Four Days Battle
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The Four Days Battle was a naval battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Fought from June 11 to June 14, 1666 off the Flemish and English coast, it remains one of the longest naval engagements in history.
In June 1665 the British had soundly defeated the Dutch in the Battle of Lowestoft, but failed to take advantage of it. The Dutch Spice Fleet, loaded with fabulous riches, managed to return home safely. The Dutch navy was enormously expanded through the largest building programme in its history. In August 1665 already the British fleet was again challenged, though no large battles resulted. In 1666 the British became anxious to destroy the Dutch navy completely before it could grow too strong and were desperate to end the activity of Dutch raiders as a collapse of British trade threatened.
On learning that the French fleet intended to join the Dutch at Dunkirk, the English decided to prevent this by splitting their fleet. Their main force would try to destroy the Dutch fleet first, while a squadron under Prince Rupert was sent to block the Strait of Dover against the French - who didn't show up.
The English fleet of about 56 ships commanded by George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle who also commanded the red squadron, was outnumbered by the Dutch fleet of 85 commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. The battle ended with a successful English disengagement after their fleet had expended most of its ammunition.
The Dutch inflicted significant damage on the English fleet. The English had gambled that the crews of the many new Dutch ships of the line would not have been fully trained yet but were deceived in their hopes: they lost ten ships, 4,500 men and two admirals, Sir Christopher Myngs and Sir William Berkeley. HMS Sovereign of the Seas was knocked out of the battle after she lost so many sailors that she could no longer move or fire her cannon.
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First Day
On the first day Monck, sailing in the van with George Ayscue's white squadron behind him and Thomas Allin's blue squadron forming the rear, surprised the Dutch fleet at anchor near Dunkirk. He attacked the Dutch rear under Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Tromp and sent a message to Rupert to join him if possible. When Tromp fled over the Flemish shoals, Monck wore to the northwest, to meet the Dutch centre (under De Ruyter) and van (commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen). Tromp again turned, but his ship Liefde collided with Groot Hollandia. Vice-Admiral Berkeley saw this and closed in with HMS Swiftsure. Immediately Callantsoog and Reiger came to the rescue of their commander, destroyed the rigging of the English ship with chain shot and boarded it. Berkeley challenged the Dutch sea soldiers, shouting:You dogs, you rogues, have you the heart, so press on board! but was fatally wounded in the throat by a musket ball. In the powder room the constable was found with his throat cut; he had tried to blow up the ship but his own crew killed him first and drenched the powder, claiming afterwards the man had cut his own throat from pure frustration. HMS Seven Oaks (the former Sevenwolden) and HMS Loyal George tried to assist the Swiftsure but this only resulted in the capture of all three ships. The embalmed body of Berkeley was later returned to England under a truce, accompanied by a letter of the States-General praising the Admiral for his courage. HMS Rainbow got isolated and fled to neutral Ostend, chased by twelve ships from Tromp's squadron.
Both fleets bombarded each other in a line of battle. The Hof van Zeeland and the Duivenvoorde were hit by fire shot and burnt. The Dutch didn't know of the existence of this type of ammunition, consisting of hollow brass balls filled with an inflammable substance, so they were greatly surprised. Luckily for them the British had only a small supply because of the high cost of production.
Monck retreated for the night, but the ship of Rear-Admiral Harman, HMS Henry, drifted to the Dutch lines and was suddenly set aflame by a fireship. The parson asked Harman what could save them; when the latter sarcastically replied that the good parson could always jump overboard, to his horror the panicked clergyman at once followed his advice together with a third of the crew. All drowned. Evertsen now closed in and inquired whether Harman would perhaps like to surrender; it came as no surprise to him the renowned fighter respectfully declined. Despite repeated Dutch attacks the fire was put out and the Henry escaped, with its last shot shooting Evertsen in two.
Second Day
On the morning of the second day Monck decided to destroy the Dutch by a direct attack and sailed to them from the southwest; but De Ruyter crossed his line sailing to the southeast, heavily damaging the British fleet and gaining the weather gauge. HMS Anne, HMS Bristol and HMS Baltimore had to return to the Thames. After a calm used for repairs he turned to attack the British from the south. Just when he approached the enemy line he noticed to his dismay that the rear squadron under Tromp had got separated and now was positioned to the other side of the British line, busy at giving the Dutch rear its belly full. Often this is explained by assuming Tromp hadn't followed orders, but although he is indeed infamous for his usual insubordination, this time he simply hadn't seen the sign flags and the look-out of the centre mistakenly reported a confirmation sign. De Ruyter then broke through the enemy line, secured all rear squadron ships except the burnt Liefde and the sinking Spieghel on which Vice-Admiral Abraham van der Hulst had just been killed by a shot in the breast and returned to his main force by again breaking through, noticing smugly that the second time the British ships at once gave way.
Tromp, switching to his fourth ship already, then visited De Ruyter to thank him for the rescue. Both men were in a dark mood. Rear-Admiral Frederick Stachouwer had also been killed. The previous day the damaged Hollandia had been sent home together with the Gelderland, Delft, Reiger, Asperen and Beschermer to guard the three captured English vessels; now also the damaged Pacificatie, Vrijheid, Provincie Utrecht and Calantsoog had to return and only a handful of the rear squadron remained. Besides, the enemy had again gained the weather gauge, the dangers of which became immediately clear as George Ayscue, seeing the two Admirals together in a vulnerable position, tried to isolate them; with great difficulty they managed to return to their main force.
