Gilles Schey

Gilles Schey (bapt. 28 August 1644 – 15 June 1703) was a Dutch admiral. Schey was born in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

, the oldest of 12 children of captain Dirk Schey and Maria van Rijsselenburgh (also Maria van Iselborgh). A midshipman in 1656, he was in 1659 commander of a unit of marines during

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 liberation of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

in the

Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660) The Dano-Swedish War of 1658–1660 was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden, with the former backed by the Dutch Republic and Poland. It is known in Denmark as the Second Karl Gustav War ( da, Anden Karl Gustav-krig), in Norway as Bjelkes ...

. He continued from 1661 as a lieutenant in the marines and participated in almost every battle that the Dutch fleet fought in those years. He was present at the

Battle of Lowestoft The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size comm ...

in 1665 and in actions of Lieutenant-Admiral

Willem Joseph van Ghent Willem Joseph baron van Ghent tot Drakenburgh (14 May 1626 – 7 June 1672) was a 17th-century Dutch admiral. His surname is also sometimes rendered Gendt or Gent. Early career Van Ghent was baptised on 14 May 1626, in the church of Wi ...

in West Africa against the Barbary pirates in 1670.
In 1669 Schey became extraordinary captain in the

Admiralty of Amsterdam The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven ...

. 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 ...

, Gilles was captain of the ''Tijdverdrijf''. In 1674 he joined 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 ...

in action against France. In 1675 he was made a full captain. He was captain of the ''Essen'' at the

Battle of Stromboli The Battle of Stromboli, also known as the Second Battle of Stromboli or the Battle of Alicudi, took place on 8 January, 1676, during the Franco-Dutch War. The battle occurred between a French fleet of 20 ships under Abraham Duquesne and a combin ...

, and of the ''Spieghel'' at the

Battle of Agosta The Battle of Augusta, also known as the Battle of Agosta and the Battle of Etna, took place on 22 April 1676 during the Franco-Dutch War and was fought between a French fleet of 29 men-of-war, five frigates and eight fireships under Abraham Du ...

and the

Battle of Palermo 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 ...

. In 1678 he fought under

Cornelis Evertsen the Younger Cornelis Evertsen the Younger (Flushing, 16 April 1628 – Flushing, 20 September 1679) was a Dutch Admiral from the 17th century. Cornelis was the son of Lieutenant-Admiral Johan Evertsen and the nephew of Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertse ...

. On 6 December 1683 he became Rear-Admiral under William Bastiaensz Schepers during actions in the Baltic Sea. In 1688 he commanded the ''Wapen van Utrecht'' in the fleet with which William III of Orange invaded the British Isles. In 1690, he commanded the flagship the ''Princess Mary'' in the Battle of Beachy Head. On 1 April 1692 he became vice admiral and fought that year in the

Battle of La Hougue The Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue took place during the Nine Years' War, between 19 May O.S. (29 May N.S.) and 4 June O.S. (14 June N.S.) 1692. The first was fought near Barfleur on 19 May O.S. (29 May N.S.), with later actions occurring ...

. In the following years he performed many actions against the Dunkirk Raiders. He died in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Schey is best remembered because he was invited by Tsar

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

, during his visit to the Republic, to come to work for him in the Russian navy, but Schey declined. On 1 September 1697 Schey had in fact organised a mock battle on the IJ, which had made a great impression on the Tsar. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schey, Gilles 1644 births 1703 deaths 17th-century Dutch military personnel Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic Burials at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam Dutch naval personnel of the Anglo-Dutch Wars People from Arnhem Royal Netherlands Navy admirals Dutch military personnel of the Nine Years' War