The first US Navy destroyer to be lost in combat was the USS Jacob Jones, sunk by the German submarine SM U-53 6 December, 1917. The ship's brief history, and its loss- the only US destroyer lost during the great war- represented the risks faced by, and heroism of, the men of the US Navy in that war.
The Reconquista, or Christian reconquest of Iberia, took nearly 800 years. The fighting did not come without great attempts by Muslim powers across the strait trying to reestablish their presence in mainland Europe. The last gasp of that effort came in the 1330s, when the powerful Marinid sultanate of what is modern Morocco invaded in an attempt to reverse Christian gains and secure the perilous position of the Sultanate of Granada.