Sea Battle at Kentish Knock

Sea Battle at Kentish Knock

Part of: Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654)

Main battles of the war

date	October 8, 1652
place	English Channel , east of the Thames estuary
output	Withdrawal of the Dutch

Parties to the conflict
United Netherlands	England
Commander
Witte de With	Robert Blake
Troop strength
62 ships	68 ships

In the sea ​​battle at Kentish Knock in the First Anglo-Dutch War , ^jul met on September 28th ^. / October 8th 1652 ^greg. the fleet of the United Provinces of the Netherlands under Witte de With to the fleet of the Commonwealth of England under Robert Blake near a shoal called Kentish Knock in the North Sea , about 30 km east of the Thames estuary. In Dutch it is called the Battle of De Hoofden , after the old Dutch name for the northern exit of the English Channel. The Dutch fleet had to withdraw, battered.

prehistory

The Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp was replaced by the Dutch Vice Admiral Witte de With from the Admiralty of the Meuse after a failure at the Shetland Islands in August . Differences arose between the provinces of Zealand and Holland as De With was a personal enemy of Vice Admiral Johan Evertesen, the commander of the Zealand fleet. Political, regional and personal tensions existed within the Dutch fleet.

De With advocated a more aggressive naval policy, wanted to destroy the enemy fleet and not just protect its own merchant ships from British attacks. He now saw the chance to unite with Michiel de Ruyter's squadron and achieve naval supremacy. On October 5, 1652, his fleet left Schooneveld to attack the English fleet anchored near Dover. A storm damaged many Dutch ships and nine De Ruyters ships had to be returned to port for repairs. De Ruyter suggested a defensive tactic, but De With stuck to his attack plans.

The battle

On October 8, 62 United Provinces ships under De With met 68 English ships under Robert Blake. The night before the battle, the Dutch fleet was caught in another storm and in the morning was still in disarray. From the east it approached the English fleet, which was coming from the south. Blake wanted to take advantage of the more favorable wind and attack immediately.

Fight between ships in the First Dutch War , painted by Abraham Willaerts, probably depicts the Battle of Kentish Knock . On the right Brederode and Resolution fight each other, on the left the mighty Sovereign

De With had assembled his ships, only five ships had gone too far north. At 2:30 p.m. he wanted to transfer his flag from the smaller Prinses Louise to the Brederode , Tromp's former flagship and the most powerful Dutch ship. But the Brederode's crew refused entry and even threatened to fire cannons at his boat. The admiral was unpopular with many seafarers, and many had deserted after his appointment. When the enemy fleet was within half a mile, the admiral hoisted his flag on the large but slow VOC ship Prins Willem , where he found most of the officers drunk and the crew poorly trained.

Blake also changed his flag from the oversized Souvereign to the more agile Resolution . At 5:00 p.m. he tried to break the Dutch line, but most of the Dutch ships evaded to the east. The wind eased and the two fleets slowly drifted past each other. The English ships were bigger and better armed and caused serious damage to the enemy. But first English ships got into trouble: The Souvereign and the James ran onto the Kentish Knock sandbar and could only be brought back on the road after some effort. The Resolution and the Dolphin had ventured too far and were surrounded by enemies until the other English ships had approached and rescued them from their predicament. The Prins Willem became unable to maneuver in the evening and De With's leadership was severely restricted as a result, but at about 7:00 p.m. it was dark and the fighting ended. Finally, the English captured Maria while they gave up the Gorcum , which the Dutch could take over and bring to safety. The Burgh van Alkmaar had exploded.

On the morning of the next day, De With threatened the Zeeland captains, whereupon about ten ships left the fleet, mostly commanded by Zeeland captains who were against the Dutch dominance and against de With. The situation of the Dutch fleet, which now comprised only 49 ships, was hopeless. In contrast, the English fleet had received reinforcements during the night and now numbered 84 ships.

Still, De With wanted to attack. The Dutch stood southeast of the English, sailing south, hoping to get a better position. But some ships got too close to the English and received heavy hits, and the wind changed to the northeast and again gave the English the more favorable wind. De Ruyter and Cornelis Evertsen were able to convince De With to withdraw, and the Dutch fleet dodged to the east, pursued by Blake's fleet. Supported by the west wind, De With and De Ruyter were able to cover the retreat with a dozen ships, and the Dutch lost no more vehicles. The English fleet broke off the chase when the Flemish shallows were reached.

De With wanted to have the fleet repaired by sea in the Wielingen basin and then attack the English again. His flag officers were horrified and refused to support. Realizing that he was alone in his opinion, De With ordered the withdrawal to Hellevoetsluis , which was reached on October 12th.

consequences

The Dutch understood that they needed larger ships and decided on a shipbuilding program, which was not implemented until the end of the war. De With was convinced that the small size of the Dutch ships and the lack of fire were the main reasons for the defeat. However, public opinion blamed him for the failure. De With later suffered a breakdown and was replaced as Commander-in-Chief in May 1653.

The English believed they had completely defeated the enemy and dispatched twenty ships to the Mediterranean. This wrong decision enabled the Dutch to win the naval battle at Dungeness . But also in the Mediterranean the English suffered a defeat in the sea ​​battle at Livorno .

Ships involved

On the side of the United Provinces were 62 ships, 1,900 cannons and 7,000 men; the vanguard commanded De Ruyter, the center De With and the rearguard Gideon de Wildt of the Amsterdam Admiralty.

On the English side there were 68 ships with 2,400 cannons and 10,000 men under the fleet commander Robert Blake.

There are no complete lists, especially of the English ships. For Dutch ships, there are differences between the lists from late September 1652 and the De Withs logbook and other archive sources.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/military/first-anglo-dutch-war-battles.htm
2. ↑ WP: en: Battle of the Kentish Knock
3. ↑ WP: en: Battle of the Kentish Knock