The St James' Day Battle took place on 25 July 1666 (4 August 1666 in the Gregorian calendar), 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 ...
. It was fought between an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
fleet commanded jointly by
Prince Rupert of the Rhine and
George Monck
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle JP KG PC (6 December 1608 – 3 January 1670) was an English soldier, who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was cruc ...
, and a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
force under 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 ...
.
Although a clear English victory, this ultimately proved to be of limited strategic value.
Background
After the Dutch had inflicted enormous damage on the English fleet in the
Four Days Battle
The Four Days' Battle, also known as the Four Days' Fight in some English sources and as Vierdaagse Zeeslag in Dutch, was a naval battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Fought from 1 June to 4 June 1666 in the Julian or Old Style calendar that w ...
of 1–4 June 1666 which is normally considered a Dutch victory, the Dutch leading politician
grand pensionary 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 ...
ordered Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter to carry out a plan that had been prepared for over a year: to land in the
Medway to destroy the English fleet while it was being repaired in the
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
dockyards. For this purpose ten
fluyt
A fluyt (archaic Dutch: ''fluijt'' "flute"; ) is a Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed by the shipwrights of Hoorn as a dedicated cargo vessel. Originating in the Dutch Republic in the 16th century, the vessel was designed to faci ...
ships carried 2,700
marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
of the newly created
Dutch Marine Corps, the first in history. Also De Ruyter was to combine his fleet with the French one.
The French however did not show up and bad weather prevented the landing. De Ruyter had to limit his actions to a blockade of the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
. On the 1st of August he observed that the English fleet was leaving port - earlier than expected. Then a storm drove the Dutch fleet back to the Flemish coast. On the 3rd De Ruyter again crossed the North Sea, leaving behind the troop ships.
Battle
First day
In the early morning of 25 July, the Dutch fleet of 88 ships discovered the English fleet of 89 ships near North Foreland, sailing to the north. De Ruyter gave orders for a chase and the Dutch fleet pursued the English from the southeast in a leeward position, as the wind blew from the northwest. Suddenly, the wind turned to the northeast. The English commander,
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, then turned sharply east to regain the
weather gauge
The weather gage (sometimes spelled weather gauge) is the advantageous position of a fighting 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 Sail and is no ...
. De Ruyter followed, but the wind fell and the fleet fell behind. The Dutch van, commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral
Johan Evertsen
Johan Evertsen (1 February 1600 – 5 August 1666) was a Dutch admiral who was born in the 17th century.
Early life
Like his five brothers, Evertsen started his military career as a lieutenant after the death of his father, "Captain Jan". He q ...
, was becalmed and drifted away from the
line of battle
The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...
, splitting De Ruyter's fleet in two. This awkward situation lasted for hours; then, again, a soft breeze began to blow from the northeast. Immediately, the English van, commanded by
Thomas Allin
Thomas Allin (May 14, 1757 – June 26, 1833) was a soldier and surveyor who became an early settler and political leader in Kentucky. He served in the Revolutionary War, first in the North Carolina militia and then as part of general Natha ...
, and part of the centre formed a line of battle and engaged the Dutch van, still in disarray.
The Dutch failed to form a coherent line of battle in response, and ship after ship was mauled by the combined firepower of the English line. Vice-Admiral
Rudolf Coenders was killed, and Lieutenant-Admiral
Tjerk Hiddes de Vries
Tjerk Hiddes de Vries (Sexbierum, 6 August 1622 - Flushing, 6 August 1666) was a naval hero and Dutch admiral from the seventeenth century. The French, who could not pronounce his name, called him Kiërkides. His name was also given as ''Tsjerk' ...
had an arm and a leg shot off, yet still tried to bring cohesion to his force — but to no avail. Unable to reach them with his centre, the horrified De Ruyter saw the Frisian ships drifting to the south, now no more than floating wrecks full of dead, the moans of the dying clearly audible above the other sounds of battle.
With the Dutch van defeated, the English converged to deliver the coup-de-grâce to De Ruyter's centre.
George Monck
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle JP KG PC (6 December 1608 – 3 January 1670) was an English soldier, who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was cruc ...
, accompanying Rupert, predicted that De Ruyter would give two broadsides and run, but the latter put up a furious fight on the Dutch flagship ''
De Zeven Provinciën''. He withstood a combined attack by
''Sovereign of the Seas'' and
''Royal Charles'' and forced Rupert to leave the damaged ''Royal Charles'' for
''Royal James''. The Dutch centre's resistance enabled the seaworthy remnants of the van to make an escape to the south.
