The Battle of Solebay took place on 6 June 1672 New Style, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, near Southwold, Suffolk, in eastern England. A Dutch fleet under Michiel de Ruyter attacked a combined Anglo-French force in one of the largest naval battles of the Age of Sail. Fighting continued much of the day, but ended at sunset without a clear victory. However, the scattered Allied fleet had suffered far more damage and was forced to abandon any plans to land troops on the Dutch coast.
Prelude
In 1672, both France and England declared war on the Dutch Republic, on the 6 and 7 April respectively. Johan de Witt, the Dutch Grand Pensionary, still harbored some hope for successful negotiations, especially with the support of influential anti-Catholic English figures such as Sir William Temple and the Earl of Sandwich. However, Louis XIV of France had already revealed his true intentions during a sharp address to the Dutch ambassador, Pieter de Groot, at the New Year's reception at his court. As French troops advanced towards the Rhine and the armies of Münster and Cologne penetrated the eastern provinces, the combined English and French fleets were poised to strike the Republic from the sea.
The joint Anglo-French fleet consisted of 93 warships (sources vary), 35,000-40,000 men and 6,158 cannon. The Allies under the Duke of York and Vice-Admirals Earl of Sandwich and Jean d'Estrées, Count of Estrées planned to blockade the Dutch in their home ports and deny the North Sea to Dutch shipping. The Dutch had at their disposal a fleet of 75 warships, 20,738 men and 4,484 cannon, commanded by Lieutenant-Admirals Michiel de Ruyter, Adriaen Banckert and Willem Joseph van Ghent. The Dutch had hoped to repeat the success of the Raid on the Medway and a frigate squadron under Van Ghent sailed up the Thames in May but discovered that Sheerness Fort was now too well prepared to pass. The Dutch main fleet came too late, mainly due to coordination problems between the five Dutch admiralties, to prevent a joining of the English and French fleets. It followed the Allied fleet to the north, which, unaware of this, put in at Solebay to refit.
Battle
On 7 June at dawn, around 5 a.m., off Orfordness, De Ruyter suddenly appeared in the sight of the Allied fleet. Although a lack of wind prevented De Ruyter from launching an attack with his fireships, the confusion among the suddenly alarmed English and French was still significant. Officers and sailors, still on shore, were quickly signaled to return to their ships, and the Anglo-French fleet immediately set sail, though in less than ideal order. The French, whether through accident or design, found themselves in the rear and considerably south of the English, whose vanguard under Sandwich and middle squadron under York lay close to the coast.
De Ruyter had employed a new formation, creating from the various squadrons under Jan van Brakel a "forlorn hope" squadron of 18 ships and 18 fireships, which was to attack the enemy ahead of the main force and attempt to cause confusion with its fireships. However, this failed, and the battle had to be fought between the main squadrons. Having the weather gauge, De Ruyter attacked the enemy around 8 a.m. at full speed. He himself directing his attack against the middle squadron as usual. The Duke of York, who commanded the Allied middle squadron, and De Ruyter fiercely bombarded each other. York was forced to move his flag twice, finally to London, as his flagships Prince and St Michael were taken out of action. Prince was crippled by De Ruyter's flagship De Zeven Provinciën in a two-hour duel. De Ruyter was accompanied by the representative of the States-General of the Netherlands, Cornelis de Witt (the brother of Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt) who bravely remained seated on the main deck, although half of his guard of honour standing next to him was killed or wounded.
In the meantime Banckert had taken on the French squadron under Estrées, which flew the white flag. The French, quite far away from the English squadrons, steered south followed by Banckert. They fiercely exchanged fire throughout the day, inflicting severe damage on each other without significantly influencing the battle's outcome. This later led to various speculations about the actual separation of the two squadrons, with many wrongly attributing it to secret mutual agreements or Estrées' reluctance to participate more fully in the battle, possibly related to a supposed mission to weaken the two great maritime powers against each other. Nevertheless, the Superbe was heavily damaged and des Rabesnières killed by fire from Enno Doedes Star's Groningen; total French casualties were about 450.
