King Edward's realm: Story of the making of the Empire

by C. S. Dawe

4. During our Civil War, in the reign of Charles I., the Dutch profited much by our home troubles. Much of the English trade fell into their hands, their ships being largely employed in carrying goods to and from our English ports. But no sooner was King Charles executed than steps were taken to revive English shipping. In the early days of the Commonwealth a Navigation Act was passed, which struck a serious blow at the Dutch carrying trade. By this Act it was ordered that no goods should be imported into England except in English vessels, or in those belonging to the country in which the goods were produced.

5. The Dutch regarded this Act as a dagger aimed at their heart. There was another thing which rankled within them. English ships of war had for centuries claimed the right to require all foreign ships to salute them by lowering their topsails, or striking their flag, whenever they met in the narrow waters of the English Channel; and now, under the rule of Cromwell, the captains of our warships were ordered to enforce this claim. Before long "the greatest naval power of the day and the greatest naval power of the future" launched their forces against each other—the Dutch under their celebrated admiral, Van Tromp, and the English under Robert Blake, who became equally famous.

6. The English were first afloat. Blake sailed north to sweep the Dutch fishermen off the coasts of England and Scotland; for the poaching of the Hollanders had been one of the grievances which brought on the war. This was an easy task. The enemy's guard-ships were taken or sunk, the cargoes of poached herrings were thrown into the sea; but the fishermen's boats were spared by the English Admiral, since they belonged, as he said, to poor families and formed their only means of a livelihood. Dutch merchantmen returning from the Indies were snapped up in the Channel and sent as prizes up the Thames in scores. Very soon Van Tromp was on the heels of our admiral with a magnificent fleet, but a storm so battered his ships that he had to return and refit.

7. On the approach of winter the English fleet broke up for their winter quarters; for at that time the thought of a winter campaign never entered men's minds. Van Tromp, however, was daring enough to face the winter storms and take the risk. He suddenly appeared off the Downs with ninety sail. Blake could only muster half that number, but he thought it more honourable to risk a battle than seek safety in flight. The unequal contest went on doggedly till dusk, when Blake withdrew his shattered fleet into the Thames after three of his ships had been sunk and two taken.

8. Van Tromp now sailed the Channel, it is said, with a broom at the mast-head of his ship as a sign that he had "swept the English from the Channel." The English did not regard the result of the battle with dismay. On the contrary, the reports of the battle were read with pride; and the Council of State thanked Blake for his services. The real battle which should decide the question of superiority at sea had yet to be fought.

9. Van Tromp's triumph with the broom at his masthead did not last long. In less than three months the English were again on the sea with a powerful fleet, and took up their station off Portland. They had no need to go in search of Tromp, for he could not help bringing the merchant-ships that he was escorting home right past them. At length he was seen coming up the Channel with a huge convoy of at least 150 sail under his wing. His warships were between them and the English. The moment had come, and every sailor in the two ships felt it, to test their prowess. It was the first time the two great admirals had met on equal terms.

10. The close and desperate fighting that ensued told sorely on both sides. A hundred men fell on board the English admiral's flag-ship; and at the end of the day the ship itself, which had gone foremost into battle, had its masts down, its rigging gone, and its hull riddled. Some of its shattered sisters were glad enough to crawl into Portsmouth. Of the Dutch ships one was burnt, one blown up, and six taken or sunk.

11. During the night the two fleets continued working slowly along the Channel eastwards. Van Tromp had his men-of-war in the form of a crescent with the convoy between its horns. With daylight came a renewal of the fighting which lasted until sunset. Never was sterner fighting done. One Dutch captain, for instance, when grappled on each side by an English ship, set fire to his own vessel that the three might burn together. The English, however, drew off, leaving the Dutchman to its fate.

12. The dawn of the third day saw the brave old Tromp still keeping guard like a hen over her brood of chickens. His line, however, was on that day broken through, and then an exciting chase followed, which ended in the capture of some fifty merchant-ships. Two other desperate battles took place the same year, and both ended favourably for England. On the last day of the last battle, the grand old Dutch admiral was pierced to the heart with a musket-ball.

13. This war dealt a severe blow to the Dutch carrying-trade, and brought Holland to the brink of ruin. "The Zuyder Zee," it is said, "became a forest of masts; the country was full of beggars; grass grew in the streets, and in Amsterdam fifteen hundred houses were empty." Peace with England (1654) alone saved the Dutch from utter ruin. And this peace left England, for the time at least, mistress of the seas.