Johan "Jan" van Galen (1604 – 23 March 1653) was a
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (India), in India
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...
of the
Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands. he participated in 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 ...
.
Biography

Johan van Galen was born in
Essen
Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
. He fought in the
Eighty Years' War
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...
against
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, becoming a captain in 1630 and a regular captain in 1635, mostly fighting the
Dunkirkers
During the Dutch Revolt (1568–1648), the Dunkirkers or Dunkirk Privateers were commerce raiders in the service of the Spanish monarchy and later the Kingdom of France. They operated from the ports of the Flemish coast: Nieuwpoort, Ostend, a ...
. In 1639, he fought in the
Battle of the Downs
The Battle of the Downs took place on 21 October 1639 (New Style), during the Eighty Years' War. A Spanish fleet, commanded by Admiral Antonio de Oquendo, was decisively defeated by a Dutch force under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp. ...
under the command of Joris van Cats.
In 1645, as a Rear-Admiral, Van Galen was part of 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 ...
's convoy breaking the blockade of The
Sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
by
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. Both men were very hot-tempered and proud; emotions ran so high that, at one point, in anger, Van Galen lowered his command flag and trampled it with his feet. De With put him in chains and delivered him to the capital of the adversary,
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. The embarrassed Danish court released Van Galen after an intervention by the French envoy.
A peculiarity of Van Galen is that he never served in the navy proper, an institution he disliked, but was employed by the Amsterdam Direction Chamber, a private organisation supporting the official navy. After the Republic had made peace with Spain in 1648, Van Galen was sent out three times, with Spanish assistance, to fight the corsairs of the Barbary Coast. In 1649, he was badly wounded when a gang of Spanish criminals intercepted him when he was returning in a sloop with prize money.

Van Galen retired late in 1650, but when 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 ...
between the Republic and 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 ...
broke out, he was asked by the
States-General, on 3 July 1652, to assume command of a Dutch fleet in the Mediterranean, as a Commodore and replacing
Commandeur
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries, t ...
Joris van Cats. He departed on 24 July, reaching
Livorno
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
on 22 August. He was mortally wounded during 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 ...
, where his fleet destroyed part of the English Mediterranean Fleet. A cannonball smashed his right lower leg; it was amputated below-deck and afterwards, Van Galen continued to direct the battle. He died from wound fever ten days later in Livorno on 13 March 1653.
Cornelis Tromp
Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp, ''Count of Sølvesborg'' (3 September 1629 – 29 May 1691) was a Dutch naval officer who served as lieutenant-admiral general in the Dutch Navy, and briefly as a general admiral in the Royal Danish-Norwegian ...
was then a young captain under his command.
Van Galen was given a state burial in the
Nieuwe Kerk in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
and in 1656, a marble grave memorial was erected on which this poem is inscribed:
See also
*
Jan van Galenstraat metro station
Notes
References
* G.G. Hellinga, 2006, ''Zeehelden uit de Gouden Eeuw''.
*
Warnsinck, JCM, ''Van Vlootvoogden en Zeeslagen'', PN van Kampen & Zoon, 1940
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galen, Johan Van
1604 births
1653 deaths
Dutch naval personnel of the First Anglo-Dutch War
17th-century Dutch military personnel
Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic
Military personnel from Essen
Burials at the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam