Product Description
During the course of the 17th century, England and the Netherlands three times found themselves at war in the North Sea. The first war, between 1652 and 1654, came about as a result of a mixture of causes: the rejection by the Dutch state of the English government's fledgling ideas of political union, the collusion of the Dutch Orangists with the exiled English royal family and the huge growth of English naval power during the Commonwealth; but perhaps, chiefly the competition over trade, not only in the North Sea, but across the whole world. The second and third Anglo-Dutch naval wars (1665-7 and 1672-4), in Charles II's reign, took place in greatly modified political circumstances. Charles's relationship with Catholic France was a powerful catalyst, but the ostensible aim continued to be commercial domination of the sea. In this study of the wars the authors take the reader through the background, causes and courses of the wars, illuminating all the battles and political going-ons that lay behind them. The tactics of battle and the famous naval heroics of such men as Robert Blake, Cornelis Tromp and Michiel de Ruyter are all explored in detail.
From the Author
A detailed narrative of naval history for the general readerThis book was designed for the general reader, rather than the specialist, and presents a detailed narrative of the three naval wars between the English and the Dutch during the seventeenth century. The first occurred during the Commonwealth and involved such famous admirals as Tromp, de Ruyter and de With for the Dutch and Robert Blake, Sir William Penn (father of the founder of Pennsylvania) and Monck for the English. This war inaugurated sea battles fought between huge fleets of ships armed with heavy iron guns and saw the development of the line of battle as a tactical device. Its major battles included the Kentish Knock, Portland, the Gabbard and Scheveningen. The war was disastrous for the Dutch, mainly because of tjhe English superiority in large heavily armed ships manned by disciplined crews. It was ended by the efforts of Oliver Cromwell, now Lord Protector, in England and Jan de Witt in Holland. The other two wars occurred during the reign of Charles II and proved much more successful for the Dutch, partly because teh Dutch had accepted the need to match England's large warships and heavy guns, and partly due to de Ruyter's famous raid on the English warships laid up in the Medway during the second war and to his heroic defense of the Dutch coasts from an Anglo-French fleet during the third. The admirals were chiefly de Ruyter for the Dutch and the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, Monck (now Duke of Albemarle), and the Earl of Sandwich for the English. These wars are shown to be a major chapter in the development of naval warfare. Professor Hainsworth was responsible for the introduction, the First Dutch War and the conclusion, Dr Churches the chapters on the Second and Third Dutch Wars.
