THE DUTCH WAR 



protected by the neutrality of the Grand Duke. By some strange 

 reasoning it appears to have been the contention of our people that 

 there was no breach of neutrality as long as no firearms were used, so 

 that there was a scuffle on deck and below and a hasty retirement. In 

 this action Cornelius Tromp, son of the Admiral, was very nearly 

 drowned through jumping out of his cabin window. Our defeat off 

 Dungeness caused even less attention to be paid to Mediterranean 

 matters, and although there were a number of minor actions the sea was 

 abandoned by our ships in 1653 and Badiley was employed at home. 



The Battle of the Kentish Knock. 



In 1652 De Ruyter was joined by Admiral De With, one of the 

 finest Admirals the Dutch possessed but a man of extraordinary un- 

 popularity. He was appointed as senior to De Ruyter and when the 

 two fleets joined at Calais they consisted of seventy-nine ships. Many 

 of them were in a very bad way and ten warships and five fireships 

 were detached at once as being likely to be more embarrassing than 

 helpful. The British fleet was in the Downs and both sides were quite 

 ready for action, meeting off the Kentish Knock. Blake had Penn as 

 Vice-Admiral and Bourne as Rear-Admiral but his fleet was very 

 scattered when they sighted the enemy. However, he determined to 

 attack at once with the ships that he could bring into action and he was 

 fully justified by the fact that the Dutch were taken so much by surprise 

 that they were unable even to hold a Council of War. At the same time 

 they were in the stronger position because their weather side was pro- 

 tected by the Knock sandbank which effectively prevented the British 

 ships getting the gage. Against this advantage a number of Dutch 

 crews were in a very mutinous state. At the end of three hours' 

 desperate fighting the Dutch were undoubtedly beaten with remarkably 

 little loss to the English, and much against his wish De With was forced 

 to return to Holland by his captains. 



The Battle of Dungeness. 



Kentish Knock was a very useful victory for us but it was not suffi- 

 cient to justify the over-confidence which was immediately felt through- 

 out the Fleet. Our cruisers brought in a large number of prizes and 

 the Dutch were confined to their ports, but when the authorities 

 decided that they were bound to sue for peace and demobilised the 

 greater part of the Fleet accordingly, it was asking for trouble. At the 

 same time the Danes entered into an active agreement with the enemy 

 and were able to render them very considerable assistance. The Dutch 

 were by no means beaten so badly that we could afford any demobilisa- 

 tion, and moreover the success of the British cruisers which were 

 strangling the commerce that was absolutely essential to their country 

 drove them to desperation. A huge convoy was therefore made up 

 with a naval guard under Tromp and Jan Evertsen, De Ruyter acting 

 as Vice-Admiral. This naval guard comprised seventy-three warships 

 and small craft, while Blake in the Downs had under forty ships all told. 



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