Naval History On This Day, Any Nation

[flying_dutchman2]

Learned something new today and I checked the website. Somebody has been busy writing this all up.

Thanks for the great read.

Marc

[flying_dutchman2]

I am going to quote information about some famous Dutch Admirals from the Dutch republic (16-17th century) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michiel_de_Ruyter

 

One of the more famous one is Michiel de Ruyter and this will be several parts. Most of the information comes from Wikipedia.

 

Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably being the Raid on the Medway. The pious De Ruyter was very much loved by his sailors and soldiers; from them his most significant nickname derived: Bestevaêr (older Dutch for 'grandfather'.)

 

Early life

 

De Ruyter was born in 1607 in Flushing (Vlissingen) as the son of beer porter Adriaen Michielszoon and Aagje Jansdochter[1] Little is known about De Ruyter's early life, but he probably became a sailor at the age of 11. One of the paintings that has been found is supposed to be De Ruyter when he was young. He is seen holding a flute which raises the question if De Ruyter played the instrument as well. In 1622 he fought as a musketeer in the Dutch army under Maurice of Nassau against the Spaniards during the relief of Bergen-op-Zoom. That same year he rejoined the Dutch merchant fleet and steadily worked his way up.

 

According to English sources he was active in Dublin between 1623 and 1631 as an agent for the Vlissingen-based merchant house of the Lampsins (nl) brothers. Although Dutch sources have no data about his whereabouts in those years, it is known that De Ruyter spoke Irish fluently. He occasionally travelled as supercargo to the Mediterranean or the Barbary Coast. In those years he usually referred to himself as "Machgyel Adriensoon", his name in the Zealandic dialect he spoke, not having yet adopted the name "De Ruyter". "De Ruyter" most probably was a nickname given to him. An explanation might be found in the meaning of the older Dutch verb ruyten or ruiten which means "to raid", something De Ruyter was known to do as a privateer with the Lampsins ship Den Graeuwen Heynst.

 

In 1633 and 1635 De Ruyter sailed as a navigating officer aboard the ship Groene Leeuw (Green Lion) on whaling expeditions to Jan Mayen. At this point he did not yet have a command of his own.

 

In the midst of this, in 1637, De Ruyter became captain of a private ship meant to hunt for raiders operating from Dunkirk who were preying on Dutch merchant shipping. He fulfilled this task until 1640. After sailing for a while as schipper (skipper) of a merchant vessel named de Vlissinge, he was contacted again by the Zeeland Admiralty to become captain of the Haze, a merchant ship turned man-of-war carrying 26 guns in a fleet under admiral Gijsels fighting the Spanish, teaming up with the Portuguese during their rebellion.

 

A Dutch fleet, with De Ruyter as third in command, beat back a Spanish-Dunkirker fleet in an action off Cape St Vincent on 4 November 1641. After returning he bought his own ship, the Salamander, and between 1642 and 1652, he mainly traded and travelled to Morocco and the West Indies to amass wealth as a merchant. During this time his esteem grew among other Dutch captains as he regularly freed Christian slaves by redeeming them at his own expense.

 

Part 2 will follow.

[egkb]

Good Stuff Marc..

 

Eamonn

[Kevin]

9th April

 

 

1709

British channel squadron under Lord Dursley defeated French squadron under Duguay-Trouin, taking Glorieux(44),  and re-taking HMS Bristol which sank soon afterwards.

1777

Horatio Nelson passes examination for lieutenant.

1792

HMS Providence, Cptn. William Bligh, and HMS Assistant arrive at Tahiti on 2nd breadfruit voyage.

1799

HMS San Fiorenzo(38), Cptn. Sir H. Burrard Neale, and HMS Amelia(38), Cptn. Hon. Charles Herbert, engaged three French frigates, Cornelie, Vengeance and Semillante, off Belle Isle.

1804

HMS Amazon(38), Cptn. William Parker, captured a brig under fire at Sepet.

1805

HMS Gracieuse tender (14), Midshipman John Bernhard Smith, destroyed a Spanish armed schooner off San Domingo.

[flying_dutchman2]

Part 2 from Admiraal Michiel De Ruyter

First Anglo-Dutch War

During the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654), De Ruyter was asked to join the expanding fleet as a subcommander of a Zealandic squadron of "director's ships": privately financed warships. After initially refusing,[3] De Ruyter proved his worth under supreme commander Lieutenant-Admiral (the nominal rank of Admiral-General was reserved for the stadtholder but at the time none was appointed) Maarten Tromp, winning the Battle of Plymouth against Vice-Admiral George Ayscue. He also fought at the Battle of Kentish Knock and the Battle of the Gabbard. De Ruyter functioned as a squadron commander, being referred to as a Commodore, which at the time was not an official rank in the Dutch navy.

Tromp's death during the Battle of Scheveningen ended the war and De Ruyter declined an emphatic offer from Johan de Witt for supreme command because he considered himself 'unfit'[4] and also feared that bypassing the seniority principle would bring him into conflict with Witte de With and Johan Evertsen. Later De Ruyter and De Witt became personal friends. Colonel Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam then became the new Dutch supreme commander of the confederate fleet. De Ruyter – after refusing to become Obdam's naval 'advisor'[5] – remained in service of the Dutch navy, however, and later accepted an offer from the admiralty of Amsterdam to become their Vice-Admiral on 2 March 1654. He relocated with his family to the city in 1655.

