Battle of Plymouth
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Plymouth was a naval battle
in the First Anglo-Dutch War
. It took place on 26 August 1652 (New Style, 16 August Old Style) and was a short battle, but had the unexpected outcome of a Dutch victory over England. General-at-Sea George Ayscue
of the Commonwealth of England
attacked an outward bound convoy of the Dutch Republic
commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter
. The two commanders had been personal friends before the war.
The Dutch were able to force Ayscue to break off the engagement, and the Dutch convoy sailed safely to the Atlantic while Ayscue sailed to Plymouth for repairs.
, to escort a large convoy. Around the 10th of August, De Ruyter took sea before the merchantmen had arrived, to seek out an English fleet of forty ships, commanded by Ayscue, which he knew had left The Downs
on 29 July. De Ruyter's squadron at that moment consisted of 23 warships and six fireships, with a total of about 600 cannon and 1700 men. As De Ruyter reported to the States-General of the Netherlands
, most crews were badly trained, many ships poorly maintained and he had just two months of supplies. Nevertheless he preferred to give battle early without the burden of having to protect the convoy.
Reaching the English Channel
, he soon discovered that Ayscue was not interested in fighting the Dutch squadron, but avoided it in the hope of intercepting the convoy. To lure Ayscue out De Ruyter started to cruise off the coast of Sussex
, causing an uproar with the local population, but Ayscue, despite his fleet having grown to 42 ships, did not react. Meanwhile De Ruyter had lost two ships, sent out to escort a single incoming merchantman to the mouth of the Somme
river, when they collided, sinking one, the Sint Nicolaes, and severely damaging the other, Gelderlandt.
On 21 August De Ruyter at last did rendezvous with the convoy of sixty merchantmen off Gravelines
in the southern North Sea. He was pleased to notice that it brought ten warships with it, bringing his total to 31. On 23 August De Ruyter re-entered the Channel near Calais
. His instructions were to escort the convoy to the Atlantic; there most ships would head for the Mediterranean together with their ten escorts, while the original squadron would have to wait to pick-up merchantmen coming from the West Indies and transporting silver. Ayscue's fleet had then grown to 47 vessels: 38 men-of-war, among which armed merchantmen; five fireships, and four smaller vessels.
, and took sea. Ayscue the next day, off the coast of Brittany
, around 13:30 attempted a direct attack from the north against the convoy, having the weather gauge. He hoped it would scatter, allowing him to capture some very profitable prizes, but De Ruyter unexpectedly separated his naval squadron and changed course in order to meet Ayscue’s attack, shielding the merchantmen. Ayscue’s ships were on average more heavily armed, but extremely disorganised because the fastest vessels, among them Ayscue's flagship the George and the Vanguard of his vice-admiral William Haddock, had broken formation in the hope of catching, during a running battle, straggling Dutch merchantmen; they were now unable to form a line of battle and fully exploit their advantage in firepower over the Dutch. The Dutch squadron however, sailing to the northwest, was in a rough defensive leeward line formation, with the Frisian acting Rear-Admiral Joris Pieterszoon van den Broeck commanding the van, De Ruyter himself commanding the centre and Hollandic Rear-Admiral Jan Aertsen Verhoeff commanding the rear. Around 16:00 the Dutch fleet and seven forward English vessels met and almost immediately passed through each other — both sides afterwards claiming to have "broken the enemy line". Having thus gained the weather gauge the Dutch at once exploited this by turning and attacking from the north. They would describe this as a second breaking of the line but probably the battle soon degenerated into a confusing mêlée. With their best ships now surrounded by the mass of Dutch vessels and bearing the brunt of the fight, the slower remainder of the English fleet, largely consisting of poorly trained hired merchantmen, was, reaching the scene of the battle, not overly zealous to get involved. Their numerical superiority thus also gained the English little.
