Great wars of mankind. Anglo-Dutch rivalry

1652–1674 Anglo-Dutch Wars These were predominantly naval wars for supremacy on sea trade routes. The first war (1652-1654) was the result of the adoption by England of the Navigation Act of 1651, which dealt a blow to the Dutch intermediary shipping -

Anglo-Dutch Wars 17th century

Anglo-Mysore Wars

Anglo-Maratha Wars

Anglo-Sikh Wars

Results of the Anglo-Dutch Wars

The composition of the fleet and the classification of ships

Based on the experience of the Anglo-Dutch wars, a new classification of the ships of the fleet was developed. The ships of the first three ranks were called ships of the line, as they were placed in the battle line. Ships of the fourth and fifth ranks were called frigates and were used for reconnaissance purposes, operations on sea communications, and to cover battleships damaged in battle. Ships of the sixth rank had different names and were used as messenger ships.

Fireships - small-displacement sailing ships with good maneuverability, filled with explosives or combustibles - were intended to blow up or set fire to enemy ships by clutching them closely with the help of special hooks.

The organization of the fleet evolved as follows: the fleets began to be divided into squadrons. Usually there were three of them and each consisted of three divisions of the vanguard, center and rearguard. The flagship was at the head of the division. The eldest was the commander of the center (admiral), the next in seniority was the commander of the vanguard (vice admiral), and the youngest was the commander of the rear guard (rear admiral).

There have been changes in the methods of warfare at sea.

The first Anglo-Dutch war is characterized by the struggle on sea communications as the main method of warfare. In the first war, the main task of the English fleet was the destruction of the Dutch maritime trade. The main task of the Dutch fleet was to protect their own trade and fight against the trade of the enemy.

In the first Anglo-Dutch war, the British captured so many armed chartered privateers (formerly the main force of the Dutch fleet) that the authorities had to urgently build special warships (from 1653-1654). Until 1666, the large ships of the East India Company were also included in the battle line, but they had a weak structure and weapons; in the Battle of Lowestof in 1665, the percentage of their losses from the total was disproportionately high, and the next year they got rid of them.

In the second and especially in the third Anglo-Dutch war, both opponents abandon the method of directly providing merchant ships with fleet forces. The main task of the fleet is to conduct combat operations against the combat forces of the enemy with the aim of destroying them in battle, which at the same time ensures their own havoc trade.

The first Anglo-Dutch war is characterized by the absence of established battle formations. The battle, which began with an artillery skirmish, soon turned into a general dump, where the outcome was decided by a boarding battle of individual ships.

In the second and especially in the third Anglo-Dutch war, the battle loses the character of a dump. The main battle formation is the wake column (battle line), which the fighting fleets try to hold throughout the battle. The appearance of the wake formation was due to the onboard location of artillery, which became the main weapon of a sailing ship, the possibility without rebuilding, a simple increase in the intervals between ships, letting attacking fireships pass downwind and the ease of controlling ships in battle.

The battle line included the most powerful artillery ships, with approximately the same tactical and technical data, capable of destroying the main enemy forces. The march formation was the formation of one, two and three wake columns, depending on the size of the ships participating in the campaign.

Before the battle, the fleets sought to take a windward position, which made it possible to dictate to the enemy the time, place and distance of the attack, and, if the situation was favorable, to use firewalls. After occupying the windward position, the fleet in the battle order of the wake column began to descend on the enemy line to the distance of artillery fire. Arriving at this distance, the fleet was brought to the wind, laid down on a course parallel to the enemy, and opened artillery fire. Although artillery became the main weapon of a sailing ship, due to its still insufficiently high fighting qualities, it could not always decide the outcome of the battle. Therefore, boarding and fire-ship attacks continue to be used.

Under the conditions of squadron combat, the importance of fleet management increased. The commander of the fleet, in order to maintain control of the squadrons, was on the strongest ship in the center or at the head of the battle order. Control in battle was carried out by signals or orders transmitted by messenger ships. The inability of the English fleet to operate during the stormy winter months was most often exploited by the Dutch to inflict great damage on the enemy.

