Battle of Goodwin Sands
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The Battle of Goodwin Sands (also known as the Battle of Dover), fought on 29 May 1652, was the first engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War between the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
The English Parliament had passed the first of the Navigation Acts in October 1651, aimed at hampering the shipping of the highly trade-dependent Dutch. Agitation among the Dutch merchants had been further increased by George Ayscue's capture in early 1652 of 27 Dutch ships trading with the royalist colony of Barbados in contravention of an embargo. Both sides had begun to prepare for war, but conflict might have been delayed if not for an unfortunate encounter on 29 May 1652 (May 19 in the Julian calendar then in use in England) near the Straits of Dover between a Dutch convoy escorted by 40 ships under Admiral Maarten Tromp and an English fleet of 25 ships under General-at-Sea Robert Blake.
An ordinance of Cromwell required all foreign fleets in the North Sea or the Channel to dip their flag in salute, but when Tromp was tardive, Blake gave three warning shots. When the third hit his ship, wounding some sailors, Tromp replied with a warning broadside from his flagship Brederode. Blake then fired a broadside in anger and a five hour battle ensued. Both fleets were damaged, but as darkness fell the Dutch fleet withdrew in a defensive line to protect the convoy, and the English captured two Dutch stragglers, one of which later sank. Tromp then offered his excuses to Blake and asked the prize back but was refused by Blake.
War was declared by the Commonwealth on 10 July 1652.nl:Slag bij Goodwin Sands