Willem de Zoete, Heer Haultain (1565 – 26 September 1637, Sluis) was 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 ...

Admiral of the 17th century. He served as a Lieutenant-Admiral from 1601 to 1627. During the Eighty Years' War he directed Dutch fleets in various naval battles. In 1605, he attacked and destroyed a Spanish convoy in the

Dover Strait The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...

. In 1606, he was defeated at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent by the Spanish Admiral Luis Fajardo. In 1621, he was also defeated by the Spanish in the Battle of Gibraltar. In 1622 he fought

Dunkirkers During the Dutch Revolt (1568–1648), the Dunkirkers or Dunkirk Privateers were commerce raiders in the service of the Spanish monarchy. They were also part of the ''Dunkirk fleet'', which consequently was a part of the Spanish monarchy's ''Fl ...

on the coast of Scotland. He led a fleet Dutch of 20 warships, supplied under the terms of the 1624 Franco-Dutch treaty, into the

Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré (1625) The siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, or siege of St. Martin's (French: ''siège de Saint-Martin-de-Ré''), was an attempt by English forces under George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, to capture the French fortress-city of Saint-Martin-de-Ré ...

against a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

uprising. His fleet would be removed from French service in February 1626 after a resolution of the States-General in December 1625.''Reason of state, propaganda, and the Thirty Years'' by Thomas Hobbes p.14

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Notes

1565 births 1637 deaths 17th-century Dutch military personnel Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic Naval commanders of the Eighty Years' War People from Sluis {{Netherlands-mil-bio-stub