1655–1663

In July 1655 De Ruyter took command of a squadron of eight (of which the Tijdverdrijf (pastime) was his flagship) and set out for the Mediterranean with 55 merchantmen in convoy. His orders were to protect Dutch trade. Meeting an English fleet under Robert Blake along the way, he managed to avoid creating a new flag incident. Operating off the Barbary Coast he captured several infamous corsairs. After negotiating a peace agreement with Salé, De Ruyter returned home May 1656.

The same month the States-General, becoming ever more wary of Swedish king Charles X and his expansion plans, decided to intervene in the Northern Wars by sending a fleet to the Baltic Sea. The Swedes controlled this area after Charles had invaded Poland and made himself king there. De Ruyter once again embarked on the Tijdverdrijf arriving in the Sound 8 June; there he waited for Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam to arrive. After Obdam had assumed command De Ruyter and the Dutch fleet sailed to relieve the besieged city of Danzig/Gdańsk on 27 July, without any bloodshed. Peace was signed a month later. Before leaving the Baltic, De Ruyter and other flag officers were granted audience by Frederick III of Denmark. De Ruyter took a liking to the Danish king, who later became a personal friend.

In 1658 the States-General under the advice of a leading member, (one of the) mayors of Amsterdam Cornelis de Graeff decided to once again send a fleet to the Baltic Sea to protect the important Baltic trade and to aid the Danes against Swedish aggression, which continued despite a peace settlement. In accordance with the States' balance of power politics, a fleet under Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam was sent, without De Ruyter, who at the time was blockading Lisbon. On 8 November a bloody melee took place: the Battle of the Sound, which resulted in a Dutch victory, relieving Copenhagen. Still the Swedes were far from defeated and the States decided to continue their support. De Ruyter took command of a new expeditionary fleet and managed to liberate Nyborg in 1659. For this he was knighted by the Danish king Frederick III of Denmark[6] From 1661 until 1663 De Ruyter had convoy duty in the Mediterranean.

 

Part 3 is next

btw.  there is a website just on the Anglo-Dutch wars.  Very detailed with all the ships involved, names of the ships, cannons, sailors, very interesting but also very dry.

 

Marc

[Kevin]

10th April

 

 

1746

Privateer Alexander (20) Cptn Phillips, cut out & recaptured Solebay (24) from St. Martin's road.

1769

HMS Endeavour, Lt. James Cook, arrived at Tahiti.

1777

Lt. Horatio Nelson appointed to the frigate Lowestoft.

1794

Capture of the Saintes by British.

1795

British squadron under Rear Ad. Colpoys engaged three French frigate in the Channel. HMS Astraea(32), Cptn. Lord Henry Paulet, captured Gloire (36) and HMS Hannibal(74), Cptn. Markham, captured Gentille (36).Fraternite (36) escaped.

1799

HMS Lord Mulgrave (26) wrecked on Arklow Bank, Irish Channel.

1804

HMS Wilhelmina(32), Cptn. Henry Lambert, engaged french privateer Psyche(36), Cptn. Trogoff in the Indian Ocean

[egkb]

Interesting to see a little local history for me in 1799.. I've sailed around that Bank recently !

 

Thanks Kevin

 

Eamonn

[flying_dutchman2]

Part 3 from Admiraal Michiel De Ruyter.

A bit longer but it will be all.

Second Anglo-Dutch War

Battle Council On The Zeven Provinciën, 10 June 1666 by Willem van de Velde, the younger, 1666
In 1664, a year before the Second Anglo-Dutch War officially began, de Ruyter clashed with the English off the West African coast, where both the English and Dutch had significant slave stations. He retook the Dutch possessions occupied by Robert Holmes and then crossed the Atlantic to raid the English colonies in North America.

Arriving off Barbados in the Caribbean at the end of April 1665 aboard his flagship Spiegel (mirror), he led his fleet of thirteen vessels into Carlisle Bay, exchanging fire with the English batteries and destroying many of the vessels anchored there.[7] Unable to silence the English guns and having sustained considerable damage to his own vessels, he retired to French Martinique for repairs.

Sailing north from Martinique, de Ruyter captured several English vessels and delivered supplies to the Dutch colony at Sint Eustatius. Given the damage he had sustained, he decided against an assault on New York (the former New Amsterdam) to retake New Netherland. He then took off to Newfoundland, capturing some English merchant ships and temporarily taking St. John's[citation needed] before proceeding to Europe.

Embarkment of De Ruyter and De Witt at Texel, 1667 by Eugène Isabey
On his return to The Netherlands, de Ruyter learned that Van Wassenaer had been killed in the disastrous Battle of Lowestoft. Many expected Tromp's son Cornelis to take command of the confederate fleet, especially Cornelis Tromp himself, who had already been given a temporary commission.[8] However, Tromp was not acceptable to the regent regime of Johan de Witt because of his support of the Prince of Orange's cause. De Ruyter's popularity had grown after his heroic return and, most importantly, his affiliation lay with the States-General and Johan de Witt in particular. He therefore was made commander of the Dutch fleet on 11 August 1665, as Lieutenant-Admiral (a rank he at the time shared with six others) of the Amsterdam admiralty.

