The Battle of Kentish Knock, 28th September 1652 - General at Sea.

 

In the previous post to this one Capt. Steve laid out his plans to refight the Battle of Kentish Knock, using General at Sea, together with links to the background to this battle, and his orders of battle for the respective fleets, see the link below for that post.

JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Kentish Knock, Planning and Preparation

In the wake of the Battle of Goodwin Sands on the 19th May 1652, which Steve played in November last year, and a summer of failed initiatives and significant fleet losses due to storms in the North Sea, political pressure from his opponents, who criticized his management of the war, forced Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp’s resignation, and he was replaced as commander of the Dutch fleet by Vice-Admiral Witte Corneliszoon de With.

Vice-Admiral Witte Corneliszoon de With.

The appointment was unpopular because de With was a republican whereas most of the fleet were Orangist in sympathy, and this fact together a fearsome reputation for severity likely caused the officers and crew of Tromp's old flagship the Brederode to refuse to allow de With to move his flag to it, forcing him to use the East Indiaman Prins Willem as his flagship instead.

The Brederode off Hellevoetsluis - Simon de Vlieger
Two Dutch warships are shown off Hellevoetsluis, together with other shipping. On the left is a vice-admiral's flagship, in port and stern view, flying the Dutch flag. The principal ship on the right is probably the 'Brederode', shown in port and stern view. Built in 1645, she was Maarten Tromp's flagship, in which he was killed at the Battle of Scheveningen in 1653.

Having no experience of the superiority of English firepower, de With's strategy was more aggressive than Tromp's, and thus against the advice of his officers, he decided to confront the English fleet and attempt to clear it from the Straits of Dover in order to safeguard the Channel for Dutch commerce. 

Battle sites from the First Anglo-Dutch War in the English Channel and North Sea, showing the position of the battle of Kentish Knock fought in 1652.

After joining forces with de Ruyter's squadron, the Dutch fleet of about sixty-two ships set sail from Schoonveld on 25th September to seek out the English.

A possible depiction of the battle of Kentish Knock by Abraham Willaerts (detail)
with the powerful Sovereign on the left

General-at-Sea Robert Blake's fleet of sixty-eight ships, including the powerful 90-gun Sovereign (formerly named Sovereign of the Seas ) and the 80-gun Resolution (formerly the Prince Royal ) was stationed at the Downs anchorage when de With sailed to confront it. 

General-at-Sea Robert Blake

The most powerful Dutch ships were de With's flagship Prins Willem (56-guns) and Tromp's former flagship the Brederode (54-guns). As soon as it set sail, the Dutch fleet ran into storms which continued for several days, and the Dutch were obliged to ride out the rough weather in the open sea, which scattered their fleet and damaged several ships. 

Steve's summary of the two fleets as represented in the game. Bearing in mind
that General at Sea models three to four actual ships represented by a model
stand, a more detailed order or battle showing the ships represented by each
 model stand can be found in the Prep & Planning post for this game, linked above.

On the 28th September, when the weather moderated, Blake transferred his flag from the powerful but unwieldy Sovereign to the more manoeuvrable Resolution and ordered his ships to put to sea; and the English fleet sailed north out of the Downs to confront the Dutch near the Kentish Knock, a sandbank in the Thames Estuary.

In the pictures below Steve has the English and Dutch fleets arrayed for battle as laid out in the scenario plan above - let battle commence!

The English squadrons of Blake and Penn are seen here heading north at full sail to engage whilst the daylight holds, but their speed means they are unable to take regular soundings and are thus unaware of the shoal ahead. Note Rear Admiral Nehemiah Bourne's squadron is off table to the south.

The Dutch fleet are arrayed in the their traditional formation with squadron leaders being supported on their flanks and rear to facilitate their board and burn tactics, and on a westerly heading, beating into wind.

Turns 1 & 2

Blake has the initiative in Turn 1 and moves first, which sees Penn's stand run aground as expected, but surprisingly the Sovereign does not. In the meantime the Dutch advance at their best speed into wind, but the end of the turn leaves both fleets out of engagement range.

Penn's squadron heaves to and begins to drift downwind (away from camera), as Blake's squadron sails past whilst the Dutch close.

At the end of Turn 2, Penn's squadron heaves to and begins to drift downwind (away from camera), seeing Penn's stand managing to get off the shoal but leaving it disorganised, as Blake's squadron sails past as the Dutch close.

Admiral Sir William Penn - Peter Lely
Sir William Penn (1621–1670) was a prominent English admiral and politician
 who played a key role in the navy during the English Civil War, Commonwealth,
and Restoration, notably capturing Jamaica in 1655.
He was a highly successful commander in the Anglo-Dutch Wars
and father to William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.

Turn 3

Battle commences as Penn's squadron remains hove to whilst his command stand recovers from disruption following the grounding, covered by Blake's squadron which has opened fire at long range, to no effect.

Blake's squadron opens long rang fire on the approaching Dutch and covers his comrade, Vice Admiral William Penn, as he recovers his disruption from the grounding on the sandbank, whilst the rest of his squadron is hove to.

