Sea battle at Lowestoft

Sea battle at Lowestoft

Part of: Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667)

The naval battle in front of Lowestoft
painting by Hendrik van Minderhout

date	June 13, 1665
place	Coast of England, North Sea
output	English victory

Parties to the conflict
England	United Netherlands
Commander
Duke of York	Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam †
Troop strength
109 ships	103 ships
losses
893 men 1 ship	approx. 5,000 men 17 ships

The naval battle at Lowestoft on June 13, 1665 was a naval battle during the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667). The fleet of the Kingdom of England under the command of the Duke of York and Admiral William Penn met the navy of the Republic of the United Netherlands under Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam off the English coast . This first great battle of the war ended with a heavy defeat for the Dutch associations, who suffered great losses. As a result, the English forces initially gained control of the northern European sea routes.

prehistory

( Note: Calendar dates in this article refer to the Gregorian calendar , which was ten days ahead of the Julian calendar used in England at the time .)

After the end of the first Anglo-Dutch War in 1654, King Charles II (1630–1685) returned to England . He needed financial means for a government independent of parliament, which he hoped to win through the booty in another war against the United Netherlands . He was supported by the ambitions of the Royal African Company , which wanted to damage the Dutch competition. After some clashes between the two powers in the colonies and an attack by an English squadron on a Dutch trade convoy in the Mediterranean , the States General allowed their ships to open fire on English ships in January 1665 for the purpose of self-defense. The English government took this declaration and the clashes in the Caribbean again as an opportunity to officially declare war on the United Netherlands on March 14, 1665. Both sides now began to prepare for the upcoming fighting.

The English fleet

The English commander in chief was the brother of King Charles II , the Duke of York and later King James II. As Lord High Admiral , he led the fleet together with Prince Rupert and Admiral Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich . He could fall back on a mixed fleet of 109 ships, 35 of them liner ships.

The Dutch fleet

The Dutch fleet consisted of 103 ships, which were usually smaller and lighter than the English ships. In addition, the Dutch fleet had not yet completed their equipment. Nevertheless, she had 700 more guns on board, albeit of a smaller caliber. Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam led the fleet on board the Eendracht , next to him Jan Evertsen the Elder and Cornelis Tromp , as well as Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer and Auke Stellingwerft .

Course of the battle

The first battle of passage

Course of the battle at 5 a.m.

During the night both fleets sailed a westward course and at sunrise they were about 60 kilometers southeast of Lowestoft . The Dutch fleet was at this point southeast of the English fleet, while the wind was blowing from the southwest. Shortly before dawn on June 13, 1665 around 4:00 a.m., Admiral Obdam began an attempt to gain the windward position south of the English fleet. To do this, the Dutch ships moved west. The English squadrons took a south-easterly course to maintain the windward side and not let the Dutch pass. After the two fleets were on a collision course, the English won the "race". The opposing associations now passed each other and opened fire on each other.

This battle of passage took place at a great distance, and the broadsides of each other did little damage. The English fleet had formed a keel line , while some of the Dutch units had not yet managed to take their formations. Nevertheless, two English ships, the warship Great Charity and the armed merchant John & Abigail , got behind the Dutch line during the naval movements . The merchant just ran east around the Dutch ships, but Captain Wilkinson of the Great Charity wanted to get back on the English line by trying to break through the Dutch formation. The ship was badly affected by several broadsides and finally boarded by the Dutch Stad en Lande . More than 70 sailors (1/3 of the crew) were killed in the fighting.

The second battle of passage

Course of the battle at 8 a.m.

After the fleets had passed each other, both initiated a turning maneuver. On the Dutch side, this twist worked without incident, but on the English side there were difficulties. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the flagship , the Royal Charles , suffered a long delay when the flag signal was raised. Prince Rupert then ordered the White Squadron under his control to independently change course by 180 °. The Red Squadron was to join this maneuver . But the commander of their top division, Vice-Admiral Lawson, overlooked the flag signals and did not join the turn. This created a wide gap in the English keel line. Admiral Penn responded by turning the other two divisions of his Red Squadron and positioning them west of the White Squadron . This move seemed necessary because the Dutch had already completed their turning maneuver and might now be able to take the windward position in front of Prince Ruperts' White Squadron . However, after Admiral Penn's divisions went west of this, the Dutch would not be able to win the windward position even then. The Blue Squadron of the Earl of Sandwich joined the line of the White Squadron and, with some delay, did the Admiral Lawson's division.