In this Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667) he won a hard-fought victory in the Four Days Battle (June 1666) but narrowly escaped disaster in the St James's Day Battle (August 1666) which brought him into conflict with Cornelis Tromp, eventually leading to Tromp's dismissal. He then became seriously ill, recovering just in time to take nominal command of the fleet executing the Raid on the Medway in 1667. The Medway raid was a costly and embarrassing defeat for the English, resulting in the loss of the English flagship HMS Royal Charles and bringing the Dutch close to London. A planned Dutch attack on the English anchorage at Harwich led by De Ruyter had to be abandoned after being repelled at Landguard Fort at the close of the war. The peace of Breda however brought the war to its end. Between 1667 and 1671 he was forbidden by De Witt to sail, in order not to endanger his life.[9] In 1669 a failed attempt on his life was made by a Tromp supporter, trying to stab him with a bread knife in the entrance hall of his house.[10]

Third Anglo-Dutch War and death

Coffin of Michiel de Ruyter, Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Amsterdam, Netherlands
De Ruyter saved the situation for the Netherlands in the Third Anglo-Dutch War. His strategic victories over larger Anglo-French fleets at the Battles of Solebay (1672), the double Schooneveld (1673) and Texel (1673) warded off invasion. The new rank of Lieutenant-Admiral-General was created especially for him in February 1673, when the new stadtholder William III of Orange became Admiral-General.

Again taking the battle to the Caribbean, this time against the French, De Ruyter arrived off Martinique aboard his flagship De Zeven Provinciën on 19 July 1674. He led a substantial force of eighteen warships, nine storeships, and fifteen troop transports bearing 3,400 soldiers. When attempting to assault Fort Royal, his fleet was becalmed, allowing the greatly outnumbered French defenders time to solidify their defenses. The next day, newly placed booms prevented de Ruyter from entering the harbor. Nonetheless, the Dutch soldiers went ashore without the support of the fleet's guns, and were badly mauled in their attempt to reach the French fortifications atop the steep cliffs. Within two hours, the soldiers returned to the fleet with 143 killed and 318 wounded, as compared to only 15 French defenders lost. His ambitions thwarted and with the element of surprise lost, De Ruyter sailed north to Dominica and Nevis, then returned to Europe while disease spread aboard his ships.

In 1676 he took command of a combined Dutch-Spanish fleet to help the Spanish suppress the Messina Revolt and fought a French fleet under Duquesne at the Battle of Stromboli and the Battle of Augusta, where he was fatally wounded when a cannonball hit him in the left leg. On 18 March 1677 De Ruyter was given an elaborate state funeral. His body was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Amsterdam. He was succeeded as supreme commander by Cornelis Tromp in 1679.

Legacy

De Ruyter was highly respected by his sailors and soldiers, who used the term of endearment Bestevaêr ("Granddad") for him, both because of his disregard for hierarchy (he was himself of humble origin) and his refusal to back away from risky and bold undertakings despite his usually cautious nature.

He is honoured by a statue in his birthplace Vlissingen, where he stands looking over the sea. Almost every town in the Netherlands has a street named after him.

Respect also extended far beyond the borders of the Republic. On his last journey home, the late Lieutenant-Admiral-General was saluted by cannon shots fired on the coasts of France by the direct orders of the French king Louis XIV. The town of Debrecen erected a statue of him for his role in freeing 26 Protestant Hungarian ministers from slavery.

Six ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy have been named HNLMS De Ruyter and seven are named after his flagship HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën

De Ruyter has descendants still living in the United States, Britain, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Modern reference
Statue of de Ruyter in Vlissingen, Netherlands

The Netherlands' Admiral M. de Ruyter on a medallion commemorating the 300th anniversary of his death after the Battle of AugustaIn the 2004 election of De Grootste Nederlander (The Greatest Dutchman) Michiel de Ruyter was the seventh-most voted.
'Michiel de Ruyter' is the default name for the Dutch in Sid Meier's 1994 game, Colonization.
He was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Amsterdam. De Ruyter's burial site has now turned into a tourist attraction. De Ruyter's mausoleum is visible, protected by a glass pane. However, descendants of the De Ruyter family are granted unrestricted access to his grave, and De Ruyter's descendant stated in a 2007 issue of Dutch newspaper Het Parool that he visited the coffin privately in 1948 with his own grandfather, and they decided to lift the coffin's lid. The grandson reported being shocked with the sight and said: "it wasn't a pleasant sight. He (De Ruyter) was embalmed with great haste, and they didn't bother with his shot-off leg, they just dropped it in. It was just lying there. No, it wasn't pleasant, it was a shock actually ."
The small town and village of DeRuyter, New York, southeast of Syracuse, are named after the admiral.[11]
In the book "Captain Blood: his Odyssey" (Rafael Sabatini), the title character served in the Dutch Navy under de Ruyter.

 

If you got this far, thanks for reading.

Marc

 

[Kevin]

11th April

 

 

1783

US Congress declares end of war with Great Britain 

1794

HMS Proselytefloating battery, Cptn. Walter Serocold, destroyed by fire from the French batteries at Bastia.

