Warships

The attack on the Smyrna Fleet on 27 June 1693

A large fleet of merchant ships from England, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden sailed for the Mediterranean Sea, convoyed by a force commanded by Sir George Rooke. The fleet was commonly called the Smyrna Fleet. The convoying force was a mixed fleet of English and Dutch warships:

Ship	Guns	Commander
Royal Oak	64	Gerard Elwes, flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir George Rooke
Breda	62	flagship of Rear-Admiral Thomas Hopsonn
Monmouth	58	Peter Pickard
Lumley Castle (M)	56	George Meester
Monck	52	Stafford Fairborne
Lion	52	Thomas Gardner
Loyal Merchant (M)	50	Philip Harris
Princess Anne (M)	48	William Wakelin
Tiger Prize	48	Robert Sincock
Woolwich	46	Christopher Myngs
Newcastle	46	John Baker
Chatham	44	John Leader
Smyrna Factor (M)	40	Edward Littleton
Sheerness	28	John Norris
Lark	16	Peter Wotton
Admiraal Generaal	84	Rear-Admiral P. van der Goes
Gelderland	72	Andries Stilte
Zeeland	64	Philip Schrijver
Wapen van Medemblik	64	Juriaan van der Poel
Oost-Stellingwerf	52	?
Nijmegen	50	?
Schiedam	50	W. van Rechteren
Wapen van den Schermer	44	?
Salamander, bomb vessel		?
Suzanna, bomb vessel		?
Dispatch, brigantine	2	Thomas Peacok
Speedwell, fireship	8	Thomas Simonds
Vulture, fireship	8	William Lindsey
Muscovia Merchant, storeship		Daniel Parsons
two Dutch fireships

The battle went badly for the Allies on 27 June 1693, as two Dutch ships were lost, the Wapen van Medemblik and the Zeeland, as well as 92 merchantships "taken, burnt, or sunk". The result could have been worse, if the French captains had followed the French commander, Admiral Tourville's orders. The battle was fought near Lagos, Portugal and Cape St. Vincent.

Sources:

R. C. Anderson, Lists of Men-of-War 1650-1700: Part I English Ships 1649-1702, 1966.
William Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present, Vol.II, 1898.
A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938.

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