The Battle of the Kentish Knock (or the Battle of the Zealand Approaches) was a naval battle between the fleets 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...

 and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, fought on 8 October 1652 New Style,( 28 September Old Style) during 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...

 near the shoal called the Kentish Knock 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...

 about thirty kilometres east of the mouth of the river Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

. The Dutch fleet, internally divided on political, regional and personal grounds, proved incapable of making a determined effort and was soon forced to withdraw, losing two ships and many casualties. In Dutch the action is called the Slag bij de Hoofden.

Battle

When the fleets finally met on 8 October, 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...

 had 62 ships and about 1900 cannon and 7000 men; 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...

 68 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...

 with about 2400 cannon and 10,000 men. The van of the Dutch fleet was to be commanded by 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 centre by De With himself and the rear by temporary Rear-Admiral Gideon de Wildt of the 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...

.

On the morning of 8 October the Dutch fleet, approaching from the east, had the previous evening been again scattered by a gale and was still dispersed when around noon it saw Blake coming out in force from the south. Having the weather gauge because of a south-southwestern breeze, Blake intended to exploit this excellent opportunity for a direct attack on the disordered Dutch.

Having hurriedly assembled his force around 14:30, with the exception of five vessels that had drifted too far to the north, De With now wanted to transfer his flag from the smaller Prinses Louise to the 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...

, Tromp's former flagship and the most powerful vessel of the Dutch fleet. However, to his mortification, Tromp's crew refused to let him onboard, addressing De With the invective 'green cheese' and even threatening to fire a salvo on his boat if he did not stop waving around his commission papers from the States-General: he had a very bad reputation among common sailors — indeed hundreds had already deserted when it became known he would be supreme commander. Zealandic Commodore Cornelis Evertsen the Elder

Cornelis Evertsen the Elder

Cornelis Evertsen the Elder was a Dutch admiral.Cornelis Evertsen the Elder was the son of Johan Evertsen and Maayken Jans; grandson of Evert Heindricxsen, a Watergeus, both commanders of men-of-war of the navy of Zealand....

, the brother of Johan Evertsen

Johan Evertsen

Johan Evertsen was a Dutch admiral from the 17th century.- Biography :Johan was the eldest surviving son of Johan Evertsen, known as Captain Jan, who died in 1617 fighting near La Rochelle against a French corsair...

, was called in to negotiate but to no avail. When the enemy fleet was within half a mile distance, De With was forced to hoist his flag on the large but slow VOC

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...

-ship Prins Willem where he found the majority of its officers drunk and the crew to be consisting of untrained men.

Action was joined at about 17:00 when Blake, himself moving his flag from the too large Sovereign

HMS Sovereign of the Seas

Sovereign of the Seas was a 17th century warship of the English Navy. She was ordered as a 90-gun first-rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, but at launch was armed with 102 bronze guns, at the insistence of the king...

 to the more manoeuvrable Resolution (former HMS Prince Royal

HMS Prince Royal (1610)

HMS Prince Royal was a 55-gun royal ship of the English Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett I at Woolwich and launched in 1610. She was the first ship of the line with three complete gun decks, although when first completed the upper deck carried no guns in the waist, and was stepped down aft because...

), engaged the Dutch. Blake intended to break the Dutch line, but on the approach of the English fleet the mass of Dutch ships began to give way to the east. At the same time the wind slackened considerably. As a result both fleets slowly passed each other in opposite tack. This was very unfavourable for the Dutch; normally being in a leeward position would have given them a longer range, but with such gentle winds this advantage was absent while the English ships were larger and better armed than their opponents, inflicting severe damage. Nevertheless some English ships at first got into trouble: the Sovereign and James ran aground on the Kentish Knock sandbank and only with much difficulty worked themselves free; the Resolution and the Dolphin, venturing too far forward, became isolated and surrounded but were saved by the encroachment by the other English vessels. The Prins Willem was disabled, meaning that De With was greatly hampered in his efforts to lead his forces. But soon, by 19:00, the fighting stopped due to the onset of darkness, the fleets just having finished this single manoeuvre. At this moment one Dutch ship, the Maria, had been captured while another captured ship, the Gorcum, was abandoned by the English in a sinking condition but re-occupied and saved by the Dutch. The Burgh van Alkmaar blew up. Several Dutch ships, their morale shaken by the devastating English fire, left their formation.

The next day, early in the morning, about ten Dutch ships, mostly commanded by captains from Zealand

Zeeland

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...

 who resented the domination of Holland and severely disliked De With, had broken off the engagement and simply sailed home. This is usually attributed to the fact that De With in the battle council in the morning of the second day had called all Zealandic captains cowards and had warned them that in Holland there was still sufficient wood left to erect gallows for any of them. The situation had become hopeless for the Dutch who now had 49 ships left in their fleet while the English fleet had during the night been reinforced to 84, yet De With still wanted to make a last effort.