1796

HMS Ca Ira (80), Cptn. Pater, burnt by accident and blown up in St. Fiorenzo Bay.

1809

Cptn. Thomas Cochrane leads fireship raid on the French fleet in the Aix roads

1810

HMS Sylvia cutter (12), Lt. Augustus Vere Drury, sank a piratical proa in Straits of Sundra.

1813

Devil's Island, Corfu, and 2 prizes taken by boats of HMS Apollo(38), Cptn. Bridges W. Taylor, and HMSCerberus(32), Cptn. Thomas Garth

[Kevin]

12th April

 

 

1749

HMS Apollo hospital ship, Lt. Robert Wilson, wrecked between Cudalore and Fort St. David's.

1782

Battle of the Saintes. British fleet under Sir George Rodney defeat the French fleet under the Comte De Grasse in the West Indies.

Battle of Providien. British fleet under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes engaged a French fleet under the Bailli de Suffren near a rocky islet called Providien, south of Trincomalee, Ceylon. 

1798

HMS Lively(32), Cptn. James Nicoll Morris, wrecked on Rosa Point, near Cadiz.

1800

Boats of HMS Calypso(16), Cptn Joseph Baker, cut out Diligence (6) off Cape Tiberon.

1806

HMS Brave(74), Cdr. Edmund Boger, foundered off the Azores in passage from Jamaica to England.

1810

HMS Unicorn(32), Cptn. Alex. Robert Kerr, captured Esperance (flute).

1838

HMS Rapid(10), Lt. Hon. Graham Hay St. Vincent de Ros Kinnaird, wrecked off Crete.

1861

Civil War begins when Confederates fire on Fort Sumter, SC 

Edited April 12, 2014 by Kevin

[Kevin]

13th April

 

 

1749

HMS Pembroke(66), Cptn. Thomas Fincher, wrecked on Coldroon point, India. 

1753

HMS Prince George (90), burnt accidentally

1769

Captain Cook arrives at Tahiti

1778

HMS Victory(100), Cptn. Jonathan Faulknor, sailed on first commissioned voyage 

1796

HMS Revolutionnaire (44) captured Unite (38) off Ushant.

1799

HMS Amaranthe (14), Francis Vesy, captured French letter of marque schooner Vengeur (6).

1810

4 Danish gun boats, under Lt. Skibsted, capture the British gunboat Grinder off the island of Samsoe.

[Kevin]

14th April

 

 

1749

HMS Namur(90), Cptn. Marshal, foundered Fort St. David's road, India.

1793

HMS Phaeton(38), Cptn. Sir Andrew Snape Douglas, captured French privateer General Dumourier (22) to the west of Cape Finisterre. San-Iago, a large Spanish galleon prize, also struck to Phaeton but was taken possession of by HMS Ganges (74), Cptnn Anthony James Pye Molloy.

1809

Start of 4 day engagement in which HMS Pompee(80), Cptn. Sir William Fahie, HMS Neptune(98), Cptn. Sir T. Williams, HMS Castor(32), Cptn. Roberts and HMS Recruit (18), Charles Napier, took French D'Hautpoult (74) off Cuba

1813

Melera Island, Corfu, captured by HMS Apollo(38), Cptn. Bridges W. Taylor, and HMS Cerberus(32), Cptn. Thomas Garth

1828

HMS Contest Gun-boat (12), Lt. Edward Plaggenborg, and HMS Acorn Sloop (18) wrecked on Halifax Station.

1857

HMS Raleigh  (50) wrecked near Macao

[Kevin]

15th April

 

 

1805

Boats of HMS Papillon, William Woolsey, captured Spanish felucca-rigged privateer Conception (1) off Jamaica.

1809

HMS Intrepid(64), Cptn. Hon. Warwick Lake, engaged French frigates Furieuse(flute 20), Lt. Gabriel-Etienne-Louis Le Marant-Kerdaniel,and Felicite (flute 14).

Edited April 16, 2014 by Kevin

[Kevin]

16th April

 

 

1695

Capture of HMS Hope(70), Cptn. Henry Robinson, by French squadron under Duguay-Trouin in the Channel.

1767

Richard Parker, later President of the "Floating Republic" at the Nore, born.

1781

British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone at anchor in Porto Praya Bay, Cape de Verd Islands, attacked by French squadron under Admiral Suffren

1797

Spithead Mutiny starts

French Harmonie (44) beached and set on fire at St. Domigue to avoid capture by HMS Thunderer (74) and HMS Valiant

1812

Capture of 9 coasting vessels by HMS Pilot(18), Cptn. John Toup Nicolas, and boats at Policastro.

1863

Union gunboats pass Confederate batteries at Vicksburg

[Kevin]

17th April

 

 

1778

Continental Sloop-of-war Ranger (18), John Paul Jones, captures British brig 

1780

British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney engaged French fleet under Admiral de Guichen off Martinique.

1782

Cptn. John Jervis, HMS Foudroyant (20), chased French squadron, and captured one of the largest ships, thePegase. Jervis received a minor wound and his achievement in this action was rewarded with a knighthood.

1796

Boats of HMS Diamond(38), Cptn. Sir W. Sidney Smith, captured Le Vengeur at Havre de Grace, Seine estuary. The French cut the cable and unable to escape Sir Sidney and the crew were taken prisoner.