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/St.James_Day_Fight.svg)
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 ...
, commanding the Dutch rear, had from a great distance seen the disaster for the Dutch fleet evolve. Annoyed by what he saw as a lack of competence, he decided to give the correct example. He turned sharply to the west, crossed the line of the British rear, under the command of
Jeremiah Smith, separating it from the rest of the English fleet and then, having the weather gauge, kept on attacking it rabidly until at last the British were routed and fled to the west. He pursued well into the night, destroying with a fireship. After Tromp three times shot the entire crew from its rigging, Smith's flagship caught fire and had to be towed home. The vice commander of the English rear was
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 restoratio ...
, who felt so humiliated by the course of events that he became a personal enemy of Tromp. He would later be killed pursuing Tromp in the
Battle of the Texel.
Second day
On the morning of 26 July, Tromp broke off pursuit, well-pleased with his first real victory as a squadron commander. During the night, a ship had brought him the message that De Ruyter had likewise been victorious, so Tromp was in a euphoric mood. That abruptly changed upon the discovery of the drifting flagship of the dying
Tjerk Hiddes de Vries
Tjerk Hiddes de Vries (Sexbierum, 6 August 1622 - Flushing, 6 August 1666) was a naval hero and Dutch admiral from the seventeenth century. The French, who could not pronounce his name, called him Kiërkides. His name was also given as ''Tsjerk' ...
. Suddenly he feared that his ship was now the only remnant of the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
fleet and that he was in mortal peril. Behind him, those ships of the English rear still operational had again turned to the east. In front, the other enemy squadrons surely awaited him. On the horizon, only
English flags were to be seen. Manoeuvring wildly, Tromp, drinking a lot of gin to restore his nerve, dodged any attempt to trap him and brought his squadron safely home in the port of
Flushing
Flushing may refer to:
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* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
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** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** Flushin ...
on the morning of 26 July. There, to great mutual relief, he discovered the rest of the Dutch fleet.
It took Tromp six hours to gather enough courage to face De Ruyter. It was obvious to him that he should never have allowed himself to get completely separated from the main force. Indeed, De Ruyter, not being his usual charitable self, immediately blamed him for the defeat and ordered Tromp and his subcommanders
Isaac Sweers
Isaac Sweers (occasionally Ysaack Sweerts; 1 January 1622 – 22 August 1673) was a 17th-century Dutch vice-admiral with the Admiralty of Amsterdam who fought in the Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo–Dutch Wars ( nl, Engels–Nederlandse ...
and
Willem van der Zaan from his sight, and told them to never again set foot on ''De Zeven Provinciën''. The commander of the Dutch fleet still had not mentally recovered from the events of the previous day.
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/St._James_Day_Fight%2C_Pic_2.jpg)
On the morning of 5 August, after a short summer's night, De Ruyter discovered that his position had become hopeless. Lieutenant-Admiral Johan Evertsen had died after losing a leg, De Ruyter's force was now reduced to about forty ships, crowding together and most of these were inoperational, being survivors of the van. Some fifteen good ships had apparently deserted during the night. A strong gale from the east prevented an easy retreat to the continental coast, and to the west the British van and centre (about fifty ships) surrounded him in a half-circle, safely bombarding him from a leeward position.
De Ruyter was desperate. When his second-in-command of the centre, Lieutenant-Admiral
Aert Jansse van Nes visited him for a council of war, he exclaimed: "With seven or eight against the mass!" He then sagged, mumbling: "What's wrong with us? I wish I were dead." His close personal friend Van Nes tried to cheer him up, joking: "Me too. But you never die when you want to!" No sooner had both men left the cabin than the table they had been sitting at was smashed by a cannonball.
The English, however, had their own problems. The strong gale prevented them from closing with the Dutch. They tried to use fire ships, but these, too, had trouble reaching the enemy. Only the sloop ''Fan-Fan'', Rupert's personal pleasure yacht, rowed to the Dutch flagship ''De Zeven Provinciën'' to harass it with its two little guns, much to the hilarious laughter of the English crews.
