Robert Blake (Admiral)
Robert Blake (* August 1598 in Bridgwater , Somerset , England , † August 17, 1657 near Plymouth ) was an English admiral and co-founder of the maritime rule of the British Commonwealth .
Life
Robert Blake studied at Wadham College , Oxford and was a member of the Short Parliament in 1640 and the Long Parliament in 1645 , where he joined the Republican Party.
Blake distinguished himself during the English Civil War as the commander of a regiment he had recruited and was appointed fleet commander by Oliver Cromwell in 1649 . Although Blake had no previous experience in seafaring, he was able to record great success, first over the Duke of Cumberland , then in the Anglo-Dutch naval wars , which in May 1652 with the naval battle of Dover , in the Blake for the first time against the Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp fought. In September 1652 he won against Witte de With in the sea battle at Kentish Knock , in October 1652 he lost to Tromp in the sea battle at Dungeness , in 1653 he won against Tromp in the sea battle at Portland .
Also in the Mediterranean he represented the interests of England as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports . He compelled the Pope to pay compensation for some English prizes that Prince Rupert had sold to the Vatican , and in 1655 chastised the barbarian states of Tunis and Algiers . In 1656 Blake cruised the Spanish coast and in September his Vice Admiral Richard Stayner managed to capture part of the Spanish silver fleet.
On April 20, 1657, he won a brilliant victory over the Spanish fleet in the naval battle of Santa Cruz . Blake then returned to England seriously ill from his previous wounds and died on his ship within sight of Plymouth. Cromwell had him buried in Westminster Abbey . After the return of the Stuarts and the restoration of the monarchy , Blake's body was exhumed on the instructions of Charles II and buried in a mass grave.
literature
- Hepworth Dixon: Robert Blake. Admiral and general at sea. Based on family and state papers. Chapman and Hall, London 1852 (With a new introduction by Barry M. Gough. Regatta Press, Mount Kisco NY 2000, ISBN 0-9674826-1-5 ).
- Blake, Robert . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 4 : Bishārīn - Calgary . London 1910, p. 35 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Blake, Robert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British admiral |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 1598 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bridgwater , Somerset, England |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th August 1657 |
| Place of death | Plymouth |