On his directions the Dutch fleet, now positioned to the southeast of the English force, sailed farther south in the hope of gaining the weather gauge. This design failed however: first some ships, with difficulty beating up the wind, coursed too far to the west and were badly mauled by the fire of the English rear; and hardly had the Dutch fleet moved to its intended position when it all proved to have been in vain because the wind turned to the northeast, giving the English the weather gauge again. Michiel de Ruyter and Cornelis Evertsen now managed to convince De With to accept the inevitable and the Dutch fleet late in the afternoon withdrew to the east followed by Blake; as De With angrily described it: "like a herd of sheep fleeing the wolves". Assisted by a westerly De With and De Ruyter nicely covered the retreat with a dozen ships and the Dutch would not lose any more vessels.

The English fleet halted its pursuit when the Flemish shoals were reached; De With now decided to quickly repair the fleet at sea in the Wielingen basin and then make another attempt at defeating the enemy. This order was met with utter disbelief by his fellow flag officers. De Ruyter tactfully pointed out: "Such courage is too perilous". Understanding he was alone in his opinion De With at last agreed to withdraw the fleet to Hellevoetsluis

Hellevoetsluis

Hellevoetsluis is a small city and municipality on Voorne-Putten Island in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland...

, where it arrived on 12 October.

Aftermath

The Dutch recognized after their defeat that they needed larger ships to take on the English, and instituted a major building program that never really came to pass until the Second Anglo-Dutch War

Second Anglo-Dutch War

The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....

. According to De With this, besides a lack of a sufficient number of fireships, had been the main cause of the Dutch failure; he pointed out that many a light English frigate could outshoot the average Dutch warship. However according to public opinion there was only one to blame for the defeat: De With himself. As one of the more polite pamphlet

Pamphlet

A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...

s put it, a week after the battle:

From this disorder and unwillingness to fight it can be seen and noticed what difference it makes whether one has or appoints a Head of a fleet who is judicious, polite and popular — or whether one imposes on the men a Head who is unloved, despised by the men and unsavoury to them. Vice-Admiral De Witt is, we all know this, an excellent soldier and bold Sailor, who fears no danger, nor even death itself. Likewise Commodore de Ruyter is an audacious and fearless Hero, who would not hesitate to engage the worst of enemies, heeding no danger. Notwithstanding all of this, we also know that Admiral Tromp possesses all these same qualities; and besides these uncommon virtues: of being an extraordinary careful, Godfearing and virtuous man who does not call his men dogs, devils, or devil's brood; but children, friends, comrades and similar loving and endearing words to address them with. By which he so much endears those serving under him that they, as they say, would go through fire for him and risk their lives, yes, by manner of speech, would not hesitate to fight the devil. If such a loved and respected Head is then kept from the fleet and replaced by those who displease the men, now it is shown what calamity and disaster this brings with it.

The same evening of the 12th the States-General learned of the defeat, they sent a letter to both Tromp and Johan Evertsen, asking them to return.

The English believed that the Dutch had been all but defeated, and sent twenty ships away to the Mediterranean, a mistake that led to a defeat at the Battle of Dungeness

Battle of Dungeness

The naval Battle of Dungeness took place on 10 December 1652 during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the cape of Dungeness in Kent.- Background :...

 but didn't prevent the defeat of the not yet reinforced English Mediterrenean fleet at the Battle of Leghorn

Battle of Leghorn

The naval Battle of Leghorn took place on 14 March 1653, during the First Anglo-Dutch War, near Leghorn , Italy. It was a victory of a Dutch fleet under Commodore Johan van Galen over an English squadron under Captain Henry Appleton...

. In the former battle the Dutch were led again by Tromp; De With had suffered a mental breakdown and would be officially replaced as supreme commander in May 1653.

Literature

• J.C.M.Warnsinck, 1977, Drie 17e-Eeuwse Admiraals — Piet Heyn — Witte de With — Jan Evertsen, Rotterdam

Ship lists

No complete lists exist and especially the order of battle of the English fleet is poorly known. The Dutch list differs in detail from particular lists of ships from late September 1652 from Witte de With's journal and other archival sources. Known ships include:

England (Robert Blake)

Sovereign 90

Resolution 88

James 66

Triumph 60

Vanguard 58

Andrew 56

Speaker 54

Lion 50

Convertine 44

Garland 44

Advice 42

Diamond 42

Foresight 42

Pelican 42

Ruby 42

Assistance 40

Assurance 40

Dragon 40

London 40 (hired merchantman)

Nonsuch 40

President 40

Richard and Martha 40 (hired merchantman)

Portsmouth 38

Anthony Bonaventure 36 (hired merchantman)

Hound 36 (ex-?)