1806

HMS Sirius(36), Cptn. Prowse, took Bergere (18), Cptn. Chaney Duolvis, at Civita Vecchia.

1807

HMS Sally engaged off Danzig.

1813

HMS Alutine captured Invincible.

[flying_dutchman2]

Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp (23 April 1598 – 10 August 1653) was an officer and later admiral in the Dutch navy. His first name is also spelled as Maerten.

Early life

Born in Brill, Tromp was the oldest son of Harpert Maertensz, a naval officer who became captain of the Olifantstromp—from the name of this ship the family name "Tromp" probably has been derived, first appearing in documents in 1607. His mother supplemented the family's income as a washerwoman. At the age of nine, Tromp went to sea with his father and was present in a squadron covering the Dutch main fleet fighting the Battle of Gibraltar in 1607.

In 1610, after his father's discharge because of a navy reorganisation, the Tromps were on their way to Guinea on their merchantman when they were attacked by a squadron of seven ships under command of the English pirate Peter Easton. During the fight, Tromp's father was slain by a cannonball. According to legend, the 12-year-old boy rallied the crew of the ship with the cry "Won't you avenge my father's death?", but the pirates seized him and sold him on the slave market of Salé. Two years later, Easton was moved by pity and ordered his redemption. Set free, he supported his mother and three sisters by working in a Rotterdam shipyard. Tromp went to sea again at 19, briefly working for the navy, but he was captured again in 1621 after having rejoined the merchant fleet — this time by Barbary corsairs off Tunis. He was kept as a slave until the age of 24, and by then had so impressed the Bey of Tunis and corsair John Ward with his skills in gunnery and navigation that the latter offered him a position in his fleet. When Tromp refused, the Bey was even more impressed by this show of character and allowed him to leave as a free man.

He joined the Dutch navy as a Lieutenant in July 1622, entering service with the Admiralty of the Maze based in Rotterdam. On 7 May 1624 he married Dignom Cornelisdochter de Haes, the daughter of a merchant; in the same year he became captain of the St. Antonius, an advice yacht (fast-sailing messenger ship). His first distinction was as Lieutenant-Admiral Piet Hein's flag captain on the Vliegende Groene Draeck during the fight with Ostend privateers in 1629 in which Hein was killed. In 1629 and 1630—the year in which he was appointed full captain on initiative of stadtholder Frederick Henry himself—Tromp was very successful in fighting the Dunkirkers as a squadron commander, functioning as a commandeur on the Vliegende Groene Draeck. Despite receiving four honorary golden chains, he was not promoted further. The Vliegende Groene Draeck foundered and new heavy vessels were reserved for the flag officers, while Tromp was relegated to the old Prins Hendrik. In 1634 Tromp's first wife died, and he left the naval service in 1634 in disappointment. He became a deacon, and married Alijth Jacobsdochter Arckenboudt, the daughter of Brill's wealthy schepen and tax collector, on 12 September 1634.

Supreme commander of the confederate fleet

Tromp was promoted from captain to Lieutenant-Admiral of Holland and West Frisia in 1637, when Lieutenant-Admiral Philips van Dorp and other flag officers were removed due to incompetence. Although formally ranking under the Admiral-General Frederick Henry of Orange, he was the de facto supreme commander of the Dutch fleet, as the stadtholders never fought at sea. Tromp was mostly occupied with blockading the privateer port of Dunkirk.

In 1639, during the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain, Tromp defeated a large Spanish fleet bound for Flanders at the Battle of the Downs, marking the end of Spanish naval power. In a preliminary battle, the Action of 18 September 1639, Tromp was the first fleet commander known to deliberately use line of battle tactics. His flagship in this period was the Aemilia.

In the First Anglo-Dutch War of 1652–1653 Tromp commanded the Dutch fleet in the battles of Dover, Dungeness, Portland, the Gabbard and Scheveningen. In the latter, he was killed by a sharpshooter in the rigging of William Penn's ship. His acting flag captain, Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, on the Brederode kept up fleet morale by not lowering Tromp's standard, pretending Tromp was still alive.

Tromp's death was not only a severe blow to the Dutch navy, but also to the Orangists who sought the defeat of the Commonwealth of England and restoration of the Stuart monarchy; Republican influence strengthened after Scheveningen, which led to peace negotiations with the Commonwealth, culminating in the Treaty of Westminster.

During his career, his main rival was Vice-Admiral Witte de With, who also served the Admiralty of Rotterdam (de Maze) from 1637. De With temporarily replaced him as supreme commander for the Battle of Kentish Knock. Tromp's successor was Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam.

Tromp, a "sea hero", was immensely popular with the common people, a sentiment expressed by the greatest of Dutch poets, Joost van den Vondel, in a famous poem describing his marble grave monument in Delft showing the admiral on his moment of death with a burning British fleet on the foreground:
Here rests the hero Tromp, the brave protectorof shipping and free sea, serving free landhis memory alive in artful spectreas if he had just died at his last standHis knell the cries of death, guns' thunderous calla burning Brittany too Great for sea aloneHe's carved himself an image in the hearts of allmore lasting than grave's splendour and its marble stone
Cornelis Tromp, the second son of Tromp by his first wife, Dignom Cornelisdochter de Haes, later became Commander of the Dutch navy, in the rank of Lieutenant-Admiral-General, after previously having commanded the Danish navy.

