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In October 1652 the government of the Commonwealth of England, mistakenly believing that the United Provinces had been defeated at the Battle of the Kentish Knock, sent away ships to the Mediterranean. This left the English badly outnumbered in home waters. Meanwhile the Dutch were makeing every effort to reinforce their fleet.
On 1 December 1652 Admiral Maarten Tromp set sail from Helvoetsluys with 88 men of war and 5 fire ships, escorting a vast convoy bound for the Indies. With the convoy safely delivered through the straits of Dover, Tromp turned in search of the English, and on 9 December 1652 he encountered the English fleet of 42 ships commanded by General-at-Sea Robert Blake1599 1657 by Henry Perronet Briggs, painted 1829. Robert Blake ( 1599 August 17, 1657) was one the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England, and the most famous English Admiral until eclipsed by Horatio Nelson. Blake was one of th. Bad weather prevented an action that day, but the next day Blake came out to fight and the two fleets met at about 15:00 near the cape of Dungeness in a "bounteous rhetoric of powder and bullet" (according to a contemporary account).
By nightfall the Dutch had sunk four ships, captured two, and damaged many more. Blake retreated under cover of darkness to his anchorage in the Downs.
The victory gave the Dutch control of the English Channel and so control of merchant shipping. A legend says that Tromp attached a broom to his mast as a sign that he had swept the sea clean of his enemies.
The battle not only showed the folly of dividing forces while the Dutch still possessed a large fleet in home waters, but exposed "much baseness of spirit, not among the merchantmen only, but many of the state's ships". It seemed that the captains of hired merchant ships were reluctant to risk their vessels in combat, while the state's ships lacked the men to sail and fight them.
Over the winter, Blake and the Commissioners of the Navy repaired the fleet, reviewed naval tactics and wrote the Sailing and Fighting Instructions , issued to commanders in 1653Events February 2 New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. April 20 Oliver Cromwell expels the Long Parliament May 24 Ferdinand IV is elected King of the Romans June 12 First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of the Gabbard lasted until June 13., and including the first descriptions of the line of battleIn naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line. It originated with the navy of the Commonwealth of England and perhaps with General at Sea Robert Blake who wrote the Sailing and Fighting Instructions of 1653. tactic. By February 1653Events February 2 New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. April 20 Oliver Cromwell expels the Long Parliament May 24 Ferdinand IV is elected King of the Romans June 12 First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of the Gabbard lasted until June 13. the English were ready to challenge the Dutch control of the seas, resulting in the three-day Battle of Portland.
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