Guinea 34

Hercules 34 (hired merchantman)

Lisbon Merchant 34 (hired merchantman)

Convert 32 (ex-French)

Mary 32 (flyboat)

Exchange 30 (hired merchantman)

Cullen 28 (hired merchantman)

Prudent Mary 28 (hired merchantman)

Advantage 26 (ex-Dutch)

Falmouth 26 (ex-Dutch)

Sampson 26 (ex-Dutch)

Martha 25 (hired merchantman)

Golden Dove 24 (hired merchantman)

Old Warwick 24

Pearl 24

Acorn 22 (hired merchantman)

Cygnet 22

Little President 22

Nightingale 22

Gift 16+ (hired merchant pink)

Paradox 12

Renown 10 (fireship)

Dutch Republic (Witte de With)

United Provinces
Ship name	Commander	Guns	Notes
Brederode	Abel Roelantsz	54	Admiralty of the Maze
Prins Willem	Vice-Admiral De With, flagcaptain Jacob Gaeuw	56	Middelburg Chamber of the VOC
Henriëtte Louise or Prinses Louijse	Commodore 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... , flagcaptain Pieter Marcussen	48	Middelburg Chamber of the VOC
Vrede	acting Rear-Admiral Gideon de Wildt	42	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...
Aartsengel Michiel	Emmanuel Zalingen	40	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Graaf Willem	Rear-Admiral Jan Gideonszoon Verburgh	40	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Groningen	Abraham van der Hulst	40	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Vogelstruys	Douwe Aukes	40	Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC
Vrede	Pieter Salomonszoon	30 (also 40)	Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC
Prins te Paerd or Prins	Corstiaen Corstiaensen	38	Rotterdam Directorate
Drie Coningen	Lucas Aelbrechtssen or Albertszoon	36	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Engel Gabriël	Isaac Sweers	36	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Prinses Louise	De With on second day	36	Admiralty of the Maze or Rotterdam
Zeelandia	Lieutenant-commandeur Nicolaes Marrevelt	36	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Hollandia	Albert Claessen de Graeff	32	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Amsterdam	Adriaan Kempen	30	Admiralty of Zealand 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....
Faeme	Cornelis Loncke	30	Admiralty of Zealand
Gorcum	Jan Jacobsen van Nes, schipper Willem Arentsz Warmont	30	Admiralty of the Maze or Rotterdam; captured and recaptured
Gouden Leeuw	Jacob Adriaensen Penssen	30	Middelburg Directorate
Haes in 't Veldt	Leendert den Haen	30	Stad Middelburg
Haes	Bastiaen Centsen	30	Vlissingen Directors
Liefde	Frans Crijssen Mangelaer	30	Z
Maria	Claes Sael	30	Admiralty of Amsterdam; captured
Wapen van Enckhuysen	Gerrit Femssen	30	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:...
Witte Lam	Cornelis van Houten	30	Amsterdam Directorate
Arke Troijane	Abraham van Campen	28	Amsterdam Directorate
Breda	acting Rear-Admiral Adriaan Bruynsveld	28	Admiralty of Friesland Admiralty of Friesland The Admiralty of Friesland or Frisian Admiralty was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic...
Zeeuwsche Leeuw	Commodore Cornelis Evertsen the Elder Cornelis Evertsen the Elder Cornelis Evertsen the Elder was a Dutch admiral.Cornelis Evertsen the Elder was the son of Johan Evertsen and Maayken Jans; grandson of Evert Heindricxsen, a Watergeus, both commanders of men-of-war of the navy of Zealand....	28	Admiralty of Zealand
Campen	Joris van der Zaen	40	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Gelderland	Cornelis van Velsen	28	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Gouda	Jan Egbertsen Ooms	28	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Leyden	Cornelis Holla	28	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Prins Maurits	Cornelis Pietersen Taenman	28	Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier
Sint Franscisco	Stoffel Juriaenssen	28	Amsterdam Directorate
Sint Pieter	lieutenant-commandeur Jan Janssen van der Valck	28	Rotterdam Directorate
Star	Jacob Paulussen Cort	28	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Westergo	lieutenant-commandeur Tijmen Claessen	28	Admiralty of Friesland
Zeeridder	Gilles Janssen	28	Admiralty of Zealand
Zutphen	Ewout Jeroensen	28	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Dubbele Arend	Allert Janssen, luitenant Teunis Post	26	Vlissingen Directorate
Kasteel van Medemblick	Gabriël Antheunissen	26	Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier
Sint Jan	Laurens Lispensier	26	Admiralty of Zealand
Ter Goes	Cornelis Cuyper	26	Admiralty of Zealand
Achilles	Dirk Schey	28	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Burgh van Alkmaer or Wapen van Alkmaer	Gerrit Nobel	28	Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier; blown up
Hector van Troijen	Reinier Sekema	24	Admiralty of Friesland
Hollandsche Tuyn	Hilbrandt Jeroensen	24	Admiralty of Amsterdam
Monnick	Arent Dircksen	24	Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier
Sandenburg	Pieter Gorcum	24	Admiralty of Zealand
Frisia	Schelte Wiglema	28	Admiralty of Friesland
Eenhoorn	Laurens Josiassen		fireship
Graaf Sonderlandt	Hendrick Janssen		fireship
Vergulde Buys	Ary Cornelissen		F; fireship
Vos	Jan Jacobsen		fireship