Half hours on the quarter-deck: The Spanish Armada to Sir Cloudesley Shovel 1670

by Anonymous

Much more imposing events in Blake’s career than any hitherto recorded were now pending. It had to be determined whether the English or Dutch were to be “Mistress of the Seas.” On the 28th September 1652, the Dutch fleet were off the North Foreland under De Witt, De Ruyter, and Evertsen. Blake, in the Resolution, at about four o’clock in the afternoon, bore down upon them, signalling the ships of his squadron to reserve their fire for close quarters,—and a murderous fire it was at close quarters till nightfall,—when the Dutch drew off, but still fighting. Two of the Dutch ships went down in the action, and two were carried, by boarding. Next morning, De Witt would have continued the fight, but De Ruyter and Evertsen refused to renew the action, and the Dutch fleet, terribly cut up, went home. Blake pursuing, was received with scorn and contempt; but his return was hailed with enthusiasm by his grateful countrymen.

The States, with wonderful energy and rapidity, got together another great fleet to sweep English waters of any power that might dare to oppose it. It was commanded by Van Tromp, De Ruyter, Evertsen, and Floritz. Blake’s commission was renewed as General and Admiral of the Fleet, with General Monk and Colonel Deane as colleagues. Not anticipating a renewed attack in force by the Dutch, Blake had separated his force for a number of duties to different destinations, and had only retained a fleet of thirty-seven ships, including frigates, in the Channel. With this small force he had to meet Van Tromp at the head of a hundred Dutch men-of-war. Notwithstanding the enormous disparity of force, Blake did not flinch, but stood to his guns, and for once, as was not to be wondered at, had the worst of the fight. In evidence that he had swept the sea, Van Tromp cruised along the south coast with a broom at his mast-head. Blake was dissatisfied with the conduct of some of his commanders, and asked to be relieved of his command. His proffered resignation was not accepted; on the contrary, the Council of State thanked him for his conduct in the engagement. Blake’s own brother Benjamin had not conducted himself to the admiral’s satisfaction, and he was sent ashore,—no excuse he could offer availing to avert the disgrace.

In February 1653, Blake was again at sea with a fleet of sixty ships, with Monk and Deane and a force of soldiers on board. With him were Penn as vice-admiral, and Lawson as rear-admiral. On the 18th, Van Tromp was sighted near Cape de la Hogue; he was in charge of a considerable convoy of merchantmen. As if eager for the fray, he left them to windward, and bore down upon the English. The leading ships of the English, in which were the three admirals, were considerably ahead of Monk and the main body of the fleet, for whom, however, they did not wait. Van Tromp in the Brederode passed on the weather-side of the Triumph, into which he poured a broadside, which he repeated from under the lee. The rearward ships of the English fleet came up with all speed, and a terrific general action ensued. The incessant roar of the guns was heard with exciting interest on both sides of the Channel, proclaiming the fierce struggle between the sea giants. In the action itself and around it, startling evidence abounded of its destructive character, and the resolute purpose and fierce valour of the combatants on both sides. Here, a ship on fire belching its towers of lurid flame into the cold wintry sky; there, two opposing ships crashing against each other; in another place, the wild shouts of the boarders, making headlong charges, met, repulsed, and renewed with varying fortune. The battle commenced in the forenoon; Monk, with the white division of the English fleet, came up at noon, and the whole of the forces continued engaged during the remainder of the day. The day’s action cost the bold and bellicose Van Tromp eight of his ships by destruction or capture. Sorely crippled and deeply wounded, but not subdued, he retreated, only to look after the merchantmen of his convoy that looked to him for protection. Several of Blake’s fleet had been boarded, but recaptured; one of his ships, the Sampson, had the captain and a large number of the men killed; those who remained were transferred to Blake’s own ship, the Triumph,—and the Sampson was allowed to drift to leeward. The Triumph and her crew suffered greatly in the action; Ball the captain was killed, the men were mown down at their guns, Blake himself was wounded in the leg, and the decks ran red with blood. The long night was spent in sending away, and otherwise caring for, the wounded, and in preparing for a renewal of the conflict on the morrow.