Turn 4

As the lead ships of Rear Admiral Nehemiah Bourne's squadron enter the table from the south east, De Ruyter can be seen tacking his squadron south, that left him with two stands disrupted, but seeing him manage to recover his own.

Rear Admiral Nehemiah Bourne's squadron enter the table from the south east, as De Ruyter can be seen tacking his squadron south.

Blake opens fire again at de With, but again with no effect, as Penn gets control of his squadron and alters course to fall in behind Blake.

Turn 5 

De With has tacked but three stands in his squadron are disrupted by the manoeuvre. Ineffective long range fire continues between the two forces, as de Ruyter and Evertsen begin to converge on Bourne's leading stands.

De With has tacked but three stands in his squadron are disrupted by the manoeuvre, this as de Ruyter and Evertsen begin to converge on Bourne's leading stands.

Turn 6

The combat becomes general across the two fleets, as Bourne's leading stand can be seen (top centre right) having turned to starboard with the wind and raked one of de Ruyter's lead stands, causing a 'level 1' damage, but seeing it recover from the disruption.

Meanwhile Penn has turned his squadron to commence a flank attack on de With, as Blake turns in parallel to attack de With's rear.

Bourne's leading stand can be seen having turned to starboard with the wind and raked one of de Ruyter's lead stands, causing a 'level 1' damage.

Turn 7

The battle becomes fierce between de With and the now combined attack by Penn and Blake with the former delivering and receiving disruptions in a close exchange of broadsides, seeing both sides recover, but leaving one stand in de Wildt's squadron badly mauled by Blake.

Turn 7 and the battle has become general as Blake nearer to camera mauls a stand in de Wildt's squadron, as the exchanges intensify between de With and Penn in the centre of the picture and top left between de Ruyter, Evertsen and Bourne.

Ahead of the fight between de With, Penn, the clash between De Ruyter, Evertsen and Bourne intensifies as raking attacks cause further level 1 damage effects and disruptions to both sides.

Turn 8

One of de Wildt's stands is scattered by the fierce attack by Blake, but the squadron manages to pass its reaction test. In support of Blake, Penn presses his attack by stern raking de With leaving the Dutch commander disrupted. 

De Wildt's scattered stand, centre, is battered into submission by the big English ships under Blake as Penn, in the centre of the picture, bores in on the stern galleries of de With raking and disrupting the Dutch C-in-C. Top left, the other fierce close contest is well underway between Bourne, Evertsen and de Ruyter.

Bourne is now closely engaged by de Ruyer and Evertsen that has caused several stands to become damaged and disrupted.

A fierce battle has developed between Bourne, Evertsen and de Ruyter with shot splashes and wreckage markers indicating the damage and disruption to both sides caused by the close exchanges and rakes.

Turn 9

The battering of de Wildt's squadron by Blake reaches a climax as the Dutch squadron is taken apart, seeing his scattered stand forced to surrender, and his command stand disrupted and damaged.

De Wildt's squadron has been battered by Blake forcing his scattered stand to surrender, and leaving his command stand disrupted and damaged.

Meanwhile the struggle between Bourne, Evertsen and de Ruyter continues with the ferocity of the previous turns but revealing the smaller Dutch ships struggling to harm their larger English opponents.

Fierce exchanges continue between  Bourne, Evertsen and de Ruyter, but the smaller Dutch ships are struggling to inflict significant damage to their larger English opponents.

Turn 11

It's the end for de Wildt's squadron as his own command stand is scattered and so is his squadron.

The end for de Wildt's squadron, and the firing has ceased, as his own command stand is scattered and so is his squadron which is now keen to break contact.

However the Dutch fight on, just, as Evertsen manages to cause one of Bourne's stands to scatter and then surrender.

Evertsen manages to cause one of Bourne's stands to scatter and then surrender, seen here amid shot splashes and wrecked rigging, and surrounded by Dutch men-of-war.

Turn 12

With the collapse of de Wildt's squadron, the Dutch are in full retreat east and home, pursued by the jubilant English, who have recovered their surrendered stand.

Nightfall comes to the aid of the Dutch fleet as it breaks contact in the dark and limps home.

Here are Steve's observations on his re-fight of the Kentish Knock:

Overall, a historical result. De With’s change of course to attack Bourne went well at first but the Dutch ships were unable to damage the English. At one point an English stand was surrounded by four Dutchmen but its DF value of 10 outweighed their individual BF values of 8 and less.

Penn was very lucky. His stand grounded but got free the next turn whilst the Sovereign did not go aground at all. However, he could not get the Sovereign into action because she was blocked by other stands.

De With was unable to make use of his fireships because of several factors: 

• the English were upwind and fireships cannot be send directly into the wind; 
• the English were undamaged and fireships are only really effective against damaged stands;
• and finally not enough command points to initiate a fireship attack.

Now for Dungeness.

Thankyou to Steve for an enthralling game and the pictures he sent me to accompany the report, I hope like me you enjoyed the read.

The Battle of Dungeness is 30 November 1652

In the next Anglo-Dutch War post Steve will look at the planning and preparation for Dungeness, the fleet listings together with another post battle report.

As always, more anon.

JJ