Battle Of The Kentish Knock
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The Battle of the Kentish Knock (or the Battle of the Zealand Approaches) was a naval battle between the fleets of the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, fought on 28 September 1652 (8 October
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
), during the
First Anglo-Dutch War The First Anglo-Dutch War, or First Dutch War, was a naval conflict between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic. Largely caused by disputes over trade, it began with English attacks on Dutch merchant shipping, but expanded to vast ...
near the shoal called the Kentish Knock in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
about thirty kilometres east of the mouth of the
river Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
. 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''.


Backgrounds

Dutch Lieutenant-Admiral
Maarten Tromp Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp or Maarten van Tromp (23 April 1598 – 31 July 1653) was an army general and admiral in the Dutch navy during much of the Eighty Years' War and throughout the First Anglo-Dutch War. Son of a ship's captain, Tromp spe ...
had been suspended by the
States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States General originated i ...
after his failure to bring the English to battle off the
Shetland Islands Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the Uni ...
in August, and replaced as supreme commander of the confederate Dutch fleet by the Hollandic Vice-Admiral
Witte de With Witte Corneliszoon de With (28 March 1599 – 8 November 1658) was a Dutch States Navy officer who served during the Eighty Years' War and the First Anglo-Dutch War. Early life and childhood De With was born on a farmstead in the hamlet of ...
of the
Admiralty of the Maze The Admiralty of Rotterdam, also called the Admiralty of de Maze, was one of the five Dutch admiralties in the Dutch Republic. History The Admiralty of Rotterdam was founded in 1574 during the Dutch Revolt, when (after the Capture of Brielle) ...
. This caused an immediate rift between the provinces of
Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
and
Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...
as De With was the personal enemy of the commander of the Zealandic fleet, Vice-Admiral
Johan Evertsen Johan Evertsen (1 February 1600 – 5 August 1666) was a Dutch admiral who was born in the 17th century. Early life Like his five brothers, Evertsen started his military career as a lieutenant after the death of his father, "Captain Jan". He q ...
, who himself had quit service because of a conflict with the States-General. Earlier tensions had been moderated by the fact that both Tromp and Evertsen were staunch Orangists, but De With was a loyal servant of the States regime that had dominated Dutch politics since the death of
stadtholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...
William II of Orange William II ( Dutch: ''Willem II''; 27 May 1626 – 6 November 1650) was sovereign Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel and Groningen in the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 14 March 1647 un ...
. De With, having for months advocated a more aggressive naval policy aimed at destroying the enemy fleet instead of passively defending the merchant convoys against English attack, now saw an opportunity to concentrate his forces and gain control of the seas. He set out to attack the English fleet at anchor at The Downs near Dover, departing from the
Schooneveld The Schooneveld, also spelled Schoneveld, is a former island turned shoal and namesake adjacent basin at the mouth of the Scheldt river, near the island of Walcheren, off the coast of the Netherlands. The shoal is also referred to as the ''Droogte ...
on 25 September 1652, and joined the squadron of Vice-Commodore
Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch States Navy officer. His achievements with the Dutch navy during the Anglo-Dutch Wars earned him the reputation as one of the most skilled naval commanders in ...
. The fleet was immediately hit by a storm damaging many vessels. De With also had to protect the trade routes and discovered that nine of De Ruyter's ships, that had been on sea for two months, had to return to port for repairs. De Ruyter suggested that under the circumstances it was better to simply keep luring away the English from merchant fleets while declining to really fight, but De With insisted on delivering a decisive battle, stating: "I shall lustily lead the fleet to the enemy; the devil may bring it back again!".


Battle

When the fleets finally met on 28 September, the United Provinces had 62 ships and about 1,900 cannon and 7,000 men; the
Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...
68 ships under
General at Sea The rank of general at sea (occasionally referred to as "general of the fleet"), was the highest position of command in the English Parliamentary Navy (later the Navy of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland), and approximates to th ...
Robert Blake Robert Blake (or variants) may refer to: Sports * Bob Blake (American football) (1885–1962), American football player * Robbie Blake (born 1976), English footballer * Bob Blake (ice hockey) (1914–2008), American ice hockey player * Rob Blake ...
with about 2,400 cannon and 10,000 men. The van of the Dutch fleet was to be commanded by
Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch States Navy officer. His achievements with the Dutch navy during the Anglo-Dutch Wars earned him the reputation as one of the most skilled naval commanders in ...
, the centre by De With himself and the rear by temporary Rear-Admiral
Gideon de Wildt Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites is recounted in of the Book of Judges in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. Gideon was the ...
of the
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. The territory for which Amsterdam ...
. On the morning of 28 September 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 The weather gage (sometimes spelled weather gauge or known as nautical gauge) is the advantageous position of a fighting sailing vessel relative to another. The concept is from the Age of Sail and is now antique. A ship at sea is said to possess t ...
because of a south-south-western 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'', Tromp's former flagship and the most powerful vessel of the Dutch fleet. However, to his mortification, Tromp's crew refused to let him on board, 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 (4 August 1610 – 11 June 1666) 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 ...
, the brother of
Johan Evertsen Johan Evertsen (1 February 1600 – 5 August 1666) was a Dutch admiral who was born in the 17th century. Early life Like his five brothers, Evertsen started his military career as a lieutenant after the death of his father, "Captain Jan". He q ...
, 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 VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus * ...
-ship ''
Prins Willem The ''Prins Willem'' (), also spelled ''Prins Willim'', was a 17th-century East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company. She was their largest ship at the time. The ship made her first voyage to the Dutch East Indies in 1651. After several voyage ...
'' 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'' to the more manoeuvrable ''Resolution'' (the former ''HMS Prince Royal''), 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 of 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 Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...
who resented the domination of
Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
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 () is a town and former municipality in the west of Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The former municipality covered an area of of which was water and it included the population centres of Nieuw-Helvoe ...
, where it arrived on 2 October (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 of sixty ships that would only be completed some years after the conflict, first seeing major action in the
Battle of the Sound The Battle of the Sound was a naval engagement which took place on 8 November 1658 (29 October O.S.) during the Second Northern War, near the Sound or Øresund, just north of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Sweden had invaded Denmark and an army ...
. 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 A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...
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 The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
, a mistake that led to a defeat at the
Battle of Dungeness A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
but did not prevent the defeat of the not yet reinforced English Mediterranean fleet at the
Battle of Leghorn The naval Battle of Leghorn took place on 4 March 1653 (14 March Gregorian calendar), during the First Anglo-Dutch War, near Leghorn (Livorno), Italy. It was a victory of a Dutch Republic, Dutch squadron under Commodore (rank), Commodore Johan ...
. 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.


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)


Dutch Republic (Witte de With)


Notes


References

*Konstam, Angus (2011), ''Warships of the Anglo-Dutch Wars 1652–74.'' Osprey Publishing,


Further reading

* Warnsinck, J.C.M. (1977), ''Drie 17e-Eeuwse Admiraals – Piet Heyn – Witte de With – Jan Evertsen'', Rotterdam {{DEFAULTSORT:Kentish Knock, Battle Of The Naval battles of the First Anglo-Dutch War 1652 in England Conflicts in 1652 Military history of the North Sea 17th century in Kent