Enclosing his convoy in such position as he thought would best enable him to protect them, Van Tromp sailed up channel with them in the morning with a light breeze. Blake followed him up, and a running fight was kept up throughout the second day, at the close of which Van Tromp had lost five more of his ships, and he retreated towards Boulogne. It was the Dutch commander’s misfortune to be clogged by subordinates who were unworthy to serve under such a courageous leader. Some of his cowardly captains who advised retreat were indignantly ordered to retire, and did so during the night. On the morning of the third day, Blake renewed the attack upon Van Tromp’s reduced forces,—the gallant Dutchman suffering grave disadvantage from the encumbrance of his convoy, as well as from the demoralisation of a part at least of the officers and men of the fleet. He endeavoured to send off the merchantmen to Calais, but the wind was against them, and the merchantmen and fighting ships got mixed up, hindering his effective action. Blake, of course, made legitimate use of his advantages, and, pressing him hard, drove the defeated Dutch admiral—the broom no longer at his mast-head—to take shelter with the remnant of his fleet on the French coast. In the morning it was found that Van Tromp had departed, carrying the news of his own defeat. So ended this famous battle, in which the English loss was great and grievous, but that of the enemy much more disastrous. The flag-ship Triumph suffered greatly in its encounters with Van Tromp’s ship, the two commanding admirals and their respective ships being much engaged in close encounter with each other. Captain Ball of the Triumph was shot dead; Mr. Sparrow, Blake’s secretary, fell at his feet while taking his orders; a hundred of the crew were killed, and about as many wounded; the Fairfax had a hundred men killed, the Vanguard and other ships also suffering severely. Van Tromp’s ship was disabled, and the greater part of its officers slain. Eight men-of-war and a large number of the Dutch merchantmen fell into the hands of the English. The Dutch loss in the three days’ engagement has been stated at eleven men-of-war, thirty merchantmen, fifteen hundred killed, and as many wounded. The English only lost one ship, the Sampson, which, as stated, was allowed to drift and founder, after the crew were taken off. Blake made effective use of the soldiers on board, this being one of the earliest occasions of the many upon which the marines, as they are now called, have highly distinguished themselves in action.

Blake’s great victory caused much jubilation in London; a national thanksgiving was appointed, and a Patriotic Fund was formed for the benefit of the widows and children of the men who had fallen in the conflict. Blake remained for a time at St. Helen’s, refitting and preparing for what might next happen in the way of a Dutch attack. Learning that Van Tromp was again preparing for sea, Blake proceeded to the Texel, where he did not exactly flourish a broom in sight of the enemy, but treated him with like provocation, without effect, however; and he next proceeded with a small squadron, with which he cruised for a time off the east coast of Scotland, where he was on 20th April 1653, when Cromwell came down to the House of Commons, drove out the Rump Parliament, locked the door of the House, and put the key in his pocket. Admiral Blake did not personally figure as a politician in these important State events. As a commander of the State forces, he held that it was not his “business to mind State affairs, but to keep foreigners from fooling us,” and he remained afloat at his post.

ADMIRAL VAN TROMP.

In June the Dutch again made a marine parade in the Channel, with a hundred and twenty ships of war, carrying four admirals. Admiral Lawson of the blue squadron first fell in with them, and engaged De Ruyter on the forenoon of the 2nd June. The ships of both fleets came up promptly, and a desperate broadside engagement at close quarters ensued. The fight was continued to the close of the long summer day, and after a few hours’ interval and some manœuvring, was renewed with unabated fury in the morning. Blake, who had joined the Channel fleet with his squadron from the North, had with him his nephew, also a Robert Blake, a young hero who distinguished himself by breaking the Dutch line, amid the roaring cheers of the men of the English fleet. Van Tromp was furious, and his men on board the Brederode performed desperate feats of valour. They boarded Admiral Penn’s ship, the James, but were repulsed and followed to the Brederode, the sacred quarter-deck of which was reached by the men of the James. This was more than Van Tromp could stand, and he threw a firebrand into the magazine, which blew up the decks and effectually dispersed the boarders. The Dutch admiral’s own life was saved as if by miracle, but belief that he was killed brought the crisis of the battle. The Dutch fleet broke into wild disorder, and sheered off, each taking its own course, the English in hot pursuit, sinking one after another of the fugitives. Van Tromp got away, but his defeat was crushing and final. The Dutch had eight men-of-war destroyed, eleven captured, and a very heavy loss in officers and men. The English ships were terribly battered and damaged, but the loss in killed and wounded was much less than that sustained by the enemy.

Hard work, hard living, and high pressure conquered, in their combined attack, on Admiral Blake’s health and strength, and he was reluctantly compelled to go ashore, ill with a complication of disorders, including the sailor’s peculiar distemper, scurvy, fever, and threatened dropsy. While the great commander was thus disabled, and involuntarily off duty, it devolved upon Admirals Penn and Lawson and General Monk to conduct the last grand encounter with the naval power of the Dutch Republic. Van Tromp, De Ruyter, and Evertsen, were again the opposing commanders. Again the battle lasted for three days, and again the English were completely victorious, and achieved for England the title, never since disputed, of being “Mistress of the Seas.” On the last of these three days, the great Van Tromp received a bullet in his heart, which, we feel sure, caused him much less pain, than he would have suffered, had he been spared to cherish the bitter memory of his defeat.

During his temporary retirement from the navy, Admiral Blake attended in his place in Parliament, transacted important business with the Navy Commissioners, dined occasionally with Oliver Cromwell, and gave energetically his personal attention and labours to the important work of reform, not of the navy and its administration,—in these he had already effected great reforms,—but of other important public institutions. He aspired, even, to “purging the churches of England of ignorant, scandalous, and inefficient pastors.” Blake was a man among ten thousand, and was doubtless equal to the efficient discharge of even this delicate and difficult duty. It may be noted that he was a great student of the Bible, and regularly conducted the family devotions in his own house.