Assessment of changes in fleets after the Anglo-Dutch wars

The new tasks assigned to the fleets required not only a change in tactics, but also in the ships themselves. The desire of naval commanders to take a windward position at the beginning of the battle required the ability of ships to sail steeply to the wind, which led to the disappearance of superstructures and turrets in the bow and stern.

The battle in the line imposed requirements on ships for the unification of speed, armament, etc., which resulted in the development of a series of ships and the use of drawing and mathematical analysis methods during construction. The development of artillery led to the unification of cutting gun ports and, in general, equipping decks.

From the use of fleets during the Anglo-Dutch wars came such names as naves, galleons, caravels.

Of particular importance was now attached to the supply of the fleet. Indeed, unlike the army, the fleet could not feed itself on foreign territory, and long-term cruises of squadrons far from their native shores were now becoming an urgent need. During the Anglo-Dutch wars, detachments of auxiliary transports were organized to help warships stay at sea for months, or even years. Some of these transports were sent to pre-agreed points (rendezvous).

Codes of flag and cannon signals were developed in the Dutch and English fleets, which made it easier to control squadrons. In 1672, the first book of "Instructions for Campaign and Battle" was published, edited by the Duke of York, in which for the first time various types and types of signals were brought together.

In 1678, Vice-Admiral John Narborough issued "Combat Instructions" for his squadron, located in the Zante region in the Ionian Sea. There, for the first time, the idea was expressed of using ships outside the line as replica ships, but the British did not go beyond words. The French were the first to introduce such vessels.

In the Dutch navy, until the war of the League of Augsburg, each admiralty drew up instructions for itself. The consequence of this was the slow degradation of Dutch naval art.

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  AT late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, neither the British nor the Dutch could compete with such maritime powers as Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Castile and Aragon. However, in the 16th century, as the Continent was being torn apart by the Wars of Religion, Elizabethan England built a powerful navy for lucrative privateer raids against the Spaniards. In 1585, the conflict that had flowed before without a declaration of war turned into an open phase, the immediate reason for this was the support provided by the British to the Republic of the United Provinces in its struggle for independence from Spain. This war, which lasted until 1604, ended formally with the status quo, but was remembered for the defeat inflicted by the British on the Spanish Invincible Armada.

  After the conclusion of peace, which took place after the death of Elizabeth, by decree of James I, the attacks of English privateers on the Spaniards were stopped, which, on the one hand, led to an improvement in relations between the two powers, on the other hand, to the neglect of the British fleet. The unsuccessful war for the British with Spain in 1625-1630 was only a temporary deterioration in relations. At the same time, the Dutch, who continued the war with the Habsburgs, achieved serious success in their privateer raids against the enemy and took away most of their trading posts in the East Indies from the Portuguese, gaining control of the super-profitable spice trade. This provoked an ultra-rapid growth of the Dutch merchant fleet and, although less impressive, but still a very significant increase in the military fleet.

  Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667)

  Both sides during the war managed to distinguish themselves with serious victories: the British captured the New Netherland, and the Dutch won the Four-Day Battle. Be that as it may, the raid on the Medway ended the war with the victory of the Dutch, who destroyed part of the English fleet right in the harbor.

  The British captured about 450 merchant ships during the course of the war, far fewer than expected, which did little to hurt the Dutch, while Charles was on the verge of bankruptcy. This, coupled with the epidemic plague and the Great fire that happened during the war in London (the latter in Holland was considered God's punishment for the raid Holmes (English) Russian, which captured 150 Dutch merchants in one raid and burned the whole city) caused serious unrest. Because of the king's fears that these disturbances would not result in open rebellion, the Lord Chancellor  Clarendon ordered the English ambassadors in Breda to make peace as quickly as possible.

  Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-1674)

  The British quickly restored their fleet after the previous war, but, having learned from her bitter experience, they were no longer eager to fight. Be that as it may, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Dover (a secret Anglo-French pact for joint action against the United Provinces), Charles II declared war on the Netherlands the day after France did so. During the war, which was part of the Dutch War, the flood made it impossible for the advance of the French troops, and it was decided to attack the Dutch from the sea, but Admiral de Ruyter defeated the Anglo-French fleet, after which the English parliament forced the king to ask for peace. The alliance with Catholic France against Protestant Holland did not enjoy the support of the English Parliament, which feared the creeping Catholicization of England, so after the Battle of Texel the Peace of Westminster was concluded on February 19, 1674.

  Consequences of the first three wars

  The wars between England and Holland played a large role in the development of the art of war at sea. During this period, armed commercial ships disappeared from the military fleets, types of warships were established, correct formations were developed, and naval tactics were generally developed. In addition, a real naval strategy was developed, which set itself the main task of fighting the enemy fleet in order to achieve control over the sea, instead of the previous "cross expeditions" and the pursuit of merchant ships. [ ]

  Unresolved economic contradictions between England and the Republic of the United Provinces and the rivalry of these countries in overseas colonies exploded into a new war. London periodically complained about the infringement of the rights of its subjects in India, Turkey and on the African coast: the Dutch, who controlled the ports there, did not allow ships of competitors to enter them, causing great damage to the overseas trade of the British. In the summer of 1664, the English Africa Company came into conflict with the Dutch over the possession of several small seaside forts in Guinea; On August 23 of the same year, a naval expedition under the command of Richard Nichols suddenly occupied New Amsterdam, the administrative center of the Dutch possessions in North America (New Netherland); in response to the protests of The Hague, the Clarendon government officially declared its non-involvement in these violations of international law, which, however, did not prevent the brother of Charles II, the Duke of York, the governor of the British colonies in North America, from appointing Nichols as governor of New Netherland and renaming New Amsterdam to New York . The escalation of the conflict was swift: after the successful raid of Admiral Michael de Ruyter, who knocked out the British from the disputed possessions in Guinea and on the island of Gore, the British began to attack Dutch merchant ships in retaliation, including by privateers. An English squadron of nine ships under the command of Admiral Hellin attacked a Dutch convoy of 30 pennants returning from Smyrna in the Strait of Gibraltar (December 1664); the attack was unexpected, but the Dutch naval commander van Brakel defended himself so desperately that he lost only three of his ships to the enemy. An embargo was imposed on all ships of the United Provinces that were in the ports of England. The Netherlands responded by breaking off diplomatic relations, banning the import of English goods, and seizing England's ships in European waters. Then the English parliament voted to the king military subsidies in the amount of two and a half million pounds sterling, "to punish the Dutch for insults and insolence and to avenge the honor of the nation," and on March 14, 1665, England declared war on the Netherlands.

  
  Admiral Reuter. Modern image on the medal.

  Despite his obligations under the Treaty of Paris in 1662 and the requirements of their observance by the government of the Republic of the United Provinces, Louis XIV was in no hurry to fulfill his ally duty and enter the war for the sake of the interests of the Dutch, who offended him by refusing to negotiate the mutual division of the Spanish Netherlands and in addition dared to threaten an alliance with Spain or the emperor. Before the outbreak of the second Anglo-Dutch war, French diplomats managed to conclude an agreement with Denmark (August 3, 1663), which was based on a trade partnership and mutual assistance in maintaining the Peace of Westphalia; the secret articles of the same treaty provided, in particular, for the granting of subsidies to the Danish king in the event that his war with Sweden resumed. However, it was, of course, not necessary to expect that the Danish king, on the basis of this agreement, would actively support the Republic of the United Provinces in the war with England, an ally of his victorious enemy Sweden. The dialogue with Sweden, which Louis XIV offered to join the Franco-Danish pact, was still rather sluggish: the Swedes agreed to trade cooperation, but did not allow their country to be involved in an alliance with Denmark, or even formally recognize Denmark as one of the guarantors of compliance with the Westphalian treatises . Being forced to reckon with the position of Sweden in connection with the proposed nomination of one of the princes of the House of Condé to the throne of Poland, the French diplomats suspended the pressure on Stockholm for the time being.

