Jacob Binckes (1637, Koudum – 12 December 1677) was a Dutch commodore. Jacob himself used the name Benckes. Jacob was seafarer trading mostly on Norway in the transport of wood. In 1665 Jacob Binckes started his service with 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 ...

. His first assignment as a captain was to escort a convoy to Norway. The next year, he helped to secure the River Elbe in northern Germany, near Glückstadt, in the interest of Dutch merchant shipping. As a captain he was part of the first of two Dutch invasions of England in 1667 in the

Raid on the Medway The Raid on the Medway, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in June 1667, was a successful attack conducted by the Dutch navy on English warships laid up in the fleet anchorages off Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham in the county of Kent. At t ...

in 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 ...

. With his fregat Essen (including 25 marines) Jacob Binckes is part of the strike force on the Medway. In 1673 together with captain Cornelis Evertsen de Jongste (Keesje the Devil) he re-captured the former

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...

capitol

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

, which had been renamed

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

after it had surrendered in 1664. In 1674, New York was returned to the English by William III of Orange-Nassau (who later King of England) as part of the

Treaty of Westminster (1674) The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 was the peace treaty that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Signed by the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of England, the treaty provided for the return of the colony of New Netherland (now New York) to England an ...

. IN 1675 Jacob Binckes is commodore of a fleet to support the King of Denmark in its war with the Kingdom of Sweden. In 1677 as a commodore on his flagship the ''Beschermer'' he defeated the French fleet in the First Battle at Tobago February that year, but he was killed in action in the Second Battle of Tobago in 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 ...

December the same year. During the second attack a mortar hit the powder storage inside the fort and killed Jacob Binckes and many others. The person Jacob Binckes and the second battle at Tobago served as basis for the character

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

written by

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel '' Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

References

1637 births 1677 deaths Dutch naval personnel of the Anglo-Dutch Wars People from Nijefurd People of New Netherland {{Netherlands-mil-bio-stub