In traditional British histories, Tromp is often wrongly called "Van Tromp". There is also a story that, after his victory at Dungeness, Tromp attached a broom to his mast as a symbol that he had swept the English from the sea. The following year, the English admiral Robert Blake supposedly attached a whip to his mast as a symbol that he had whipped the Dutch off the sea. The legend inspired a song The Admiral's Broom, famously covered by Australian baritone Peter Dawson. This is now regarded by historians as dubious.

 

Thank you for reading.

Marc

 

More Dutch Admirals to follow.

[Senior ole salt]

18 April 1942  The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid,  was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu island during World War II, the first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands. It demonstrated that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, was retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, provided an important boost to U.S. morale, and damaged Japanese morale. The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Forces.

Sixteen U.S. Army Air Forces B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched without fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in theWestern Pacific Ocean, each with a crew of five men. The plan called for them to bomb military targets in Japan, and to continue westward to land in China—landing a medium bomber on Hornet was impossible. Fifteen of the aircraft reached China, and the other one landed in the Soviet Union. All but three of the crew survived, but all the aircraft were lost. Eight crewmen were captured by the Japanese Armyin China; three of these were executed. The B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union at Vladivostok was confiscated and its crew interned for more than a year. Fourteen crews, except for one crewman, returned either to the United States or to American forces.^[1][2]

 

^{Their official website :  http://doolittleraider.com/}

 

^S.os

 

 

After the raid, the Japanese Imperial Army conducted a massive sweep through the eastern coastal provinces of China, in an operation now known as theZhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, searching for the surviving American airmen and applying retribution on the Chinese who aided them, in an effort to prevent this part of China from being used again for an attack on Japan. An estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians were killed by the Japanese during this operation.^[3][4]

The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan, only hitting non-military targets or missing completely but it succeeded in its goal of raising American morale and casting doubt in Japan on the ability of its military leaders to defend their home islands. It also caused Japan to withdraw its powerful aircraft carrier force from the Indian Ocean to defend their Home Islands, and the raid contributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's decision to attack Midway Island in the Central Pacific—an attack that turned into a decisive strategic defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the U.S. Navy in the Battle of Midway. Doolittle, who initially believed that loss of all his aircraft would lead to his being court-martialled, received the Medal of Honor and was promoted two steps to Brigadier general

 

 

[Kevin]

18th April

 

 

1740

HMS Lenox(70), Cptn. Covill Mayne, HMS Kent(70), Cptn. Thomas Durell, and HMS Orford(70), Cptn. Fitzroy, captured Spanish Princessa (70).

1742

HMS Saltash (14) wrecked off the coast of Portugal.

[Kevin]

19th April

 

1759

HMS Falcon bomb (8) wrecked in the West Indies

1770

Captain cook discovers East coast of Australia

1783

George Washington proclaims end of hostilities

1806

HMS Colpoys (14), Thomas Usher, and HMS Attack(14) cut out chasse-marees Vincent Gabriel and the Murie Francaise and destroyed a battery and a signal station in the river Douillan coast of Brittany.

1861

President Lincoln orders blockade of Southern ports from South Carolina to Texas 

Edited April 19, 2014 by Kevin

[Kevin]

20th April

 

 

1657

British fleet under Robert Blake totally destroyed a Spanish silver fleet of 16 ships at Santa Cruz Bay, Tenerife.

1781

HMS Resource(28), Cptn. Bartholomew Rowley, took Licorne, former Unicorn, (28) off Cape Blaize.

1796

US Congress authorizes completion of 3 frigates.

HMS Indefatigable (44), Sir Edward Pellew, captured French frigate Virginie(40), Cptn. Jacques Bergeret, off the Lizard

HMS Inconstant (36) captured Unite (36) in the Mediterranean. The Unite was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Surprise made famous by the Patrick O'Brian series about Jack Aubrey.

1805

HMS Renard(18), Cdr. Jeremiah Coghlan, engaged privateer General Ernouf (16), Paul Gerard Pointe, which caught fire and blew up in the West Indies

1808

HMS Widgeon (8), Lt. George Elliot (2), driven ashore on the Scottish coast and wrecked.

1809

HMS Alemene (32), W. Henry Tremlett, wrecked on a shoal at the mouth of the Loire.

1810

Boats of HMS Firm (12), Lt. John Little, HMS Surly (10), Lt. Richard Welch, and HMS Sharpshooter (14), Lt. John Goldie, cut out privateer Alcide (4) from the mouth of the Piron where she had run ashore.

1814

HMS Orpheus(36), Cptn. Hugh Pigot, and HMS Shelburne (12), Lt. David Hope, captured USS sloop Frolic(22), Joseph Bainbridge, off Matanzas Point, Cuba

1861

Norfolk Navy Yard abandoned and burned by Union forces. 

Edited April 20, 2014 by Kevin

[Kevin]

21st April

 

 

1770

HMS Endeavour, Lt. James Cook, arrived Point Hicks, Australia.

1798

HMS Mars(74), Cptn. Alexander Hood, captured French Hercule (74)

1800

HMS Lark (16), Lt. Hugh Cook, engaged a French privateer.

