The Battle of Dover, a.k.a. Goodwin Sands, 19th May 1652 - General at Sea

It's time for another naval adventure exploring the battles of the seventeenth century Anglo-Dutch Wars with Captain Steve, back with another historical sea fight using General at Sea and his marvellous collection of 1:1200th, mainly Langton models, as seen in his previous after action reports and fleet reviews, with links at the bottom of this post to those previous Anglo-Dutch Wars posts, if you are only just picking this theme up.

 

Steve's series of emails detailing his playing of this next scenario, the Battle of Dover, the opening shots of the first Anglo-Dutch War, arrived just as I was planning to set off for a four day sojourn to Stockholm and among other things a planned visit to the remarkable Vasa exhibition, housing the Swedish warship built between 1626 and 1628, and which sank after sailing roughly 1,400 yards on her maiden voyage on the 10th August 1628; until she was located again in the late 1950s in a busy shipping area in Stockholm harbour and was salvaged with a largely intact hull in 1961.

The mighty stern gallery of the Vasa as pictured this week in Stockholm.

Needless to say the sight of this extraordinary warship preserved with about 90% of the original hull intact is an astonishing artefact to see up close, and being a contemporary to Steve's models helps to give an impression of how these ships might have appeared in the line of battle.

It is astonishing how much of this ship remains intact after over 330 years under water.

But of course the present day Vasa is without her stunning paintwork which would have completed the look and a nearby scale model helped to capture the image.

This scale model nearby helped recreate the look of the Vasa on the day she sank in 1628

So with the added inspiration of seeing the Vasa I was very much looking forward to composing Steve's AAR as well as posting later to JJ's a more comprehensive look at the Vasa and the story the Stockholm exhibition retells - as always more anon - but now over to Steve.

The naval Battle of Dover, also known as the Battle of Goodwin Sands, was fought on the 19th May 1652 and as stated was the first engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, being fought before war had been officially declared. 

Battle sites from the First Anglo-Dutch War in the English Channel and North Sea.

In April 1652, Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp 's fleet of forty-two ships set sail to patrol the Channel and to protect Dutch shipping from English aggression. On the 18th May 1652, Tromp was forced by bad weather to shelter under the South Foreland on the Kent coast near Dover, where he encountered a squadron of nine English ships commanded by Nehemiah Bourne. Another squadron of twelve ships under the command of General-at-Sea Robert Blake was further down the coast at Rye. In an uneasy stand-off, the Dutch insisted that they were only seeking shelter from the rough weather.

 

Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp (left) and General-at-Sea Robert Blake (right)

At noon the next day, Tromp's ships sailed away towards Calais. In mid-Channel, Tromp met with two Dutch ships and was informed of a recent incident in which a Dutch convoy had been harassed and fired upon by an English squadron under Captain Young off Start Point. Tromp immediately sailed back to protest to Blake. In the late afternoon of 19th May, he sighted Blake's squadron near Dover and altered course into the path of the English ships. Although the Dutch fleet was in English waters, Tromp provocatively refused to make the conventional salute of lowering his flag to the English general-at-sea and Blake fired a warning shot across his bows. The confrontation escalated into a battle between the two fleets. Both sides claimed that the other fired the first broadside.

The battle lasted until nightfall. Blake's squadron included several powerful second-rate vessels of fifty guns or more, including Blake's flagship the James (60-guns), the Victory (52-guns) and the Speaker (52-guns). Only Tromp's flagship the Brederode (54-guns) could match the powerful English ships. The Dutch concentrated their attack on the James, with Tromp leading the line. Although the Dutch fleet was greatly superior in numbers, the attack was poorly co-ordinated and was disrupted when Nehemiah Bourne's squadron of nine ships came up from the Downs to attack the rear of the Dutch line. The Dutch fleet withdrew at nightfall, having lost two ships captured by the English.

