Four Days Battle

The Four Days Battle was a naval battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Fought from June 1 to June 4, 1666 off the Flemish and English coast, it remains one of the longest naval engagements in history.

First Day

On the first day Monck, sailing in the van with George Ayscue's white squadron behind him and Thomas Allin's blue squadron forming the rear, surprised the Dutch fleet at anchor near Dunkirk. He attacked the Dutch rear under Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Tromp and sent a message to Rupert to join him if possible. When Tromp fled over the Flemish shoals, Monck wore to the northwest, to meet the Dutch centre (under De Ruyter) and van (commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen). Tromp again turned, but his ship Liefde collided with Groot Hollandia. Vice-Admiral Berkeley saw this and closed in with HMS Swiftsure. Immediately Callantsoog and Reiger came to the rescue of their commander, destroyed the rigging of the English ship with chain shot and boarded it. Berkeley challenged the Dutch sea soldiers, shouting:You dogs, you rogues, have you the heart, so press on board! but was fatally wounded in the throat by a musket ball. In the powder room the constable was found with his throat cut; he had tried to blow up the ship but his own crew killed him first and drenched the powder, claiming afterwards the man had cut his own throat from pure frustration. HMS Seven Oaks (the former Sevenwolden) and HMS Loyal George tried to assist the Swiftsure but this only resulted in the capture of all three ships. The embalmed body of Berkeley was later returned to England under a truce, accompanied by a letter of the States-General praising the Admiral for his courage. HMS Rainbow got isolated and fled to neutral Ostend, chased by twelve ships from Tromp's squadron.

Related Topics:
George Ayscue - Thomas Allin - Dunkirk - Cornelis Tromp - Cornelis Evertsen - States-General - Ostend

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Both fleets bombarded each other in a line of battle. The Hof van Zeeland and the Duivenvoorde were hit by fire shot and burnt. The Dutch didn't know of the existence of this type of ammunition, consisting of hollow brass balls filled with an inflammable substance, so they were greatly surprised. Luckily for them the British had only a small supply because of the high cost of production.

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Monck retreated for the night, but the ship of Rear-Admiral Harman, HMS Henry, drifted to the Dutch lines and was suddenly set aflame by a fireship. The parson asked Harman what could save them; when the latter sarcastically replied that the good parson could always jump overboard, to his horror the panicked clergyman at once followed his advice together with a third of the crew. All drowned. Evertsen now closed in and inquired whether Harman would perhaps like to surrender; it came as no surprise to him the renowned fighter respectfully declined. Despite repeated Dutch attacks the fire was put out and the Henry escaped, with its last shot shooting Evertsen in two.

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