1806

HMS Tremendous (74) and HMS Hindostan (50) engaged Canonniere (50)

1822

HMS Confiance Sloop (18), Wm.Thomas Morgan, wrecked between Moyin Head and Three Castle Head, Crookhaven.

1861

USS Saratoga (22) captures slaver Nightingale off Cabinda.

[Kevin]

22nd April

 

 

1676

Battle of Augusta. A French fleet of 29 men-of-war, 5 frigates and 8 fireships under Abraham Duquesne engaged 17 Dutch and 10 Spanish ships plus 5 fireships under Lieutenant-Admiral-General Michiel de Ruyter. The battle was a short but intense affair and ended abruptly when Duquesne, after hearing that De Ruyter had been mortally wounded, retreated. Neither side lost a ship, though there were many dead and wounded, especially among the Dutch.

1778

Captain John Paul Jones of Ranger leads landing party raid on Whitehaven, England

1786

HMS Cyrus armed transport (10), A Davidson, lost at Barbados

1808

HMS Goree (18), Joseph Spear, engaged French brigs Pilade and Palinure in Grande Bourg Bay at Marie Galante.

HMS Bermuda Sloop (18), William Henry Byam, wrecked on Memory Rock, Little Bahama Bank.

1854

Odessa reconnoitred by HMS Samson paddle steamer (6), Cptn. Lewis Tobias Jones, and HMS Terriblepaddle steamer (19), Cptn. James Johnstone McCleverty.

1813

HMS Weazle (18), Cdr. James Black, destroyed 14 French vessels at Bossolina (or Boscaline) Bay

Edited April 22, 2014 by Kevin

[flying_dutchman2]

Jacob van Heemskerk

 

Jacob van Heemskerk (3 March 1567 in Amsterdam – 25 April 1607 in Bay of Gibraltar) was a Dutch explorer and later admiral commanding the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Gibraltar.

 

Arctic exploration

 

Van Heemskerk's early fame arose from an attempt to discover an Arctic passage from Europe to China. Two vessels sailed from Amsterdam on the 10th May 1596, under the command of van Heemskerck and Jan Rijp. Willem Barentsz accompanied Heemskerck as pilot, and Gerrit de Veer, the historian of the voyage, was on board as mate.

 

The masses of ice in the straits leading to the Kara Sea, and the impenetrable nature of the pack near Novaya Zemlya, had suggested the advisability of avoiding the land and, by keeping a northerly course, of seeking a passage in the open sea. They sailed northwards, and on the 9th of June discovered Bear Island in the Barents Sea. Continuing on the same course they sighted a mountainous snow-covered land in about 80 N. lat., soon afterwards being stopped by the polar pack ice. This important discovery was named Spitsbergen (now known as Svalbard), and was believed (incorrectly) to be a part of Greenland.

 

Arriving at Bear Island again on 1 July, Rijp parted company, while Heemskerck and Barents proceeded eastward, intending to pass round the northern extreme of Novaya Zemlya. On the 26th of August they reached Ice Haven, after rounding the northern extremity of the land. Here their vessel became anchored in ice and they wintered in a house built out of driftwood and planks from the tween decks and the deck-house of the vessel

 

On 13 June they made their way in two open boats to the Lapland coast; but Barents died during the voyage, on 20 June. This was the first time that an arctic winter was successfully faced; The voyage stands in the first rank among the polar enterprises of the 16th century, and led to a flourishing whale and seal fisheries which long enriched the Netherlands.

 

Gibraltar

 

Van Heemskerck later served as a vice admiral, protecting Dutch merchant shipping on voyages to China and the East Indies, participating in the second Dutch expedition to Indonesia. He died as a result of leg wounds caused by cannonball, shortly after the Battle of Gibraltar, an engagement in which a Spanish fleet of 21 vessels was entirely destroyed. His body was returned to Amsterdam to be buried with full honors in the old Church. His suit of armor - minus a thigh plate shattered by the fatal cannonball - is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

 

Notability

 

He has, over the years, lent his name to a number of vessels of the Royal Netherlands Navy, one of the ships, a war yacht, from Abel Tasman and a Boeing 737 (PH-BDO)[1] of the Dutch airline KLM.

 

Marc

[Kevin]

23rd April

 

 

1598

Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp born

1697

George Anson born

1782

HMS Queen (98), Cptn. Maitland, took Actionnaire (64 flute)

1794

HMS Arethusa (38), Cptn. Sir Edward Pellew, and HMS Flora (36), Cptn. Sir John B. Warren, captured FrenchPomone (44) and Babet (22) off Guernsey. The rest of the squadron, HMS Melampus (36), HMS Nymphe(36),and HMS Concorde (36), Cptn. Sir Richard Strachan, captured Engageante (38) but Résolue escaped.

1797

HMS Magicienne (32), Cptn. William Henry Ricketts, HMS Regulus (44), and HMS Fortune (14), took a sloop (6) and four schooners and drove off an attacking force at Careasse Bay, Haiti.

1804

Cuthbert Collingwood promoted to Rear-Admiral.

1805

HMS Gallant (14). Lt. Thomas Shirley, and consorts captured eight gun-vessels off Cap Gris Nez.

