Willem de Zoete, Heer Haultain (1565 – 26 September 1637,

Sluis Sluis (; ; ) is a city and municipality located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western Dutch province of Zeeland. The current incarnation of the municipality has existed since 1 January 2003. The former municipalities of Oostb ...

) was a Dutch

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

of the 17th century. He served as a lieutenant-admiral from 1601 to 1627.

Biography

During 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 ...

he directed Dutch fleets in various naval battles. In 1605, he destroyed a part of the Spanish convoy in the

Dover Strait The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait, historically known as the Dover Narrows, is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, and separating Great Britain from continental ...

. In 1606, he was defeated at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent by Spanish Admiral Luis Fajardo. In 1621, he was also defeated by the Spanish in the Battle of Gibraltar. In 1622 he fought

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 ...

on the coast of Scotland, and fought in the Dutch–Barbary war. He led a Dutch fleet of 20 warships, supplied under the terms of the 1624 Franco-Dutch treaty, into the

Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré The siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, or siege of St. Martin's (French: ''siège de Saint-Martin-de-Ré''), was an attempt by English forces under George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, to capture the French fortress-city of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, ...

against a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

uprising. His fleet would be removed from French service in February 1626 after a resolution of the States-General in December 1625.''Reason of state, propaganda, and the Thirty Years'' by Thomas Hobbes p.14

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Notes

1565 births 1637 deaths 17th-century Dutch military personnel Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic Naval commanders of the Eighty Years' War People from Sluis {{Netherlands-mil-bio-stub