Sea battle at Dungeness
Main battles of the war
| date | December 10, 1652 |
|---|---|
| place | English Channel off Cape Dungeness |
| output | Victory of the Dutch |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 93 ships | 42 ships |
| losses | |
|
a ship |
five ships (two captured) |
Dover - Plymouth - Elba - Kentish Knock - Dungeness - Portland - Livorno - Gabbard - Scheveningen
In the naval battle of Dungeness in the First Anglo-Dutch War on December 10, 1652 (November 30, 1652 according to the Julian calendar used in England), the fleet of the United Provinces of the Netherlands met the fleet of the Commonwealth of England near Cape Dungeness in Kent . In Dutch it is called the Battle of the Singels .
prehistory
In October 1652 the English leadership believed that the Dutch were no longer a threat after the defeat in the sea battle at Kentish Knock and sent 20 ships into the Mediterranean. However, the Dutch made great efforts to strengthen their fleet.
On December 1, the Dutch fleet under Maarten Tromp left Hellevoetsluis and accompanied a convoy of merchant ships to India. After Tromp had brought the convoy safely through the Dover Strait , he looked for English ships.
The battle
The fleets met on December 9th: On the Dutch side there were 88 combat ships and 5 fire engines, on the English side there were 42 ships under the fleet commander Robert Blake . But the bad weather prevented every fight that day.
The fighting began at 3 p.m. the next day. The British lost five ships by nightfall - the Dutch boarded two of them. Other English ships were damaged. The Dutch lost a ship in fire. Blake pulled back and anchored in the Downs .
consequences
The victory put the Dutch in control of the English Channel . But Tromp could not be satisfied, having missed the opportunity to destroy the English fleet.
The English repaired their ships in the winter, reconsidered their naval tactics, and issued the sailing and combat instructions , which for the first time described the tactics of the battle line.
In February 1653 the English fleet was strong enough again to challenge the Dutch again - this led to the naval battle at Portland .