The Dutch Fleet (Maarten Tromp)
Ships: 44 

Cannon: 1274 

Convoyers

Groningen 38 (Joris van der Zaan)
Zeelandia 34 (Jacob Huyrluyt)

The Fleet in The Downs

Van:

Brederode 54 (Maarten Tromp, Admiral, RD)
Alexander 28 (Jan Maijkers, AD)
Blauwen Arend 28 (Dirck Pater, AD)
Sint Salvador 34 (Matheeus Corneliszoon, AD)
Vliegende Faam 28 (Jacob Corneliszoon Swart, AD)
Arche Troijane 28 (Abraham van Kampen, AD)
Kroon Imperiaal 34 (Cornelis Janszoon Poort, AD)
Valck 28 (Cornelis Janszoon Brouwer, AD)
Prinses Roijaal 28 (Maarten de Graeff, AD)
Neptunis 34 (Gerrit van Lummen, AD)
Sint Matheeus 34 (Cornelis Naeuoogh, AD)
Prins Maurits 34 (Nicolaes de With, AD)
Rozeboom 28 (Gerrit Schuyt, AD)
Engel Gabriel 28 (Bastiaan Bardoel, AD)
Witte Lam 28 (Cornelis van Houten, AD)
Gideon van Sardam 34 (Hector Bardesius, AD)
Sint Francisco 28 (Stoffel Juriaenszoon, AD)
David en Goliad 34 (Claes Bastiaenszoon Jaarsveld, AD)
Elias 34 (Jacob Sijvertsen Spanheijm, AD)
Zwarte Leeuw 28 (Hendrik de Raedt, AD)
Sint Maria 28 (Sipke Fockes, AD) – Captured but abandoned and recaptured
Groote Liefde 38 (Bruyn van Seelst, AD)
Nassouw van den Burgh 34 (Lambert Pieterszoon, AD)
Groote Vergulde Fortuijn 35 (Frederick de Coninck, AD)
Engel Michiel 28 (Fredrick Bogaart, AD)
Vergulde Haan 30 (Jan le Sage, MD)
Goude Leeuw 30 (Jacob Penssen, MD)
Leeuwinne 30 (Joannes van Regermorter, MD)
Sint Laurens 30 (Bastiaan Tuynemans, MD) – Captured
Witte Lam 32 (Jan Tijssen Matheeus, VD)

Rear:
Monnikendam 32 (Pieter Florissen, Rear Admiral, NKA)
Wapen van Hoorn 24 (Pieter Aldertszoon, NKA)
Prins Maurits 28 (Cornelis Pieterszoon Taenman, NKA)
Monnikendam 24 (Arent Dirckszoon, NKA)

Wapen van Enkhuizen 30 (Gerrit Femssen, NKA)
Wapen van Alkmaar 28 (Gerrit Nobel, NKA)
Roode Leeuw 24 (Reynst Corneliszoon Sevenhuysen, NKA)
Peereboom 24 (Tijs Sijmonszoon Peereboom, NKA)
Huis van Nassau 28 (Gerrit Munth, NKA)
Alkmaar 28 (Jan Warnaertszoon Capelman, NKA)
Sampson 26 (Willem Ham, NKA)
Stad van Medemblik 26 (Pieter Schellinger, NKA)

AD – Amsterdam Admiralty and Directors' ships
MD – Middelburg Admiralty and Directors
NKA – Noorder-Kwartier Admiralty
RD – Rotterdam Admiralty
VD – Vlissingen Directors

Below we have Steve's setup with the Blake’s squadron hove to, left of picture, as Bourne’s squadron can be seen approaching top centre of picture.

Blake’s squadron of three stands are hove to as the larger Dutch fleet approaches.

The English Fleet (Robert Blake)
Ships: 24 

Cannon: 908

Anthony Young's squadron
President 36 (Anthony Young)
Nightingale 24 (Jacob Reynolds)
Recovery 24 (Edmund Chapman)

Robert Blake's squadron in Rye Bay
James 60 (flag, Robert Blake, captain John Gilson)
Victory 52 (Lionel Lane)
Garland 44 (John Gibbs)
Speaker 52 (John Coppin)
Ruby 42 (Anthony Houlding)
Sapphire 38 (Robert Moulton, Jr)
Worcester 42 (Charles Thorowgood)
Star 24 (Robert Saunders)
Portsmouth 36 (William Brandley)
Martin 12
Mermaid 24 (Richard Stayner)
Ruben 26 (merchantman)

Nehemiah Bourne's squadron in the Downs
Andrew 56 (Nehemiah Bourne)
Triumph 62 (William Penn) – Ashore during the battle
Fairfax 52 (John Lawson)
Entrance 44
Centurion 36
Adventure 36 (Andrew Ball)
Assurance 40 (Benjamin Blake)
Greyhound 20 (Henry Southwood)
Seven Brothers 26 (hired merchantman, Robert Land)

Tromp sails up to Blake’s flagship without dipping his flag in salute.