1809

HMS Spartan (38), Cptn. Jahleel Brenton, HMS Amphion (32), Cptn. William Hoste, and HMS Mercury (28), Cptn. Henry Duncan, bombarded Pesaro, took 13 vessels and destroyed a castle.

[Kevin]

24th April

 

 

1753

HMS Assurance (44), Cptn. Carr Scrope, wrecked on the Needles

1778

John Paul Jones in Continental Navy sloop Ranger (18) captures HMS Drake (20), off Carrickfergus, Ireland.

King George visited Chatham and Sheerness.

1797

HMS Albion (74) wrecked off Swin

1798

HMS Pearl (32) engaged two French frigates Vertu, Charles René Magon de Médine, and Régénérée escorting a convoy of two Spanish ships of the line back to Europe.

1808

HMS Grasshopper (18), Thomas Searle, and HMS Rapid (14), Lt. Henry Baugh, captured two merchantmen and two escorting gunboats and drove two gunboats ashore at Faro.

1813

Boats of HMS Apollo (38), Cptn. Bridges W. Taylor, captured a felucca at S. Cataldo, near Brindisi

1862

Battle of New Orleans; Union Navy under David Farragut runs past forts into Mississippi River

[Kevin]

25th April

 

 

1725

Augustus Keppel born

1796

HMS Agamemnon (64), Cptn. Horatio Nelson, and squadron captured French vessels at Finale.

1800

HMS Lark (16), J. H. Wilson, captured French privateer cutter Impregnable (14) which had run ashore on Vlie Island

1805

HMS Archer (14), Lt. William price, captured two gun-vessels off Cap Gris Nez.

1806

HMS Pallas (32), Cptn. Lord Cochrane, reconnoitred Isle of Aix.

1808

HMS Forward (14), Lt. Sheils, towed in boats of consorts and captured ten sail at Flodstrand.

1810

HMS Spartan (38), Capt. Jahleel Brenton, HMS Success (32), Cptn. John Ayscough, and HMS Espoir (18), Robert Mitford, engaged batteries and took 4 vessels at Monte Circello.

1811

3 Danish gunboats, under Sub Lt. Christen F. Klinck, engage at Kongshavn near Uddevalla, Sweden the British cutters The Swan and Hero. The Swan is captured.

1845

HMS Skylark (10), Lt. George Morris, wrecked on the Kimmeridge Ledge on the Dorset coast

1862

Union naval forces occupy New Orleans, LA 

Edited April 26, 2014 by Kevin

[Kevin]

26th April

 

 

1706

Relief of Barcelona by British. 

1797

HMS Irresistible (74), Cptn George Martin, and HMS Emerald (36), Cptn. Jacob Waller, captured Spanish frigates Elena (36) and Nimfa (36) in Conil Bay, near Cape Trafalgar. Elena ran ashore and was got off but was so damaged that she had to be destroyed.

1809

HMS Thrasher gun-brig engaged Flotilla near Boulogne.

[Kevin]

27th April

 

 

1796

HMS Niger (33), Cptn. Edward J. Foote, and boats destroyed Eaireuil.

1805

US Naval forces capture Derne, Tripoli

1811

The monument to the memory of Lord Nelson, in Guildhall, opened for public inspection.

Edited April 28, 2014 by Kevin

[Kevin]

28th April

 

 

1758

HMS Tryton (24), Cptn. Thomas Manning, and HMS Bridgewater (24), Cptn. John Stanton, run ashore burnt on  the Coromandel Coast to avoid capture by French Squadron under Comte d'Aché.

1789

Mutiny on the Bounty

1810

HMS Sylvia cutter (12), Lt. Augustus Vere Drury, captured Dutch gun-brig Echo (8) in Straits of Sundra

Edited April 28, 2014 by Kevin

[Kevin]

29th April

 

 

1744

HMS Dreadnought (60), Cptn. Hon. Edward Boscawen, and HMS Grampus (14), Cptn. Gordon, captured French frigate Medea (26), Cptn. Hoquart, in the Channel

1758 

The naval Battle of Cuddalore. Indecisive battle between a British squadron under Vice-Admiral George Pocock and French squadron under Comte d'Aché.

HMS London (6) wrecked in Senegal river

1781

British Fleet under Samuel Hood engaged a French fleet under De Grasse off Martinique.

1807

Boats of HMS Richmond (14), Lt. S. S. Heming, captured Spanish privateer lugger Gaillard.

1808

Boats of HMS Falcon (14), Lt. John Price (act. Cdr.), destroyed 14 Danish boats in the islands of Endelau and Thuno at the northern end of the Great Belt.

1809

HMS Alcmene (32), Cptn. William Henry Brown Tremlett, while chasing an enemy, was wrecked on a reef of rocks near the Loire.

1812

Boats of HMS Leviathan (74), Cptn. Patrick Campbell, and HMS Undaunted (38) captured 5 vessels.

1813

Start of 7 day deployment of boats of HMS Marlborough (74), Cptn. C. B. Ross, and consorts in Chesapeake Bay.

HMS Elizabeth (74) and HMS Eagle (74) captured five and destroyed two of a convoy of seven armed merchant vessels laden with oil off Goro.

1814

USS Peacock (22) captures HMS Epervier (18)