Gerard Callenburgh (6 December 1642 – 8 October 1722) was a Dutch admiral. Gerard was born in

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William I of the Netherlands, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdo ...

, the son of a wood-trader, but chose to enter the Dutch navy in 1661 as a cadet, serving the

Admiralty of the Maze The Admiralty of Rotterdam, also called the Admiralty of de Maze, was one of the five Dutch admiralties in the Dutch Republic. History The Admiralty of Rotterdam was founded in 1574 during the Dutch Revolt, when (after the Capture of Brielle) W ...

. He was made second lieutenant in May 1666 during the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, whe ...

. On 10 February 1671 he was promoted lieutenant. During 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 ...

he served on

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 ...

's flagship, ''De Zeven Provinciën'', 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 ...

. He was promoted to extraordinary captain on 15 March 1673, serving as second flagcaptain of ''De Zeven Provinciën'' in the

Battle of Texel The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place off the southern coast of island of Texel on 21 August 1673 (11 August O.S.) between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets. It was the last major battle of the Third A ...

, below captain

Pieter de Liefde Pieter is a male given name, the Dutch form of Peter. The name has been one of the most common names in the Netherlands for centuries, but since the mid-twentieth century its popularity has dropped steadily, from almost 3000 per year in 1947 t ...

. On 13 February 1674 he was made a full captain. In 1676 he commanded the ''Eendragt'', the flagship of De Ruyter in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. When De Ruyter was killed, he became acting Vice-Admiral as squadron leader of the van, bringing home the body of the Admiral. In 1688 he was captain of the ''Maagd van Dordrecht'' in the invasion fleet 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 ...

during the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

. Having excellent relations with 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 ...

he became Vice-Admiral of the Admiralty of the Northern Quarter on 16 April 1689. In 1690 he fought in the Battle of Beachy Head on the ''West-Friesland''. On 18 April 1692 he returned to the Admiralty of de Maze in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, using the new and fourth ''De Zeven Provinciën'' as flagship. However, on 20 November 1697 he again was relocated to the Admiralty of the Northern Quarter to be its Lieutenant-Admiral. He achieved his greatest fame during the

War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phili ...

. In 1702, the ''Beschermer'' (90 cannon) was his flagship in the Battle of Vigo Bay. In 1704 he participated in the Anglo-Dutch invasion of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, and helped in its defense in the

Battle of Vélez-Málaga A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

as commander of the Rear Division, when his flagship was the ''Graaf van Albemarle'' (64). On 14 February 1709 he was relocated to the

Admiralty of Amsterdam The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic. The administration of the various admiralties was strongly influenced by provincial interests. The territory for which Amsterdam ...

; on 19 February 1711 his last assignment was with his old Admiralty of the Maas, making him supreme operational commander of the Dutch fleet, though he never fought in that capacity. Such changes, very rare in the earlier 17th century, now became common as centralisation grew and provincial loyalty and strife diminished. From 1678 to 1711 Callenburgh was a member of the ''

vroedschap The vroedschap () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vaderen' ...

'' (town council) of Vlaardingen and often was chosen to be one of the

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

s for a period of time. He died in

Vlaardingen Vlaardingen () is a city in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas river at the confluence with the Oude Maas. The municipality administers an area of , of which is land, with residents in . Geog ...

Legacy

A Dutch type of destroyers was named after him: the Gerard Callenburgh class.

References

Literature

*T. van Gent (2000), ''17 Zeventiende eeuwse admiralen en hun zeeslagen'', Plantijn Casparie Hilversum/Koninklijke Vereniging van Marineofficieren {{DEFAULTSORT:Callenburgh, Gerard 17th-century Dutch military personnel Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic 18th-century Dutch people Royal Netherlands Navy admirals Dutch naval commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession Dutch naval personnel of the Anglo-Dutch Wars 1642 births 1722 deaths People from Vlaardingen 18th-century Dutch military personnel Dutch military personnel of the Nine Years' War