Turn One

Battle is joined with Blake winning the initiative and firing first, disrupting Tromp in the process, who fails to break the English line and turns to starboard. One of Tromp's squadron is forced to likewise turn to starboard to avoid a collision, this as the English fleet make sail together as Commodore Nehemiah Bourne closes on the English fleet with his nine ship squadron.

Battle is joined with Blake winning the initiative and firing first.

Turn Two

It is the end of Turn two and the English line is moving north, engaging Tromp's and another of his squadrons, leaving the Dutch admiral disrupted and with a level 1 damage, and no damage to the English from Dutch return fire.

Tromp manages to recover his disruption, and desultory fire from Bourne's squadron has no effect.

The end of Turn two and the English line is moving north, engaging Tromp's and another of his squadrons.

Turn Three

Close action between Tromp and Blake results in Tromp being scattered and his second squadron disrupted, with Tromp surviving a 'risk to C-in-C' test as does his squadron, which saw the Dutch commander manage to reduce his scattered status to disrupted, but failed to recover further, and with the rest of his squadron unable to engage the English fleet.

Close action between Tromp and Blake

Meanwhile Bourne crashes through Rear Admiral Pieter Floriszoon's squadron, with the resulting stern rakes leaving both stands at damage level 1 but Floriszoon is able to recover the disruption.

Bourne crashes through Floriszoon

A 'birds-eye' view of the battle at the end of Turn three.
Blake and Tromp are hotly engaged (top centre) whilst Bourne nearest to camera has broken though Floriszoon's squadron raking the Dutch ships in his progress.

Turn Four

Tromp gets the worst of it during the fourth turn of battle, receiving another scattered result, but managing to survive another 'risk to C-in-C' test and his exceptional command status enables his squadron to pass its reaction test and for him to again revert to disrupted, this while the rest of his squadron struggle to find a position to enable them to engage Blake's ships.

Tromp getting the worst of it during Turn four.

In the rear, things are much worse for Floriszoon as Bourne's second breaks through the Dutch squadron, stern raking both Dutch stands and causing a scattered result, which saw Floriszoon fail to recover from the scattering, causing him to surrender and the rest of his squadron to flee.

Floriszoon fails to recover from the scattered result, after being stern raked, causing him to surrender and the rest of his squadron to flee.

Turn Five and End Game

Things have gone from bad to worse as Tromp receives a level 2 damage and another scattered result in the exchanges of fire with Blake, and this time fails the 'risk to C-in-C' test, resulting in serious confusion as the admiral is taken below, wounded.

Without his unimpaired exceptional status, his squadron failed its reaction test, although his stand managed to reduce its scattered result to disrupted again.

Tromp receives a level 2 damage and another scattered result in the exchanges of fire with Blake, and this time fails the 'risk to C-in-C' test, resulting in serious confusion as the admiral is taken below, wounded.

Thijssen's squadron passed its reaction test, but with both Tromp's and Floriszoon's squadrons scattered, and Bourne closing in, it is time for the Dutch to acknowledge that they have bitten off more than they can chew and disengage, with Tromp likely having some explaining to do on his return home.

Bourne passing Floriszoon's surrendered stand whilst his second makes off to the south.

To quote Steve's closing comments'

 'Quite an historical outcome, except that none of the Dutch broke through Blake, where they became isolated from their fellow countrymen. Tromp gained a new respect for the English ships and gunnery and advocated a shipbuilding programme of larger warships to match them - sadly not completed for this war but were ready for the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

As previously mentioned this post follows in a series produced by Steve and you can follow the previous ones in the links below. 

JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Livorno (Leghorn) Part One

JJ's Wargames -The Battle of Livorno (Leghorn) Part Two

JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Plymouth, 28th August 1652

JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Lowestoft, 13th June 1665

JJ's Wargames - Anglo Dutch Wars Fleet Review, The English Fleet
JJ's Wargames - Anglo Dutch Wars Fleet Review, The Dutch Fleet

More Anglo-Dutch naval action to come as Steve is planning to fight the Battle of Kentish Knock fought on the 28th September 1652.

As for me, I have some more AWI units to present as well as my impressions of the beautiful city of Stockholm that saw me exploring the history of the Vasa and Vikings.

More anon 

JJ