It is not clear whether it was actually due to the doubling of the English keel line or not, but Admiral Obdam did not try again to win the windward position after his successful turning maneuver. He let the Dutch squadrons pass the English keel line again to the east. It was now around 6:00 a.m. The Dutch held a south-easterly course, the English, in their confused formation, headed north-west. In contrast to the first passing battle, the second was fought at a shorter distance. Admiral Obdam tried repeatedly to break through the English line and still get to the windward side. But the two divisions of the Red Squadron , which formed a second line there, made a Dutch breakthrough impossible. Ships that made it were quickly forced to turn back.

When the fleets were at the same level, i.e. directly opposite, Prince James and Admiral Penn gave the order to turn the entire English formation again. The signal from the flagship was passed on by every ship, so that this difficult maneuver was possible even during the Dutch bombardment and in the thick smoke of powder. Both fleets now drove parallel to each other in a southeasterly direction.

The English breakthrough

Course of the battle at 3 p.m.

The new situation had a significant impact on the course of the following battle. The English units were still in the windward position, which enabled them to determine the distance to the Dutch ships themselves. Since the ships were now level with their opponents, they could aim more precisely, which also favored the English, as their cannons were of a larger caliber. The Dutch, on the other hand, could not go on boarding from the leeward position , because they would have exposed themselves to the superior English gunfire, and also would not have used their fire.

From 8:00 a.m. the two fleets continued their course for several hours and fired at each other. The reports about this confusing phase of the fight are rather fragmentary, especially since the Dutch order of battle was mixed up. Probably the squadron Admiral Cortenaers led the Dutch formation, followed by the formations Admiral Evertsens and Obdams. The rearguard formed the units of Admirals Tromp and C. Evertsens, while the squadrons of Admiral Schram and Stellingwerf tended to be behind the Dutch line or were spread out. On the English side, the two divisions of the Red Squadron , which were west of the keel line, had no significant contact with the enemy. This gave the Dutch at least some numerical superiority which they used to put pressure on the English Blue Squadron by noon , so that reinforcements had to be brought in from the English second line. At times the Earl of Sandwich's flagship was in danger of being boarded. After the Dutch advance was repulsed in the early afternoon, the Blue Squadron and the White Squadron took action independently and without orders against the Dutch units, whose formation had become disordered. Some Dutch ships immediately evaded, while others resisted. The English flagship Royal Charles involved the Dutch flagship Eendracht in a fierce battle. The Dutch warship exploded for unknown reasons, killing 404 crew members and the commander in chief of the Dutch fleet.

The Dutch units, which were already in disarray, were deprived of unified leadership due to the loss of the Commander-in-Chief. Admiral Obdam's deputy was Admiral Egbert Cortenaer. But this was already wounded in the first battle of the day, which was not known to the rest of the fleet. The captain of Cortenaer's flagship, the Groot Hollandia , Ate Sinistra, turned to flee and part of the Dutch fleet followed him. Since it was unclear who exercised authority after Cortenaer, both Admiral Jan Evertsen and Cornelis Tromp claimed leadership. Thus, the subordinate captains had to choose between three flagships that they could follow.

The pursuit of the Dutch fleet

In this situation it was possible for the English ships to break into the Dutch formations. The battle broke up into individual battles. Several Red Squadron ships chased Admiral Cortenaer's fleeing ships. However, a large part of the English Red Squadron and a division of the Blue Squadron under Rear-Admiral Thomas Teddeman († 1668) was stopped by a single Dutch ship, the Oranje under Captain Sebastion Senten. The ship withstood all English attacks for hours and even threatened to board the Royal Charles . It was not until late in the afternoon that the English Mary took it and burned it. This scene was later recorded in a poem by Andrew Marvell (1621–1678).

