Sea battle of Texel (1694)

Sea battle of Texel

Part of: War of the Palatinate Succession

Painting of the Battle of Eugène Isabey , 19th century, Musée de la Marine .

date	June 29, 1694
place	in front of Texel , today's Netherlands
output	French victory

Parties to the conflict
France (Flemish privateers of Dunkirk)	United Netherlands
Commander
Jean Bart	Hidde de Vries †
Troop strength
5 frigates 2 flutes	8 warships at least 120 merchant ships
losses
16 dead 50 wounded	300 dead or wounded 3 warships hijacked 30 merchant ships hijacked

The Battle of Texel was a naval battle in which, as part of the War of the Palatinate Succession, on June 29, 1694, a seven-ship French naval force under Jean Bart recaptured a French convoy from a Dutch fleet under Hidde de Vries . De Vries was captured by the French but soon succumbed to his injuries. The French were able to board three of the Dutch escorts.

background

In 1692 and 1693 there were massive crop failures in France, which led to acute famine and epidemics. More than 2 million people died between 1693 and 1694. Therefore, France was dependent on grain imports in large quantities from neutral countries such as Poland , Sweden and Denmark .

On May 29, 1694 Jean Bart had instructions to sail to Norway to escort a huge fleet of 120 ships full of grain to France. However, the convoy did not wait for Bart to arrive, but set sail under the protection of three neutral warships (two Danish and one Swedish).

The battle

The convoy was soon arrested by the Dutch without firing a shot. Bart immediately went to look for the ships and finally spotted them off the Dutch island of Texel at 3 a.m. on June 29 . Although he had fewer ships and fewer cannons than the Dutch, Bart attacked Hidde de Vries' Dutch flagship, the Prins Friso , directly at 5 a.m. After a fierce battle, which lasted only about half an hour, the Prins Friso was captured and the seriously wounded de Vries captured. Two more Dutch ships were captured and the remaining five ships fled into the port. The Dutch losses amounted to 100 dead, 129 wounded and 455 prisoners.

Bart had the damage repaired on his ships and safely brought the convoy to the port of Dunkerque , where it arrived on July 3rd and was greeted by a cheering crowd celebrating their hero. Bart was invited to Versailles with his son François Cornil and his brother-in-law on July 5th , where King Louis XIV personally congratulated him. On August 4, 1694, Jean Bart was raised to the nobility. Hidde de Vries died on July 1, 1694 of his injuries.

Ships involved

France (Jean Bart)

• Maure 54 cannons (flagship)
• Fortuné 50 cannons
• Adroit 44 guns
• Jersey 50 cannons
• Comte 50 cannons
• Mignon 50 cannons
• Bienvenu 24 cannons (merchant ship)
• Portefaix 24 cannons (merchant ship)
• Biche (Corvette)

Netherlands (Hidde Sjoerds de Vries)

• Prins Friso 58 cannons (flagship) - captured by the moor
• Zeerijp 34 cannons - captured by the Fortuné
• Statenland 50 cannons - captured by the Mignon
• Amalia 58 cannons
• ? 54 cannons
• ? 50 cannons
• ? 50 cannons
• ? 40 cannons
• 120 or more merchant ships - captured sooner or later on the same day

Individual evidence

1. ^ Haws / Hurst p. 335

literature

• Duncan Haws and Alexander Anthony Hurst ,: The Maritime History of the World: A Chronological Survey of Maritime Events from 5,000 BC Until the Present Day, Supplemented by Commentaries . Teredo Books, Brighton, Sussex 1985, ISBN 978-0-903662-10-9 (English).

Web links

• Bart's battle report (French)

Coordinates: 53 ° 9 ′ 0 ″  N , 4 ° 36 ′ 0 ″  E