The largest Dutch vessel, the Dutch East India Company
warship Vogelstruys, by Dutch standards heavily armed with a lower tier of 18-pounders, got separated from the rest of the Dutch fleet and was attacked by three English ships at once and boarded. Her crew was close to surrendering when her captain, the Frisian Douwe Aukes
, threatened to blow her up first. Faced with this alternative the crew rallied, drove off the English boarding team and put up such a fight that the English vessels, much damaged and two even in a sinking condition, broke off the attack. The Dutch employed their favourite tactic of disabling enemy vessels by firing at their masts and rigging with chain shot; at the end of the afternoon Ayscue, feeling rather unsupported, decided to break off the unsuccessful engagement and to retreat to Plymouth to repair his ships before any became so damaged they would be captured. The Bonadventure could only disengage after an English fireship, the Charity commanded by Captain Simon Orton, set itself alight and frightened off the attacking Dutch vessels. De Ruyter in his journal concluded:
Neither side lost a warship, but both sides suffered heavy casualties among their crews. The Dutch had about sixty dead and fifty wounded. The reports on the English losses differ: one set the number as high as seven hundred casualties including the wounded (most from the failed attack on the Vogelstruys), another mentioned 91 dead, among them Ayscue's flag captain Thomas Lisle. Rear-Admiral Michael Pack had a leg amputated and shortly afterwards died of the complications. The English spent one fireship.
De Ruyter pursued the English fleet after its retreat. On the morning of the next day both forces transpired to be still close to each other and De Ruyter hoped by aggressively pursuing to capture some stragglers; several English ships were in tow and might well be abandoned if he pressed hard enough. However Ayscue, fearing for his reputation, on 27 August convinced the English council of war to again give battle if necessary and brought his entire force safely back to Plymouth on 28 August. De Ruyter then sent two warships to escort the merchant fleet through the Channel to the Atlantic. For a while he considered trying to attack the enemy fleet at anchorage in Plymouth Sound
, but in the end decided against it as he did not have the weather gauge. Then hearing that General-at-Sea Robert Blake
was sailing to the west with a superior force of 72, he chose to withdraw to the west and kept assembling incoming West Indies ships throughout September. On 25 September Blake had reached Portland and sent out a squadron of eighteen sail commanded by William Penn
to intercept De Ruyter, but the latter escaped east along the French coast while Blake had been forced by a storm to seek shelter in Torbay
. De Ruyter escorted twelve merchantmen safely to Calais on 2 October when his supplies had nearly run out. In October nine or ten of the Dutch ships, among them De Ruyter's flagship the Kleine Neptunis, then had to return to port for repairs, probably because of insufficiently repaired damage from the battle.
ing campaign, allowing them to gain riches at the expense of the Dutch; only with the Battle of the Gabbard
would they really try to establish naval dominion.
This victory was very important to the naval career of De Ruyter: it was the first time he commanded an independent force as a fleet commander. Before, he only had had subcommand of a flotilla aiding Portugal in 1641. As a result of the battle he acquired the nickname The Sea Lion. Before he could return home, De Ruyter was first involved in the Battle of the Kentish Knock
but arriving in Middelburg
he was received by the States of Zealand and rewarded with a golden honorary chain of a hundred Flemish pounds for both battles because he in the first had shown "masculine courage" and in the second "courageous prudence" — having convinced Witte de With to a timely retreat.
Ships marked * are probables.
Naval battle
A naval battle is a battle fought using boats, ships or other waterborne vessels. Most naval battles have occurred at sea, but a few have taken place on lakes or rivers. The earliest recorded naval battle took place in 1210 BC near Cyprus...
in 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...
. It took place on 26 August 1652 (New Style, 16 August Old Style) and was a short battle, but had the unexpected outcome of a Dutch victory over England. General-at-Sea 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...
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...
attacked an outward bound convoy of the Dutch Republic
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...
commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably...
. The two commanders had been personal friends before the war.
The Dutch were able to force Ayscue to break off the engagement, and the Dutch convoy sailed safely to the Atlantic while Ayscue sailed to Plymouth for repairs.
Background
On 29 July De Ruyter was appointed Vice-Commodore, an originally Dutch creation between Captain and Rear-Admiral, with the confederate Dutch fleet and shortly after took over command, in the absence of Vice-Admiral Witte de With, of a squadron assembling in the Wielingen, off the coast of ZealandZeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
, to escort a large convoy. Around the 10th of August, De Ruyter took sea before the merchantmen had arrived, to seek out an English fleet of forty ships, commanded by Ayscue, which he knew had left The Downs
The Downs
The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...
on 29 July. De Ruyter's squadron at that moment consisted of 23 warships and six fireships, with a total of about 600 cannon and 1700 men. As De Ruyter reported to the States-General of the Netherlands
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
, most crews were badly trained, many ships poorly maintained and he had just two months of supplies. Nevertheless he preferred to give battle early without the burden of having to protect the convoy.