  
  Jan de Witt. Engraving of the 17th century.

  Following the recommendations of d'Estrada, who enjoyed de Witt's full confidence in The Hague and was therefore well aware of the latest trends in Dutch politics, de Lyonne told the Ambassador of the Republic of the United Provinces that France, which, under the Treaty of Paris, had the right to provide assistance to its ally, not earlier than in four months after his application for such, intends to use this period for peaceful mediation, because she finds the circumstances of the outbreak of war not fully consistent with the fulfillment of her allied obligations. First, the minister clarified, official London promised to provide evidence that it was the Dutch who started the war, who seized the colonial outposts in Africa; secondly, even if the assurances of the English are not considered convincing, his most Christian Majesty doubts that the allied obligations of France extend so far as to support a war in Europe for the sake of Dutch African interests that are absolutely alien to her.
  The foreign policy priorities of France on the eve and during the second Anglo-Dutch war were inextricably linked with the annexation projects of the Spanish Netherlands. For the forthcoming struggle, it was necessary to accumulate forces and maintain strong international positions, but for the time being they could only be ensured by neutrality. France's non-participation in the present naval war enabled her to retain her navy, and thus to acquire a serious, if not decisive, military advantage if the forthcoming struggle for the Spanish Netherlands brought her into conflict with England or Holland. After the opening of hostilities, Louis XIV found himself in a difficult position: the treaty obliged him to take the side of the Dutch, but the support of the republic of the United Provinces would inevitably “divorce” him from Charles II, who personally did not interfere with France’s annexationist plans for the Spanish Netherlands, and in the future, perhaps even become an ally. At the same time, if the British had won the war, one should have kept in mind the prospect of the removal of the Republican-oligarchic party from power in the Netherlands and the triumph of the Orangists - ultra-Protestants politically oriented towards England - then France's relations with England and Holland would develop completely unpredictably. Under these conditions, French diplomats, willy-nilly, had to ensure small strategic goals. One of the options for the foreign policy of France during the war was formulated by the same Comte d'Estrade: in a letter to Louis XIV dated January 1, 1665, he suggested adhering to the policy of neutrality for as long as possible, but if, for one reason or another, this turns out to be impossible, to enter the war, additionally obliging the Dutch, firstly, to recognize and fully support the French king in the upcoming struggle for the rights of his wife to the Spanish Netherlands, and secondly, to give France the fortified and strategically advantageous city of Maastricht, the possession of which allowed not only to control the border between the Spanish Netherlands and the Republic of the United Provinces, but also to gain access to the very heart of the Netherlands region along the most important river artery - the Meuse. In case of dissatisfaction with The Hague, the ambassador offered to put pressure on her by supporting the sluggishly smoldering dispute over the Jülich-Cleves inheritance, in which the Dutch continued to participate: according to d'Estrada, France should have stood up for one of the co-heirs - either the Count Palatine of Neuburg, who was seeking the realization of his claims to the Duchy of Jülich, or the Elector of Brandenburg, who claimed the Duchy of Cleves and, by right of the Duke of Cleves, also to the small county of Moers adjacent to Geldern, which belonged directly to the House of Orange; an alliance of France with either one or another of these princes, d'Estrade believed, would force both the Estates-General and the Orangist opposition to be more accommodating.

