The Battles of Schooneveld were two
naval battle
Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large lan ...
s of the
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...
, fought off the coast of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
on 7 June and 14 June 1673 (
New Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
; 28 May and 4 June in the
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...
then in use in England) between an allied Anglo-French fleet commanded by
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...
on his flagship
the Royal Charles, and the fleet of the
United Provinces, commanded by
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch N ...
.
The Dutch victories in the two battles, and at the
Battle of the Texel that followed in August, saved their country from an Anglo-French invasion.
Background
The
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...
of 1672–1678 resulted from the attempts of
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Versa ...
to annex the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: PaÃses Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...
. In 1672, troops from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
and
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
invaded the Netherlands by land, while England's navy attacked Dutch shipping and threatened a seaborne invasion. The conflict between England and the Republic is commonly called the
Third Anglo-Dutch War
The Third Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Derde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog), 27 March 1672 to 19 February 1674, was a naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France. It is considered a subsidiary of the wider 1672 to 1678 ...
.
The years 1672-1673 were particularly desperate for the Dutch, with the French stopped only by
Holland Water Line, a deliberate flooding of large parts of the countryside, and the withdrawing of guns and men from the fleet to augment the army of
William III of Orange
William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...
, now Admiral-General of the fleet. A surprise attack by De Ruyter in June 1672, resulting in the
Battle of Solebay
The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
The battle began as an attempted raid on Solebay port where an English fleet was anchored and large ...
, had however prevented the allies from establishing naval superiority on the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
, keeping open the sea lanes so vital to Dutch trade.
When the French invaded, the Orangist party took power, falsely accusing the former leading politician
Johan de Witt
Johan de Witt (; 24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672), ''lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere'', was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the Fi ...
and his personal friend Lieutenant-Admiral
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch N ...
of plotting to betray the Republic to the French. The Orangists themselves were in fact subsidised by the English. Both England and France hoped to create a Dutch puppet state, using the enormous Dutch mercantile assets to gain world trade dominance, each expecting that any moment the Dutch might surrender to one of them, but fearing not being the one chosen. Therefore, during the battles, mutual suspicion between the French and the English was considerable. This reflected political divisions within the Dutch fleet. De Ruyter was seen as pro-French, while Lieutenant-Admiral
Cornelis Tromp
Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp, ''Count of Sølvesborg'' (3 September 1629 – 29 May 1691) was a Dutch naval officer who served as lieutenant-admiral general in the Dutch Navy, and briefly as a general admiral in the Royal Danish Navy. Tromp ...
, readmitted to the Dutch fleet early in 1673, was a, traditionally pro-English, Orangist. William had asked De Ruyter to purify the fleet from supporters of the old States regime, but the admiral refused. De Ruyter accused Tromp in his face of hoping to sabotage his command in the middle of a battle, but his fears proved to be unfounded. Tromp cared for battle honours above all else.
Michiel de Ruyter, since February 1673 Lieutenant-Admiral-General of the confederate Dutch fleet, planned to blockade the main English fleet in the
Medway
Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...
by sinking
blockship
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914; ...
s in its narrowest part, then deal with the remaining English squadrons at his leisure. But the English fleet took to sea in time to prevent this operation, and De Ruyter retreated on 15 May to the
Schooneveld
The Schooneveld is a shallow basin at the mouth of the Scheldt river, near the island of Walcheren, off the coast of the Netherlands. It runs parallel to the continental coast, narrowing from the southwest to the northeast, bounded by the irregula ...
, the coastal waters at the mouth of the
Schelde River
The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
, near the island of
Walcheren
Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...
, to prevent the allies from establishing the naval superiority needed for the transport and landing of a force of 6,000 soldiers of the
waiting at
Yarmouth
Yarmouth may refer to:
Places Canada
*Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia
**Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
**Municipality of the District of Yarmouth
**Yarmouth (provincial electoral district)
**Yarmouth (electoral district)
* Yarmouth Township, Ontario
*New ...