Reaching the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, he soon discovered that Ayscue was not interested in fighting the Dutch squadron, but avoided it in the hope of intercepting the convoy. To lure Ayscue out De Ruyter started to cruise off the coast of Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, causing an uproar with the local population, but Ayscue, despite his fleet having grown to 42 ships, did not react. Meanwhile De Ruyter had lost two ships, sent out to escort a single incoming merchantman to the mouth of the Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
river, when they collided, sinking one, the Sint Nicolaes, and severely damaging the other, Gelderlandt.
On 21 August De Ruyter at last did rendezvous with the convoy of sixty merchantmen off Gravelines
Gravelines
Gravelines is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies at the mouth of the river Aa 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. There is a market in the town square on Saturdays. The "Arsenal" approached from the town square is home to an extensive and carefully displayed art collection....
in the southern North Sea. He was pleased to notice that it brought ten warships with it, bringing his total to 31. On 23 August De Ruyter re-entered the Channel near Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
. His instructions were to escort the convoy to the Atlantic; there most ships would head for the Mediterranean together with their ten escorts, while the original squadron would have to wait to pick-up merchantmen coming from the West Indies and transporting silver. Ayscue's fleet had then grown to 47 vessels: 38 men-of-war, among which armed merchantmen; five fireships, and four smaller vessels.
Battle
On 25 August, the English spotted the Dutch fleet off the coast of PlymouthPlymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, and took sea. Ayscue the next day, off the coast of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, around 13:30 attempted a direct attack from the north against the convoy, having the weather gauge. He hoped it would scatter, allowing him to capture some very profitable prizes, but De Ruyter unexpectedly separated his naval squadron and changed course in order to meet Ayscue’s attack, shielding the merchantmen. Ayscue’s ships were on average more heavily armed, but extremely disorganised because the fastest vessels, among them Ayscue's flagship the George and the Vanguard of his vice-admiral William Haddock, had broken formation in the hope of catching, during a running battle, straggling Dutch merchantmen; they were now unable to form a line of battle and fully exploit their advantage in firepower over the Dutch. The Dutch squadron however, sailing to the northwest, was in a rough defensive leeward line formation, with the Frisian acting Rear-Admiral Joris Pieterszoon van den Broeck commanding the van, De Ruyter himself commanding the centre and Hollandic Rear-Admiral Jan Aertsen Verhoeff commanding the rear. Around 16:00 the Dutch fleet and seven forward English vessels met and almost immediately passed through each other — both sides afterwards claiming to have "broken the enemy line". Having thus gained the weather gauge the Dutch at once exploited this by turning and attacking from the north. They would describe this as a second breaking of the line but probably the battle soon degenerated into a confusing mêlée. With their best ships now surrounded by the mass of Dutch vessels and bearing the brunt of the fight, the slower remainder of the English fleet, largely consisting of poorly trained hired merchantmen, was, reaching the scene of the battle, not overly zealous to get involved. Their numerical superiority thus also gained the English little.
The largest Dutch vessel, the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
warship Vogelstruys, by Dutch standards heavily armed with a lower tier of 18-pounders, got separated from the rest of the Dutch fleet and was attacked by three English ships at once and boarded. Her crew was close to surrendering when her captain, the Frisian Douwe Aukes
Douwe Aukes
Douwe Aukes was a Frisian sea captain of the Dutch East India Company or VOC. The Douwe Aukes class minelayer and its name-ship the HNLMS Douwe Aukes were named after him.-Life:He was the son of another VOC captain, also called Douwe Aukes...