Both fleets now passed three times in opposite tack; on the second pass De Zeven Provinciën got damaged and De Ruyter retreated from the fight to repair his ship. Later some historians would accuse him of cowardice, but he had strict detailed written orders from the States-General to act exactly so, to prevent a repeat of the events of the Battle of Lowestoft when the loss of the supreme commander had wrecked the Dutch command structure. Vice-Admiral Aert Janssen van Nes led the third pass.
As the Dutch were in a leeward position their guns had a superior range and some British ships now took dreadful damage. HMS Loyal Subject turned for the home port and had to be written off on arrival. HMS Black Eagle (the former Groningen) raised the distress flag but simply disintegrated before any ships could assist.
Then, at three in the afternoon, a Dutch flotilla of twelve ships appeared on the horizon. Monck was shocked, not because the event was totally unexpected but because his worst fear seemed to come true. The British had learned from their excellent intelligence network that the Dutch planned to keep a strong fourth squadron behind as a tactical reserve. Surely these new ships must be the avantguard of a fresh force. Monck ordered to check for the number of operational British ships. When only 29 ships reported to have any fight left in them, and Rupert was still nowhere to be seen, he decided to withdraw. In fact De Ruyter had just before the battle convinced the others to use only three squadrons. Monck had never noticed that the Rainbow had disappeared - indeed he couldn't understand where Berkeley had gone either. The dozen ships were those of Tromps squadron giving chase and now rejoining the fight after the intended prey had escaped to Ostend. The entire British fleet tacked to the southwest at four. The straggling St Paul (the former Sint Paulus) was captured in the evening.
Third Day
On the third day the English continued to retreat to the west. The Dutch advanced on a broad front, Van Nes stil in command, both to catch any more stragglers and to avoid the enormous 32-pounder stern cannons of the big ships. In the evening Rupert, having already on the first day been ordered to join Monck, at last appeared with twenty ships. He had been unable to reach Monck earlier because he had sailed as far as Wight in search of the imaginary French fleet. Monck ordered his fleet to set a straight course for the green squadron despite warnings that this would take them over the infamous Galloper Shoal at low tide. HMS Royal Charles and HMS Royal Katherine indeed were grounded but managed to get free in time, HMS Prince Royal got stuck however. Vice-Admiral George Ayscue, commander of the white squadron, pleaded with his men to stay calm until flood would lift the ship; but when two fire ships approached the crew panicked. A certain Lambeth struck the flag and Ayscue had to surrender to Tromp on the Gouda, the first and last time in history a British admiral of so high a rank would be captured at sea. De Ruyter had clear orders to destroy any prise; as the English fleet was still close he couldn't disobey in the matter of such a capital vessel and ordered the Prince burnt. Tromp didn't dare to make any objections because he had already sent home some prizes against orders; but later he would freely express his discontent, in 1681 still trying to get compensation from the admiralty of Amsterdam for this perceived wrong.
Van Nes now tried to prevent both British fleets from joining. But when they both sailed behind the back of his blocking squadron, De Ruyter took over operational command and ordered to wait. This way he regained the weather gauge.
Fourth Day
Thus enforced Monck again attacked in line on the fourth day. But the Dutch, now to the southwest of him, had the weather gauge and attacked themselves aggressively. De Ruyter had tried to impress on his flag officers that the fight of that day would be decisive for the entire war. The English attack, vulnerable from a leeward position, faltered, and their line was broken in two places. Myngs was fatally wounded in the shoulder by a musket ball, dying on his return to London. The English regrouped trying to break free to the south by executing four passes in opposite tack, but Tromp and Van Nes surrounded them. Monck then wore to the north. Tromp's squadron was routed, the Landman burnt by a fireship. Van Nes withdrew. De Ruyter, more anxious than at any other moment in the battle and fearing the fight lost, sailed past Rupert to attack Monck from behind. When Rupert tried to do the same to him, three shots in quick succession dismasted his HMS Royal James and the entire squadron of the green withdrew from the battle to the south, protecting and towing the flagship. Nothing now prevented De Ruyter from attacking Monck and the British main force was routed. Many British ships had no powder left, while the Dutch ships still had a sufficient supply, as they had a relatively larger cargo room, smaller guns and a less well-trained, and therefore slower firing, crew. Four stragglers were boarded and captured by the Dutch: HMS Clove Tree (the former VOC-ship Nagelboom), HMS Convertine and HMS Essex; the latter got entangled with HMS Black Bull who was sunk. De Ruyter seeing the British fleet escape in a dense fog decided to break off the pursuit. His own fleet was heavily damaged too; his logbook only speaks of a fear for the English shoals. The deeply religious De Ruyter interpreted the sudden unseasonly fog bank as a sign of God, showing "that He merely wanted the enemy humbled for his pride but preserved from utter destruction".
Results
It was the biggest sea battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. However, the outcome is often described as inconclusive, because both sides initially claimed victory. Immediately after the battle some English captains claimed De Ruyter had retreated first, then normally seen as an acknowledgement of the superiority of the enemy fleet. Though the Dutch fleet was eventually forced to end the pursuit, they had managed to cripple the English fleet, and lost but four ships themselves, for the Spieghel refused to sink and was repaired. The contemporaneous Dutch view on this matter is expressed in a famous epigram by the poet Constantijn Huygens:
- Two fight - and for their lives.
- The one that caused the row
- is beaten - but survives.
- And boasts: "I've won it now!"
Two months later the recuperated English fleet challenged the Dutch fleet again, now much more successfully at North Foreland in the St. James's Day Battle. Though this proved to be a victory, the Dutch fleet again wasn't destroyed and the enormous costs of repair after the previous battle had depleted the British treasury, so the Four Days Battle is usually seen as a decisive strategic victory for the Dutch.de:Seeschlacht der vier Tage nl:Vierdaagse Zeeslag