. The Schooneveld basin, between two shoals, was so narrow the allies could not take advantage of their numerical superiority. There, De Ruyter was joined by Tromp, adding the squadrons of the admiralties of Amsterdam and the Northern Quarter to that of the
Admiralty of de Maze and the Zealandic fleet. De Ruyter read a message from the
stadtholder
In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...
to his captains, informing them they were not only the champions of their nation but of the whole of
Christendom
Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
and that for any cowards, "the least safe place will be the ports of the State for there they shall escape neither the severe hand of Justice nor the curse and hatred of their compatriots", many later being overheard repeating these words to themselves.
First battle
On 2 June 1673 (
New Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
; 23 May in the
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...
then in use in England), the allies, deciding they had waited long enough, approached the Dutch fleet. Prince Rupert had a considerable superiority in ships (eighty-six against sixty-four), men (24,295 to 14,762) and cannon (4,826 to 3,157) — indeed the Dutch admirals nicknamed their fleet the "Little Hope". The Dutch fleet was smaller than usual because the
Admiralty of Frisia was unable to assist, that province and
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
being attacked by
Bernhard von Galen
Christoph Bernhard Freiherr von Galen (12 October 1606, Drensteinfurt – 19 September 1678) was Prince-bishop of Münster. He was born into a noble Westphalian family.
Background, education and conversion to Roman Catholicism
Christoph Bernha ...
,
bishop of Münster
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
. However a sudden storm prevented a battle. On 7 June, the wind blowing from the northwest, Rupert tried again and arranged his own squadron of the Red in the van, the French squadron of the White commanded by
Jean II d'Estrées
Jean, Comte d'Estrées, (3 November 1624 in Solothurn, Switzerland – 19 May 1707 in Paris), was a Marshal of France, and an important naval commander of Louis XIV. He was born into a noble family from Picardy. His aunt was Gabrielle d'Estrà ...
in the centre, and Sir
Edward Spragge
Sir Edward Spragge (name also written as Spragg or Sprague) (circa 1620 – 21 August 1673) was an Irish-born English admiral of the Royal Navy. He was a fiery, brilliantly accomplished seaman who fought in many great actions after the restoration ...
's squadron of the Blue in the rear. The Dutch van was commanded by Tromp, the centre by Lieutenant-Admiral
Aert Jansse van Nes
Aert Jansse van Nes (1626 – 13 or 14 September 1693) was a 17th-century Dutch naval commander, notable for commanding the second squadron in the raid on the Medway in 1667.
He was born at Rotterdam. Three modern ships of the Royal Nether ...
under direct supervision of De Ruyter himself and the rear by Lieutenant-Admiral
Adriaen Banckert
Adriaen van Trappen Banckert (c.1615 – 22 April 1684) was a Dutch admiral. In English literature he is sometimes known as ''Banckers''. His first name is often rendered in the modern spelling ''Adriaan''. ''Van Trappen'' was the original family ...
.
Rupert, convinced that the smaller Dutch fleet would withdraw to
Hellevoetsluis
Hellevoetsluis () is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and it includes the population centres Nieuw-Helvoet, Nieuwenhoorn ...
when pressed, detached a special squadron at nine in the morning to cut off the retreating Dutch from the north. In this
taskforce he concentrated all lighter ships from the regular squadrons so that it would be able to manoeuvre more easily over the shoals. However, De Ruyter did not budge. When however the squadron at last returned to the main allied line, joining Rupert's squadron, the Dutch started to move, but surprisingly in the direction of the enemy. This forced Rupert to attack immediately to prevent the Dutch from gaining the
weather gauge
The weather gage (sometimes spelled weather gauge) is the advantageous position of a fighting sailing ship, sailing vessel relative to another. It is also known as "nautical gauge" as it is related to the sea shore. The concept is from the Age of S ...
, before he could form a proper keel line.
The battle began at noon and lasted for nine hours. Using his superior knowledge of the shallow waters, De Ruyter was able to manoeuvre his fleet so close to the shoals that the allies found it difficult to engage without grounding.
Rupert first made contact with the squadron of
Cornelis Tromp
Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp, ''Count of Sølvesborg'' (3 September 1629 – 29 May 1691) was a Dutch naval officer who served as lieutenant-admiral general in the Dutch Navy, and briefly as a general admiral in the Royal Danish Navy. Tromp ...