When his ship had again warded off an attack by a fireship (the ''Land of Promise'') and Tromp still did not show up, for
De Ruyter tension became unbearable. He sought death, exposing himself deliberately on the deck. When he failed to be hit, he exclaimed: "Oh, God, how unfortunate I am! Amongst so many thousands of cannonballs, is there not one that would take me?" His son-in-law, Captain of the Marines Johann de Witte, heard him and said: "Father, what desperate words! If you merely want to die, let us then turn, sail in the midst of our enemies and fight ourselves to death!". This brave but foolish proposal brought the Admiral back to his senses, for he discovered that he was not so desperate and answered: "You don't know what you are talking about! If I did that, all would be lost. But if I can bring myself and these ships safely home, we'll finish the job later."
Then the wind, that had brought so much misfortune to the Dutch, saved them by turning to the west. They formed a line of battle and brought their fleet to safety through the Flemish shoals, Vice-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 ...
of the Zealandic fleet covering the retreat of all damaged ships with the operational vessels, the number of the latter slowly growing as it turned out that only very few ships had actually deserted in the night; most had merely drifted away, and now, one after the other, they rejoined the battle.
Aftermath
The battle was a clear English victory. Dutch casualties were initialy thought to be enormous, estimated immediately after the battle of about 5,000 men, compared with 300 English killed; later, more precise information showed that only about 1,200 of them had been killed or seriously wounded. The Dutch only lost two ships: De Ruyter had been successful at saving almost the complete van, only ''Sneek'' and ''Tholen'' struck their flag. ''Tholen'' was the flagship of admiral Banckert who had moved his flag to another vessel. Both ships were burnt by the English.
[Scheffer (1966), p. 113] The Dutch could quickly repair the damage. The twin disasters of the
Great Plague of London
The Great Plague of London, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics that origi ...
and the
Great Fire of London, combined with his financial mismanagement, left
Charles II without the funds to continue the war. In fact, he had had only enough reserves for this one last battle.
While the Dutch fleet was undergoing repairs, Admiral
Robert Holmes, aided by the Dutch traitor Laurens van Heemskerck, penetrated the
Vlie
The Vlie or Vliestroom is the seaway between the Dutch islands of Vlieland, to its southwest, and Terschelling, to its northeast. The Vlie was the estuary of the river IJssel in medieval times. In 1666 the English Admiral Robert Holmes burnt a ...
estuary, burnt a fleet of 150 merchants (
Holmes's Bonfire
Holmes's Bonfire was a raid on the Vlie estuary in the Netherlands, executed by the English Fleet during the Second Anglo-Dutch War on 19 and 20 August 1666 New Style (9 and 10 August Old Style). The attack, named after the commander of the land ...
) and sacked the town of Ter Schelling (the present
West-Terschelling
West-Terschelling ( fry, West-Skylge) is the largest village on Terschelling in the province Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 2,602 in January 2017.
The skyline of the village is dominated by the Brandaris lighthouse, th ...
) on the Frisian island of
Terschelling. ''Fan-Fan'' was again present.
In the Republic, the defeat also had a far-reaching political effect. Tromp was the champion of the Orangist party; now that he was accused of severe negligence, the country split over this issue. To defend himself, Tromp let his brother-in-law,
Johan Kievit
Johan Kievit (1627–1692) was an Orangist Rotterdam Regent, who may have been one of the instigators of the murder of former Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt, of the Dutch Republic, and his brother Cornelis de Witt on 20 August 1672, together with ...
, publish an account of his conduct. Shortly afterward, Kievit was discovered to have planned a coup, secretly negotiating a peace treaty with the English king. He fled to England and was condemned to death in absentia; Tromp's family was fined and he himself forbidden to serve in the fleet. In November 1669, a supporter of Tromp tried to stab De Ruyter in the entrance hall of his house. Only in 1672 would Tromp have his revenge, when Johan de Witt was murdered; some claim Tromp had had a hand in this. The new ruler,
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 ...
, succeeded, with great difficulty, in reconciling De Ruyter with Tromp in 1673.
See also
* Glossary of nautical terms :
(A–L),
(M–Z)
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
* Age Scheffer. 1966. ''Roemruchte jaren van onze vloot''. Het Wereldvenster, Baarn.
* {{cite book , editor-last1=Sweetman , editor-first1=Jack , title=The great admirals: command at sea, 1587-1945 , date=1997 , publisher=Naval Institute Press , isbn=9780870212291 , url=https://archive.org/details/greatadmiralscom0000unse/page/108/mode/2up
1666 in England
St James
Conflicts in 1666
17th century in Kent
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle