The naval Battle of Goodwin Sands (also known as the Battle of Dover), fought on 29 May 1652 (19 May 1652 in the Julian Calendar then used in England), was the first engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War

First Anglo-Dutch War

The First Anglo–Dutch War was the first of the four Anglo–Dutch Wars. It was fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Caused by disputes over trade, the war began with English attacks on Dutch merchant shipping, but...

 between the navies of the Commonwealth of England

Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...

 and the United Provinces

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

 of the Netherlands.

Background

The English Parliament had passed the first of the Navigation Acts

Navigation Acts

The English Navigation Acts were a series of laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade between England and its colonies, a process which had started in 1651. Their goal was to force colonial development into lines favorable to England, and stop direct colonial trade with the...

 in October 1651, aimed at hampering the shipping of the highly trade-dependent Dutch. Agitation among the Dutch merchants had been further increased by George Ayscue

George Ayscue

Admiral Sir George Ayscue was an English naval officer who served in the Civil War and the Anglo-Dutch Wars.In 1648, during the Civil War, while serving as a captain in the navy of the English Parliament, he prevented the fleet from defecting to the Royalists, and was promoted to General at Sea...

's capture in early 1652 of 27 Dutch ships trading with the royalist colony of Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

 in contravention of an embargo. Both sides had begun to prepare for war, but conflict might have been delayed if not for an unfortunate encounter on 29 May 1652 (19 May in the Julian calendar

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...

 then in use in England) near the Straits of Dover between a Dutch convoy escorted by 40 ships under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp

Maarten Tromp

Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp was an officer and later admiral in the Dutch navy. His first name is also spelled as Maerten.-Early life:...

 and an English fleet of 25 ships under General-at-Sea Robert Blake

Robert Blake (admiral)

Robert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England's naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into...

.

Battle

An ordinance of Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

 required all foreign fleets in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 or the Channel to dip their flag in salute, but when Tromp did not comply because he saw no reason to lower his flag for the English, Blake fired three warning shots. When the third hit his ship, wounding some sailors, Tromp replied with a warning broadside from his flagship Brederode

Dutch ship Brederode

Brederode was a ship of the line of the navy of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the flagship of the Dutch fleet in the First Anglo-Dutch War. Throughout her career, she carried from 53-59 guns...

. Blake then fired a broadside in anger and a five hour battle ensued.

Aftermath

Both fleets were damaged, but as darkness fell the Dutch fleet withdrew in a defensive line to protect the convoy, and the English captured two Dutch stragglers: Sint Laurens, which was taken back by them but not used, and Sint Maria, which was abandoned in a sinking condition and later made its way to the Netherlands. Tromp then offered his excuses to Blake and asked for the return of the prize, but this was refused by Blake.

War was declared by the Commonwealth on 10 July 1652.

England (Robert Blake)

Anthony Young's squadron:

President 36 (Anthony Young)

Nightingale 24 (Jacob Reynolds)

Recovery 24 (Edmund Chapman)

Robert Blake's squadron in Rye Bay:

James 60 (flag, Robert Blake, captain John Gilson)

Victory 52 (Lionel Lane)

Garland 44 (John Gibbs)

Speaker 52 (John Coppin)

Ruby 42 (Anthony Houlding)

Sapphire 38 (Robert Moulton, Jr)

Worcester 42 (Charles Thorowgood)

Star 24 (Robert Saunders)

Portsmouth 36 (William Brandley)

Martin 12

Mermaid 24 (Richard Stayner)

Ruben 26 (merchantman)

3 small

Nehemiah Bourne's squadron in the Downs:

Andrew 56 (Nehemiah Bourne)

Triumph 62 (William Penn) - Ashore during the battle

Fairfax 52 (John Lawson)

Entrance 44

Centurion 36

Adventuree 36 (Andrew Ball)

Assurance 40 (Benjamin Blake)

Greyhound 20 (Henry Southwood)

Seven Brothers 26 (hired merchantman, Robert Land)

The Netherlands (Maarten Tromp)

Convoyers:

Groningen 38 (Joris van der Zaan)

Zeelandia 34 (Jacob Huyrluyt)

The fleet in The Downs: AD - Amsterdam Admiralty and Directors' ships, MD - Middelburg Admiralty and Directors, NKA - Noorder-Kwartier Admiralty, RD - Rotterdam Admiralty, VD - Vlissingen Directors

Van:

Brederode

Dutch ship Brederode

Brederode was a ship of the line of the navy of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the flagship of the Dutch fleet in the First Anglo-Dutch War. Throughout her career, she carried from 53-59 guns...

54 (Maarten Tromp, Admiral, RD)

Alexander 28 (Jan Maijkers, AD)

Blauwen Arend 28 (Dirck Pater, AD)

Sint Salvador 34 (Matheeus Corneliszoon, AD)

Vliegende Faam 28 (Jacob Corneliszoon Swart, AD)

Arche Troijane 28 (Abraham van Kampen, AD)

Kroon Imperiaal 34 (Cornelis Janszoon Poort, AD)

Valck 28 (Cornelis Janszoon Brouwer, AD)

Prinses Roijaal 28 (Maarten de Graeff, AD)

Neptunis 34 (Gerrit van Lummen, AD)

Sint Matheeus 34 (Cornelis Naeuoogh, AD)

Prins Maurits 34 (Nicolaes de With, AD)

Rozeboom 28 (Gerrit Schuyt, AD)

Engel Gabriel 28 (Bastiaan Bardoel, AD)

Witte Lam 28 (Cornelis van Houten, AD)

Gideon van Sardam 34 (Hector Bardesius, AD)

Sint Francisco 28 (Stoffel Juriaenszoon, AD)

David en Goliad 34 (Claes Bastiaenszoon Jaarsveld, AD)

Elias 34 (Jacob Sijvertsen Spanheijm, AD)

Zwarte Leeuw 28 (Hendrik de Raedt, AD)

Sint Maria 28 (Sipke Fockes, AD) - Captured but abandoned and recaptured

Groote Liefde 38 (Bruyn van Seelst, AD)

Nassouw van den Burgh 34 (Lambert Pieterszoon, AD)

Groote Vergulde Fortuijn 35 (Frederick de Coninck, AD)

Engel Michiel 28 (Fredrick Bogaart, AD)

Vergulde Haan 30 (Jan le Sage, MD)

Goude Leeuw 30 (Jacob Penssen, MD)

Leeuwinne 30 (Joannes van Regermorter, MD)

Sint Laurens 30 (Bastiaan Tuynemans, MD) - Captured

Witte Lam 32 (Jan Tijssen Matheeus, VD)

Rear:

Monnikendam 32 (Pieter Florissen, Rear Admiral, NKA)

Wapen van Hoorn 24 (Pieter Aldertszoon, NKA)

Prins Maurits 28 (Cornelis Pieterszoon Taenman, NKA)

Monnikendam 24 (Arent Dirckszoon, NKA)

Wapen van Enkhuizen 30 (Gerrit Femssen, NKA)

Wapen van Alkmaar 28 (Gerrit Nobel, NKA)

Roode Leeuw 24 (Reynst Corneliszoon Sevenhuysen, NKA)

Peereboom 24 (Tijs Sijmonszoon Peereboom, NKA)

Huis van Nassau 28 (Gerrit Munth, NKA)

Alkmaar 28 (Jan Warnaertszoon Capelman, NKA)

Sampson 26 (Willem Ham, NKA)

Stad van Medemblik 26 (Pieter Schellinger, NKA)