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The First Anglo-Dutch War
Anglo-Dutch Wars at sea
Four Days' Battle
Battle of Dover OOB
Battle of Livorno OOB
Battle of Lowestoft
Battle of Monte Cristo
Battle of Solebay
Battle of Sound
Battle of the Texel

17th Century Battles | Anglo-Dutch Wars

The First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654)

The first Anglo-Dutch War came about because of tensions rising from the commercial rivalry between England and the Netherlands, as well as the traditional English claims to sovereignty over the nearby waters and narrow seas surrounding Britain.

English commerce had been much reduced due to the English Civil War, and losses to French and Dunkirk privateers. English merchants sought to reclaim lost commerce, and to banish Dutch traders from the English West Indies. Immediately prior to the outbreak of the First Anglo-Dutch War, Sir George Ayscue had been sent to the West Indies to reassert control.

Barbadoes had been a center of Royalist activity, and the Dutch were heavily involved in trading with the English colonies. Sir George Ayscue took many Dutch ships which were violating the Navigation Act, and antagonized the Dutch, when they received word of what had happened.

From 1651, the Dutch had been strengthening their fleet, and in 1652 added, on paper, another 150 ships. Counting fireships and galliots, there may have been as many as 112 vessels in the active Dutch fleet by May, 1652.

Dr. Elias puts the number at 87, at the outbreak of the war, of which several were lost or sold, almost immediately. Dr. Elias puts the English fleet at 85 ships, at that same time.

In any case, Maarten Tromp's fleet, stationed in the Channel, in May, 1652 consisted of 42 ships. At the same time, there was a convoy of seven merchant ships, escorted by three warships, sailing for home. They were intercepted by a small English squadron, which tried to enforce the requirement that all foreign ships must salute the English flag. There was a sharp encounter, where small losses were taken, and then the English allowed the Dutch convoy to proceed.

When Tromp heard of this encounter, he was incensed, and sailed into the Dover roads in an aggressive manner. The local English squadron was split between Dover and Rye Bay. There were a total of 21 English ships, some of which were Second Rates, with more than 50 guns, some of them being demi-cannon. Only the Dutch flagship, the Brederode, carried larger.