The resistance of the Orange enabled Admiral Jan Evertsen to form a line with some Dutch ships to cover the escape of the fleet. However, when the Orange River was overcome and most of the English fleet was free, Evertsen also withdrew. The English ships pursued the defeated enemy and sank or conquered the Dutch Koevorden , Prins Maurits , Stad Utrecht (these ships got hooked and were sunk by the lightship Fame ), Ter Goes , Maarseveen , Zwanenburg (after their surrender from the lightship Dolphin sunk) and the frigate Ruyter (captured).

The Dutch ships had been divided into two groups by the British breakthrough. The first group, led by Admiral Tromp and pursued by the White Squadron Prince Ruperts, sailed towards Texel , while the second under Admiral Jan Evertsen headed for the mouth of the Meuse and was followed by the bulk of the English fleet. As darkness fell, however, the leadership of the English units was lost. The following morning the English frigates were sent out to capture damaged and lagging Dutch ships. They came across Hilversum , Carolus Quintus , Wapen van Edam , Nagelboom , Jonge Prins , Delft , Mars and Zeelandia . The rest of the Dutch ships escaped into the shallow coastal waters.

consequences

The losses of the Dutch fleet were heavy: according to estimates by historians (official statistics were not published) they lost about 5,000 men killed, wounded and captured (≈ 20% of the total strength). Eight ships had been destroyed, including the three largest in the entire fleet, and nine more had been captured. According to official English information, their fleet lost only 283 dead, 440 wounded, as well as the ship Charity and its crew of 170 men. In return, the losses of officers were very high.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, p. 123
2. ^ Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, p. 360ff
3. ↑ In the English fleet there were ships of first class (80 to 100 cannons), second class (60 to 80 cannons), third class (54 to 64 cannons), fourth class (34 to 54 cannons), fifth class (24 to 34 Cannons) and the frigates as sixth class. "M" stands for "Merchant", a converted merchant ship. Brander are abbreviated with "fs" for "Fire Ship"; a "*" indicates that this fire has been used. See Roger Hainsworth, Christine Churchers: The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars 1652-1674 , Stroud 1998, pp. 110f.
4. ^ Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, p. 365ff
5. ↑ The fleet of the Netherlands consisted of contingents from different provinces, which are marked as follows: Maas (M), Amsterdam (A), Noorderkwartier (N), Zeeland (Z), Friesland (F)
6. ^ ^{A b} Roger Hainsworth / Christine Churchers: The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars 1652–1674 , Gloucestershire 1998, p. 120
7. ^ Charles Ralph Boxer: The Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th Century , London 1974, p. 26
8. ^ Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, p. 111f
9. ^ As the historian Frank L. Fox pointed out, such a maneuver has never before and never been carried out by a naval formation in the middle of a battle; see: Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, p. 114
10. ^ Roger Hainsworth / Christine Churchers: The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars 1652-1674 , Gloucestershire 1998, p. 120; Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, p. 114
11. ^ Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, p. 115
12. ^ Roger Hainsworth / Christine Churchers: The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars 1652-1674 , Gloucestershire 1998, p. 121
13. ^ Alfred Thayer Mahan: The influence of sea power on history 1660-1812 , Herford 1967, p. 44
14. ^ Roger Hainsworth / Christine Churchers: The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars 1652-1674 , Gloucestershire 1998, p. 124; Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, pp. 118-120
15. ^ Roger Hainsworth / Christine Churchers: The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars 1652-1674 , Gloucestershire 1998, p. 122; Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, p. 120
16. ^ Frank L. Fox: A distant Storm - The Four Days' Battle of 1666, the greatest sea fight of the age of sail , Rotherfield / East Sussex 1996, p. 121f

literature

• Charles Ralph Boxer: The Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th Century , Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London 1974.
• Roger Hainsworth / Christine Churchers: The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars 1652–1674 , Sutton Publishing Limited, Thrupp / Stroud / Gloucestershire 1998. ISBN 0-7509-1787-3
• Alfred Thayer Mahan: The Influence of Sea Power on History 1660–1812 , Herford 1967.