, threatened to blow her up first. Faced with this alternative the crew rallied, drove off the English boarding team and put up such a fight that the English vessels, much damaged and two even in a sinking condition, broke off the attack. The Dutch employed their favourite tactic of disabling enemy vessels by firing at their masts and rigging with chain shot; at the end of the afternoon Ayscue, feeling rather unsupported, decided to break off the unsuccessful engagement and to retreat to Plymouth to repair his ships before any became so damaged they would be captured. The Bonadventure could only disengage after an English fireship, the Charity commanded by Captain Simon Orton, set itself alight and frightened off the attacking Dutch vessels. De Ruyter in his journal concluded:
- If our fireships had been with us — they remained leeward — we would with the help of God have routed the enemy; but praised be God who has blessed us in that our enemy fled by himself, though 45 sails strong and of great force
Neither side lost a warship, but both sides suffered heavy casualties among their crews. The Dutch had about sixty dead and fifty wounded. The reports on the English losses differ: one set the number as high as seven hundred casualties including the wounded (most from the failed attack on the Vogelstruys), another mentioned 91 dead, among them Ayscue's flag captain Thomas Lisle. Rear-Admiral Michael Pack had a leg amputated and shortly afterwards died of the complications. The English spent one fireship.
De Ruyter pursued the English fleet after its retreat. On the morning of the next day both forces transpired to be still close to each other and De Ruyter hoped by aggressively pursuing to capture some stragglers; several English ships were in tow and might well be abandoned if he pressed hard enough. However Ayscue, fearing for his reputation, on 27 August convinced the English council of war to again give battle if necessary and brought his entire force safely back to Plymouth on 28 August. De Ruyter then sent two warships to escort the merchant fleet through the Channel to the Atlantic. For a while he considered trying to attack the enemy fleet at anchorage in Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical miles...
, but in the end decided against it as he did not have the weather gauge. Then hearing that 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...
was sailing to the west with a superior force of 72, he chose to withdraw to the west and kept assembling incoming West Indies ships throughout September. On 25 September Blake had reached Portland and sent out a squadron of eighteen sail commanded by William Penn
William Penn (admiral)
Sir William Penn was an English admiral, and the father of William Penn, founder of the Province of Pennsylvania....
to intercept De Ruyter, but the latter escaped east along the French coast while Blake had been forced by a storm to seek shelter in Torbay
Torbay
Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Part of the ceremonial county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998...
. De Ruyter escorted twelve merchantmen safely to Calais on 2 October when his supplies had nearly run out. In October nine or ten of the Dutch ships, among them De Ruyter's flagship the Kleine Neptunis, then had to return to port for repairs, probably because of insufficiently repaired damage from the battle.
Loss of prestige for the English and the beginning of fame for De Ruyter
The English ships had expected to easily defeat the Dutch in a set battle because of their superiority in armament and numbers. While the failure came as an unpleasant surprise to the English, the Dutch populace rejoiced in the tactical draw, hailing De Ruyter, who had not been well known among the larger public, as a naval hero. The English accused some merchantmen captains of cowardice. Ayscue was blamed for poor leadership and organisation: his attempt to present the encounter as a victory failed to convince. He lost command after this battle, though probably for political reasons: he had known royalist sympathies. Less important was his emphasis on capturing prizes while avoiding battle; in the first year of the war this was a very common attitude, the English mainly seeing the conflict as one large privateerPrivateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
ing campaign, allowing them to gain riches at the expense of the Dutch; only with the Battle of the Gabbard
Battle of the Gabbard
The naval Battle of the Gabbard, also known as the Battle of Gabbard Bank, the Battle of the North Foreland or the second Battle of Nieuwpoort took place on 2–3 June 1653 according to the Old Style of Julian calendar then used in England during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the Gabbard...
would they really try to establish naval dominion.
This victory was very important to the naval career of De Ruyter: it was the first time he commanded an independent force as a fleet commander. Before, he only had had subcommand of a flotilla aiding Portugal in 1641. As a result of the battle he acquired the nickname The Sea Lion. Before he could return home, De Ruyter was first involved in the Battle of the Kentish Knock
Battle of the Kentish Knock
The Battle of the Kentish Knock was a naval battle between the fleets of the Dutch Republic and England, fought on 8 October 1652 New Style, during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the shoal called the Kentish Knock in the North Sea about thirty kilometres east of the mouth of the river Thames...
but arriving in Middelburg
Middelburg
Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...
he was received by the States of Zealand and rewarded with a golden honorary chain of a hundred Flemish pounds for both battles because he in the first had shown "masculine courage" and in the second "courageous prudence" — having convinced Witte de With to a timely retreat.
Ships involved
No full list exists, and especially the English order of battle is poorly known; the following are lists of known participants, with the Dutch list being the one still extant and containing the names of the original 23 warships and six fireships with which De Ruyter sailed from the WielingenUnited Provinces
| Ship name | Commander | Guns | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vogelstruys | Douwe Aukes Douwe Aukes Douwe Aukes was a Frisian sea captain of the Dutch East India Company or VOC. The Douwe Aukes class minelayer and its name-ship the HNLMS Douwe Aukes were named after him.-Life:He was the son of another VOC captain, also called Douwe Aukes... |
40 | VOC-ship |
| Vrede | Pieter Salomonszoon | 40 | VOC-ship |
| Haes in 't Veldt | Leendert den Haen | 30 | Zealand directory ship |
| Sint Nicolaes | Andries van den Boeckhorst | 23 | Frisian admiralty Admiralty of Friesland The Admiralty of Friesland or Frisian Admiralty was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic... ; sunk in earlier Somme collision |
| Liefde | Joost Banckert de Jonge | 26 | Zealand admiralty Admiralty of Zeeland The Admiralty of Zeeland was one of the five admiralties of the navy of the Dutch Republic, made up of Zeeland. One of its famous admirals was Joost Banckert. This and the other admiralties were disestablished in 1795.... |
| Kleine Neptunis | Michiel de Ruyter | 28 | Z; flagcaptain Jan Pauwelszoon |
| Albertina | Rombout van der Parre | 24 | F |
| Sint Pieter | Jan Janszoon van der Valck | 28 | Admiralty of the Maze |
| Westergo | Joris Pieterszoon van den Broecke | 28 | F; second in command |
| Engel Michiel | Emmanuel Zalingen | 40 | Admiralty of Amsterdam 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... |
| Drie Coningen | Lucas Albertszoon | 38 | A |
| Gelderland | Cornelis van Velsen | 28 | M; damaged in Somme collision |
| Graaf Hendrik | Jan Renderszoon Wagenaer | 30 | F |
| Wapen van Swieten | Jacob Sichelszoon | 28 | Z |
| Kasteel van Medemblick | Gabriel Antheunissen | 26 | Admiralty of the Northern Quarter Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier The Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier , also known as the Admiralty of West Friesland, was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic, made up of West Friesland and part of northern Holland.-History:... |
| Westcapelle | Cleas Janszoon Sanger | 26 | Z |
| Eendraght | Andries Fortuijn | 24 | M |
| Amsterdam | Simon van der Aeck | 36 | A |
| Faeme | Cornelis Loncke | 36 | Z |
| Schaepherder | Albert Pieterszoon Quaboer | 28 | F |
| Sarah | Hans Karelszoon Becke | 24 | F |
| Hector van Troye | Reinier Sekema | 24 | F |
| Rotterdam | Jan Arentsen Verhaeff | 26 | M; third in command |
| Hoop | Thomas Janszoon Dijck | A; fireship | |
| Amsterdam | Jan Overbeecke | fireship | |
| Gekroonde Liefde | Jacob Herman Visser | Z; fireship | |
| Orangieboom | Leendert Arendszoon de Jager | A; fireship | |
| Sinte Maria | Jan Cleaszoon Corff | A; fireship | |
| Goude Saele | Cornelis Beecke | A; fireship | |
England (George Ayscue)
- George 52 (flag)
- Amity 36 (Rear-Admiral Michael Pack)
- Success 30 (merchantman)
- Ruth 30 (merchantman)
- Brazil frigate 24 (merchantman)
- Malaga Merchant 30 (merchantman)
- Increase 36 (merchantman, Thomas Varvell)
- Vanguard 46 (Vice-Admiral William Haddock)
- Success 36 (William Kendall)
- Pelican 42 (Joseph Jordan)
- Pearl* 24 (Roger Cuttance)
- John and Elizabeth* 26 (merchantman)
- George Bonaventure* 20 (merchantman, John Crampe)
- Anthony Bonaventure 36 (merchantman, Walter Hoxon)
- Unity (merchantman)
- Maidenhead 36 (merchantman)
- Constant Anne (ketch)
- Bachelor (ketch)
- Charity (fireship, Simon Orton) - Expended
Ships marked * are probables.