Jan van Brakel ( – 10 July 1690) was a Dutch

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

who distinguished himself on many occasions during the Second and

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

Anglo-Dutch wars and the

Nine Years War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarc ...

Early life

Almost nothing is known about Van Brakel's early career; we know neither his year of birth—estimates have varied from 1618 to 1642—nor his backgrounds. It used to be thought that he was the son of Commodore Pieter van Brakel, who was killed in the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, whe ...

while defending a convoy of merchant ships, but this has become very unlikely considering Pieter was born in 1624.

Naval career

The first time Van Brakel appears in the documents is in 1666, when he was appointed by 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) ...

as acting captain—with the rank of lieutenant—of a

fireship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

, the ''Rotterdam'', that participated in the

Four Days Battle The Four Days' Battle, also known as the Four Days' Fight in some English sources and as Vierdaagse Zeeslag in Dutch, was a naval battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Fought from 1 June to 4 June 1666 in the Julian or Old Style calendar that w ...

. Apparently he already had been a lieutenant in 1665. Fireships were often manned by the most desperate elements in society; the humility of his origins might explain the fact they were never mentioned. At

St. James's Day Battle St James' Day Battle (also known as St James' Day Fight, the Battle of the North Foreland and the Battle of Orfordness) took place on 25 July 1666 — St James' day in the Julian calendar then in use in England (4 August 1666 in the Gregoria ...

, having spent another fireship and returning with his crew in sloops, Van Brakel saved the ''Gelderland'', the flagship of Lieutenant-Admiral

Willem Joseph van Ghent Willem Joseph baron van Ghent tot Drakenburgh (14 May 1626 – 7 June 1672) was a 17th-century Dutch admiral. His surname is also sometimes rendered Gendt or Gent. Early career Van Ghent was baptised on 14 May 1626, in the church of Wi ...

from an attack by an English fireship. Because of the courage shown, Van Brakel was promoted to captain of a regular ship on 22 September 1666, a rare accomplishment for a fireship commander. In 1667, while in command of the frigate ''Vrede'', he became one of the heroes of the

raid on the Medway The Raid on the Medway, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in June 1667, was a successful attack conducted by the Dutch navy on English warships laid up in the fleet anchorages off Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham in the county of Kent. At ...

and was given the honourable task of triumphantly towing the captured English flagship out of the Medway river. That same year Van Brakel was promoted full captain on 17 December. In 1672, at the

battle of Solebay The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The battle began as an attempted raid on Solebay port where an English fleet was anchored and lar ...

—the first battle of the

Third Anglo-Dutch War The Third Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Derde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog), 27 March 1672 to 19 February 1674, was a naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France. It is considered a subsidiary of the wider 1672 to 1678 ...

—Van Brakel served as captain of ''Groot Hollandia'', and played a major part in the burning of HMS ''Royal James''. In 1673, he continued to fight with distinction at the

battle of Schooneveld The Battles of Schooneveld were two naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War, fought off the coast of the Netherlands on 7 June and 14 June 1673 ( New Style; 28 May and 4 June in the Julian calendar then in use in England) between an allied Ang ...

and the

battle of the Texel The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place off the southern coast of island of Texel on 21 August 1673 (11 August Old Style, O.S.) between the Dutch Republic, Dutch and the combined Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Fra ...

, as captain of ''Voorzichtigheid''. On 5 April 1684, Van Brakel was promoted to rear admiral 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 ...

. Four years later, as a temporary vice admiral—from October 1688 until January 1689—he was part of the fleet that brought William III to England in the invasion that led to the Glorious Revolution. From 1688 onwards, Van Brakel served on the amalgamated Anglo-Dutch fleet until he was killed in the battle of Beachy Head in 1690.

Legacy

His grave memorial is located in St. Lawrence Church in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. He is the namesake of: * HNLMS ''Jan van Brakel'' (1936), a former Dutch

Minelaying A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing contro ...

vessel. * (1983), a former Dutch ''Kortenaer'' class frigate.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brakel, Jan van 1630s births 1690 deaths 17th-century Dutch military personnel Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic Dutch military personnel killed in action Military personnel from Rotterdam Year of birth uncertain Dutch military personnel of the Nine Years' War