  
  Charles II Stuart, King of England

  In April 1665, in order to maintain the reputation of France as a peace mediator and to delay its entry into the war as long as possible, the dukes de Verneuil and de Courtin departed for London for negotiations with Charles II. However, despite the fact that the English king was generally sympathetic to their mission, it ended in a complete fiasco, since subsidies for the war had already been allocated, England was arming in full swing, and battles were in full swing at sea. The Embassy of de Verneuil - de Courtenay, however, lasted for eight whole months, which allowed Louis XIV to declare war on England only on January 26, 1666. On February 11, the Franco-Danish-Dutch treaty on mutual military and economic support was signed in The Hague: the Danish king promised to equip a fleet of forty ships to help the Republic of the United Provinces. Immediately after France's entry into the war, the mission of peaceful mediation was entrusted to the French envoy to the Scandinavian states, Marquis S.-A. de Pomponnou: one of the tasks of his embassy (winter - spring 1666), as before, was to involve Sweden in the Franco-Danish-Dutch alliance - if not as an active party, then at least in order to ensure its neutrality in relation to Denmark, whose participation in the war on the side of the Dutch (since December 1665), due to the Danish-Dutch agreements of 1649 and 1653, as well as the treaty of 1663, was already marked by a blockade of the Baltic for English ships. De Pomponne's proposals in Stockholm boiled down to the creation of an allied France block of maritime powers - Holland, Denmark and Sweden - by which England would be isolated from the maritime trade space in the North Sea and the Baltic and, for economic reasons, would not be able to fight for a long time. This time, the Swedes succumbed to persuasion: true, in keeping with allied obligations, they, as before, rejected the offer of Paris for military support, but gave an unofficial obligation not to attack Denmark and not to interfere in the Anglo-Dutch war. France was not completely satisfied, but did not continue the dialogue: on September 17, 1665, Philip IV of Spain died, and Louis XIV was much more interested in joining the Spanish Netherlands than in arranging alliances in favor of the Republic of the United Provinces.

  
  Sailing ships. Engraving of the 17th century.

  Active hostilities between the British and the Dutch were conducted from the beginning of May 1665: the English fleet of eighty (and according to other sources, eighty-eight) ships of the line and twenty-one fireships under the command of the Duke of York headed for the Dutch coast, so that, as in the previous campaign, to block it, to prevent the domination of superior enemy forces in the Strait. Unfavorable weather forced the duke to change plans and take the ships back to the southeastern coast of England. This allowed the Dutch naval commander Wassenaar to concentrate the naval forces at his disposal into a powerful fist - ninety-seven (in other sources, one hundred and three) ships, eleven fireships, seven yachts and twelve row galliots, reduced to seven squadrons - and, despite their insufficient training , to move into the territorial waters of the enemy: initially, apparently, it was planned to begin a blockade of the coast between the mouths of the Stour and the Thames. However, on June 13, the Dutch met the fleet of the Duke of York in the sight of the port of Lowestoft and entered the battle. A desperate artillery duel ensued, throwing the center of Wassenaar's ship formation into confusion and forcing some of its captains into a disorderly retreat. Not allowing the enemy to come to his senses, the Duke of York swiftly attacked the trembling center of the enemy; Lord Montague's rear guard broke through the Dutch line, ensuring the approach and docking of fireships with enemy ships. The main blow of the enemy was taken by the Dutch flagships and several ships, whose commanders had sufficient combat experience, while on other ships that were converted from merchant ones, the guns were not even put on alert. During a fierce defensive battle, the Dutch flagship Endracht was blown up, killing Wassenaar, Lieutenant Admiral Kortenaar and two more vice admirals; thirty-two Dutch ships were burned or captured, and the remnants of the fleet of the Republic of the United Provinces with great difficulty, under the leadership of lieutenant-admirals Cornelis van Tromp (1629-1691), who commanded the rearguard squadron, and Evertsen, with the remnants of the avant-garde, left the battlefield and retreated - one to the island Texel, the second - to the mouth of the Meuse.

  
  Admiral Wassenaar

  This heavy blow, however, did not break the Dutch: the shipyards of the Republic of the United Provinces were repairing damaged ships, and the construction of new ones, no less powerful than the English ones, and partially armed with heavy 42-pound guns, continued; Dutch naval commanders developed in depth the linear tactics of naval combat, taking into account the lessons of their defeats. General rejoicing in the country caused a successful arrival at the mouth of the river. the Ems of the Dutch merchant flotilla from Norway (70 ships), which Admiral Reuter, returning from the West Indies, successfully led under the protection of his ships through the turbulent waters of the North Sea; the squadron sent to intercept by Admiral Montague managed to capture only a few ships that had fallen behind the convoy (August 1665). An unexpected respite in the war for the Dutch was provided by an epidemic of plague that broke out in the southern counties of England and undermined the enemy's military preparations. Diplomats of The Hague closely followed the course of the Franco-British negotiations in London. After France officially entered the war, Louis XIV announced that he would provide military support to the ally at sea, but it was not until April 1666 that the French auxiliary fleet of 40 ships and 12 fireships, led by the Duke de Beaufort (1616-1669), sailed from port of Toulon and, having received replenishment in La Rochelle with several ships, headed for the English Channel to connect with the Reuter fleet.

  
  Duke de Beaufort

  Reuther went out to meet the Allies and waited for reinforcements, anchoring in the Pas de Calais, a few miles from Dunkirk. In order to remove the danger of the allies uniting and blocking the Strait by them, the court military council of Charles II decided to send a flotilla to meet the French ships under the command of Prince Ruprecht of the Palatinate (1619-1682), which was to be joined along the way by ten ships coming from Plymouth. At the same time, it was ordered to attack Reuter with the forces remaining at the disposal of the commander-in-chief of the English fleet, General J. Monk; they were significantly inferior to the Dutch: if under the command of Reuter there were eighty-four ships of the line, then the British had only fifty seven. Thus, at the decisive moment, the British forces were divided, which might not have happened if the diplomats of London had been more knowledgeable or more perspicacious: the plans of the French naval commander did not at all include participation in hostilities; de Beaufort's campaign dragged on for several months and without a single shot, allegedly due to a fierce storm, ended ... in the French port of Dieppe, tens of miles from Dunkirk, in view of which, on June 11-14, 1666, the most famous and long battle of the second Anglo -Dutch War.
  The course of the naval battle at Dunkirk is known to us in sufficient detail from the memoirs of the French military observer Comte de Guiche, who was on one of the Dutch ships. With a favorable south wind, Monk suddenly attacked the rearguard squadron commanded by Tromp the Younger - he barely managed to cut the anchor ropes (the chains were not yet used), set sails and deploy ships under hurricane fire for a defensive battle. But the onslaught was too swift, and only the decisive intervention of Reuter with the squadron of the center saved Tromp from defeat. During a fierce battle, the wind carried the ships of Tromp and Monck to the Flanders banks, while Reuther managed to cut off the English rearguard squadron and inflict serious damage on it. A fierce ship-to-ship battle simmered until dark, then Monk gave his captains the order to retreat. Monk's fleet, having restored, as far as possible, the tactical order, withdrew to the west: it was supposed to connect with the flotilla of Prince Ruprecht, who at that time had already been recalled back, without waiting for his potential enemy. On the morning of June 12, the battle resumed with even greater pressure: the south wind intensified, and Monk attacked the Dutch battle line, which was located on the leeward side. Without waiting for the order, Tromp the Younger, at the head of the rearguard squadron, ardently rushed into a counterattack on the enemy center and thereby not only irreparably disrupted the formation of the Dutch fleet, but also, with an unfavorable wind, found himself virtually defenseless against the cannons of the entire enemy line. Reuther again had to help out his colleague by sending part of the ships of the center to help him. At the same time, the battle order of the Dutch was completely mixed up, the ships, according to an eyewitness, huddled together “like a flock of sheep”, many captains hastily left the battlefield, without waiting for the British to close around the flanking squadrons and start boarding. At the same time, Monk, whose fleet, as already mentioned, was significantly inferior to the Dutch in numbers, and many ships were damaged, did not dare to this maneuver and preferred to retreat to morning positions, waiting for the approach of Prince Ruprecht. This gave Reuther the opportunity to restore his line of battle and take up defense. The whole third day, Monk drifted on a broad front to the west, waiting for a connection with Prince Ruprecht (it took place in the evening of the same day); the English naval commander ordered several of his most damaged and unstable ships to be burned so that their participation in the upcoming decisive battle would not affect its tactical development and so that they would not fall into the hands of the enemy.