. He had now about half of the allied fleet with him. Sailing slowly to the northeast after some time he reached the edge of the basin. This gave him the opportunity to surround Tromp from the north with the mass of frigates while simultaneously using his favourable windward position to attack him directly from the west with the heavy English ships. The frigate squadron was now in complete disarray however and could not execute such a complicated manoeuvre. Nor did Rupert choose the direct attack. He was much criticised for this afterwards and defended himself by claiming his approach would have been blocked by shoals. This was simply not true and Rupert knew it. Whatever his motives he turned to the southwest, both fleets bombarding each other from a distance, the Dutch inferiority in numbers compensated by the fact that their leeward position gave their guns a better range and the lack of a proper battle line in the enemy squadron.
De Ruyter had at first closely followed Tromp; but becoming aware the French flotilla of de Grancey had joined Spragge against Banckert, creating a gap in the French line, he suddenly tacked to the southwest, separating Tromp from the rest of the Dutch fleet. This greatly surprised the French fleet. The French main force of d'Estrées, both frightened and delighted by what it saw as a brilliant manoeuvre, disengaged slowly to the northwest to keep the weather gauge, but like Rupert didn't use this position to attack. This caused De Ruyter to comment: "The ''
De Zeven Provinciën'' can still inspire awe among its enemies". The Dutch centre now moved in opposite tack behind the enemy rear. Spragge understood that if De Ruyter reached the southern edge of the basin his force would be trapped between the Dutch centre and rear. He immediately broke formation to tack to the southwest also, narrowly escaping to the west with his flotilla, but leaving the flotillas of Ossorey and
Kempthorne behind with that of de Grancey in a slower turn in the same direction. Banckert now united his squadron with the Dutch centre by making a similar but larger turn, sailing behind De Ruyter. The Dutch supreme commander had thus gained an excellent position: the enemy fleet was now divided in four uncoordinated parts and he could attack the confused enemy rear with a numerical superiority having the weather gauge. At that moment he had no knowledge of Tromp's situation however and typically decided not to take any unnecessary risks but to join Tromp with the remainder of the Dutch fleet instead, saying: "First things first; it's better to help friends than to harm enemies". He tacked to the northeast, Banckert now in front, towards both vanguards moving in the opposite direction. Seeing him approach Tromp yelled to his men: "There's Granddad! (the Dutch sailors used this term of endearment for De Ruyter) He's coming to help us. I in return shall never abandon him, as long as I can breathe!" The heat of battle transcended the old animosities. As the Dutch crews of the van had become rather nervous by the size of their opposing force, Tromp had for hours pretended to be in signal contact with the Dutch centre. The allied rear could now escape to the west also.
When the Dutch main force reached Tromp it again tacked to the southwest forming a perfect continuous line of battle with his squadron. The allied rear tried to do likewise with their centre and van, but its formations remained very confused. Spragge, having moved far to the north to reach Tromp, his personal enemy, now inserted his flotilla between d'Estrées and Rupert. The combined Dutch fleet then broke repeatedly through the many gaps in the allied line and Rupert, worried by the mounting disorder in his fleet, was happy to disengage at nightfall, only halting his retreat at first light, when it became clear the Dutch were not pursuing. Two French ships were lost (as well as several French fireships expended ineffectually against the Dutch fleet), one Dutch ship was captured and then recaptured, and one, ''Deventer'' (70), sank after grounding the next day. Dutch Vice-Admiral
Volckhard Schram (of the van) and Rear-Admiral
David Vlugh
David Vlugh (presumed to be born at Enkhuizen, 1611 – Schooneveld, 7 June 1673) was a 17th-century Dutch schout-bij-nacht
() is a Dutch Naval rank, with a NATO rank of OF-7.
The ' was responsible for ensuring that fleet continued to sai ...
(of the rearguard) were killed.
