasdrubal was forced to abandon his invasion north of the Ebro, instead withdrawing his army south to Cartagena.
The Roman Fleet now had command of the Iberian coastline and conducted a series of sea borne raids.
Some of the Iberian Tribes rebelled which distracted Hasdrubal to fight them instead of the Romans.
The loss of naval control of the Iberian coastline by Carthage led to the eventual defeat of the Carthaginian Army, and to Spain becoming a Roman Province.

River Ebro Delta