  
  General Monck, later Duke of Albemarle

  On June 14, the opponents converged with a strong southwest wind; quantitatively, their forces were now approximately the same: up to sixty ships of the line operated on each side; nevertheless, at the disposal of Monk, who took command of the combined English forces, were twenty fresh intact ships brought by Prince Ruprecht (in this battle he commanded the rearguard squadron); in addition, British ships as a whole had better equipment and more powerful weapons. The vanguard of the British was led by Sir J. Askew (? -1671), and the center was Monk. The Dutch fleet was led by Reuter; the center was commanded by van Nees; the rearguard was held by Tromp the Younger and Meppel, and the vanguard by Evertsen the Elder and de Vries. For some time, the opponents fought an artillery duel, sailing on parallel courses under small sails in a westerly direction. To take advantage of the windward side, Askew raised the sails, for a time abruptly breaking away from the squadron of the center; but into the interval thus formed, van Nees rushed with one of the detachments of the center; his swift onslaught broke the formation of the British. This maneuver served as a signal for the Dutch ships to approach the enemy: Tromp swiftly attacked Prince Ruprecht, after a brutal short battle, he scattered the British rearguard and went to their rear, planning to connect with van Nees. Since at that time the English center was cut off from its half-ruined flanks, the third, decisive blow was delivered by Reuter himself, who was still with the main Dutch forces on the windward side: his squadron, after approaching, broke the British front and entered into close combat with Monk's squadron. The Dutch fought with reckless courage: equipping the ships, Reuter deliberately included former prisoners who knew the hell of English prisons in the teams so that their stories would keep the rest from cowardly surrender, and personal hatred of the enemy would serve as a catalyst for victory. Faced with the threat of encirclement, Monk's forces and the remnants of Askew's and Prince Ruprecht's squadrons were forced to retreat. The four-day battle in the Strait cost the British twenty ships, of which nine became enemy prizes (against seven from Reuter) and about eight thousand people were killed, wounded and captured - losses four times higher than the Dutch!
  The victory at the Battle of Dunkirk gave way for the Dutch to defeat in the third major battle of this war - at Cape Northforland, north of Dover. Jan de Witt insisted on speeding up the military initiative - and already at the end of July 1666, 72 battleships and 16 Reuter frigates with 20 firewalls, which had been repaired in Dutch ports, appeared off the coast of England, threatening to blockade the mouth of the Thames and land a landing (initially it was planned to participate in landing and French forces). On August 2, a fleet under the command of Monk and Prince Ruprecht came out of the Thames to meet them. His attack from the windward side on August 4 was unexpected: the Dutch sailors managed to weigh anchor too late, the vanguard, after the death of their commander, Lieutenant-Admiral Jan van Evertsen and other flagships, left the battlefield in disarray, and Tromp the Younger, arbitrarily starting at the head of the rearguard to pursue several enemy ships, completely mixed up the battle formation and himself almost fell under the crossfire of the English center and rearguard. Only Reuther, who masterfully ensured the retreat at dawn on August 5, managed to save his fleet from defeat and heavy losses. Appearing soon near the enemy coast, Monk destroyed more than a hundred and fifty Dutch merchant ships near the islands of Texel and Vli with a cargo of twelve million guilders and burned the seaside cities to the ground; his bloody August raid was interrupted by bad weather and the news that the French fleet entered the Strait - the same one that the Dutch had counted on joining two months ago - and Monk took his ships to English waters, preparing for defense. Meanwhile, de Beaufort's ships turned back from Dieppe - to the port of Brest, without taking part in a single battle.

  
  Admiral Tromp

  It is significant that the French, who at one time pointedly doubted the need to enter the war in connection with the Anglo-Dutch clash in Africa and did not want to help the Dutch in the Strait, where fierce battles were in full swing, nevertheless did not fail to take away from the British several weakly defended islands in West Indies - Tobago, St. Eustache and St. Christopher, which the British had won back from Holland shortly before - and completely ruin the English colonies of Antigua and Montferrat.

  To be continued.