Second battle
![Willem van de Velde I (1611-1693) - The Second Battle of Schooneveld, 4 June 1673 - BHC0306 - Royal Museums Greenwich](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Willem_van_de_Velde_I_%281611-1693%29_-_The_Second_Battle_of_Schooneveld%2C_4_June_1673_-_BHC0306_-_Royal_Museums_Greenwich.jpg)
The allies cruised off the Dutch coast for a week, each accusing the other of having caused the failure, while the British gave vent to recriminations against each other also. Spragge accused Rupert: "...the battle was, in truth, as ill fought on our side, as ever yet I saw". Worse was to come however. The allies had no intention to enter the Schooneveld again.
Captain George Legge of
HMS ''Royal Katherine'' wrote to his
Lord High Admiral the
Duke of York
Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...
: "That hole is too little and the sands too dangerous for us to venture among them again". They hoped to lure the Dutch fleet to open sea; when at first nothing happened they grew so despondent, they were surprised when the Dutch did in fact come out. On 14 June 1673, De Ruyter, reinforced by four ships (including the heavy ''Oliphant'' and ''Voorzichtigheid'') and fresh crews and fully resupplied, took advantage of a favourable northwest wind to attack the allied line. In this battle the allies were in total disarray — partly the result of having been two weeks at sea, including one battle — but mainly because of a curious coincidence: it so happened Spragge, now commanding the van, was visiting Rupert the moment the Dutch attacked. He immediately left for his squadron, but Rupert, suddenly fearing Spragge could never reach his force in time, decided to form the van with his own rear squadron. He tried to overtake the French in the centre, but never having made his intentions clear to them, they did their utmost to remain in formation, i.e. in front of Rupert. Needless to say, the chaos was complete.
Edward Spragge wrote in his journal:
Rupert repeatedly raised the bloodflag and then lowered it again upon seeing the confusion among his ships, which made a coordinated attack impossible. De Ruyter, utterly amazed and exclaiming, "What's wrong with this man? Has he gone mad or what?", exploited this disarray by engaging from some distance and firing at the allied masts and rigging, severely damaging Rupert's squadron. The French, when attacked by Banckert, disengaged immediately, very suspicious of the bizarre course of events. Only Tromp clashed with great fury with his eternal enemy Spragge until nightfall.
A heavy sea made it impossible for the allies, though in a leeward position, to open their lower gunports, and strong gales had driven all three fleets dangerously close to the British coast. Rupert now desperately attempted to close with the Dutch to save his fleet from destruction, but they, four miles from the coast, retreated to save theirs, and by the morning of 15 June, the damaged allied fleets sailed into the Thames and De Ruyter was safely back in the Schooneveld.
The allies had not lost any ships, but they had suffered considerable damage and had to return to port for repairs.
Aftermath
By skillful manoeuvre, De Ruyter had fought two engagements against a superior fleet, inflicted such damage against his opponents that they were forced to lift the blockade and retire, and taken care to avoid the decisive battle that the allies were hoping to fight.
After refitting and establishing with great difficulty somewhat more cordial relationships, the allies decided to cruise off the
Texel
Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of De ...
in the hope of drawing De Ruyter out of the Schooneveld and bringing him to action. But the resulting
Battle of the Texel was a Dutch victory, and England was forced to withdraw from the costly and unproductive war.
References
* Atkinson, C. T. "The Anglo-Dutch Wars", in ''The Cambridge Modern History'', volume 5, 1908
*
Mahan, Alfred Thayer. ''The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783'', 1890
*
*
Rodger, N. A. M.
Nicholas Andrew Martin Rodger FSA FRHistS FBA (born 12 November 1949) is a historian of the Royal Navy and senior research fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.
Life and academia
The son of Lieutenant Commander Ian Alexander Rodger, Royal Navy ...
''The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815'', Penguin, 2004
*
Warnsinck, Johan Carel Marinus. ''Admiraal de Ruyter. De Zeeslag op Schoonefeld Juni 1673''. ‘s-Gravenhage 1930
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schooneveld
Conflicts in 1673
1673 in the Dutch Republic
Military history of the North Sea
Naval battles of the Third Anglo-Dutch War
Naval battles involving the Dutch Republic
Naval battles involving England
Naval battles involving France
Battles in Zeeland
Battle of Schooneveld
The Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 (New Style; 28 May and 4 June in the Julian calendar then in use in England) between an allied Angl ...