The battle between squadrons of Sandwich and Van Ghent was no less bloody than that between those of York and De Ruyter. Here, too, the fiercest fighting took place between the admiral's ships and their "seconds." The flagship of Sandwich, HMS Royal James, was first fiercely engaged by Lieutenant-Admiral Van Ghent, who in 1667 had executed the Raid on the Medway, on Dolfijn. Van Brakel, who actually belonged to De Ruyter's squadron, took it upon himself to engage Sandwich's ship with Groot Hollandia to aid the heavily attacked Van Ghent. He incessantly pounded the hull of Royal James for over an hour and bringing her into such a condition that Lord Sandwich considered to strike his flag but decided against it because it was beneath his honour to surrender to a mere captain of low birth. Van Ghent was killed around 10 a.m. in this ship battle, and the desperate Sandwich, who could not board Groot Hollandia due to a lack of crew, finally managed to free himself from Van Brakel at low tide. But Royal James now drifted away, sinking, and was attacked by several fire ships. She sank two, but a third commanded by Van den Ryn, the same captain who had cut through the chain at the Medway, set the Royal James on fire. Its approach shielded by Vice-Admiral Isaac Sweers's Oliphant. After nine-tenths of its thousand crew members had been killed or wounded Sandwich, abandoned by part of his own squadron under Joseph Jordan, who had engaged vice admiral Volckert Schram's division, remained on his burning ship until he met his death in the waves. He and his son-in-law Philip Carteret drowned trying to escape when his sloop collapsed under the weight of panicked sailors jumping in; his body washed ashore, only recognisable by the scorched clothing still showing the shield of the Order of the Garter. The battle continued for hours, with Van Panhuys, Van Ghent's captain, flying his flag on De Witt's express orders to prevent panic. Despite this, the death of the lieutenant admiral soon became known, causing significant disruption in his squadron.
In the centre Lieutenant-Admiral Aert Jansse van Nes aboard Eendracht first duelled Vice-Admiral Edward Spragge on HMS London and then was attacked by HMS Royal Katherine. The latter ship was then so heavily damaged that Captain John Chicheley struck her flag and was taken prisoner; the Dutch prize crew however got drunk on the brandy found and allowed the ship to be later recaptured by the English. Van Ghent's death presented a formidable challenge for De Ruyter, who was now also under attack from some of the ships from Sandwich's squadron commanded by Jordan. Meanwhile, York had to transfer from the damaged St Michael to the London, Spragge's flagship, due to severe leaks. The battle centered on the two middle squadrons. The two fleets, under light winds, drifted southward along the banks of Lowestoft and as far as Aldbrough, engaged in intense and chaotic combat. By late evening, De Ruyter managed to maneuver behind the English centre. He now headed toward Banckert, while York maneuvered towards Estrées. During this maneuver, De Ruyter encountered a smaller vessel, Rainbow, commanded by Captain James Storey, which he left severely damaged after a brief skirmish.
Around 9 p.m., with the onset of darkness, the battle ended, remaining largely undecided, although the Allied fleet had suffered far more damage. The Battle of Solebay, according to De Ruyter himself, "was sharper and more prolonged" than any naval battle he had ever witnessed. Losses had also been heavy on the Dutch side: one Dutch ship, Jozua, was destroyed and another, Stavoren, captured, a third Dutch ship, Wassenaer, had an accident during repairs immediately after the battle and blew up.
In a strategic sense, it was however a clear Dutch victory as it deterred Anglo-French plans to blockade Dutch ports and land troops on the Dutch coast. Tactically both sides sustained heavy damages; two English ships were sunk, including the fleet's flagship the Royal James, as well as two French ships sunk. The Dutch also lost two large ships, in addition to many fire ships.
The fleets met again at the Battle of Schooneveld in 1673.
Ship list
Not all fireships are listed; there were about 24 of them on the Allied, 36 on the Dutch side.
In popular culture
- The battle is described in verse, as if in an eyewitness account seen from the coast at Dunwich, in the ballad "A Merry Song on the Duke's late glorious Success over the Dutch", which appears in print (apparently taken from a broadside ballad) in the Suffolk Garland of 1818.
- Leeds Central Library has a 50 ft (15m), step by step, pictorial record of the sea battle which dates from around 1910. It is based on contemporary parchments and also features scenes depicting the Battle of Texel. It forms part of the Gascoigne collection.
- The battle is described in the novel "An Affair of Dishonour" published in 1910 by William de Morgan who was also an artist in glass and ceramics. A wounded survivor becomes an important character in the story.
- The Battle of Solebay forms the historic background to children's adventure novel The Lion of Sole Bay, the fourth book in the Strong Winds series by Julia Jones
- The Adnams Brewery created a beer, named Broadside, in commemoration of the battle's tercentenary.
In his novel, “The Black Tulip”, Alexandre Dumas refers to the historical role of Cornelius de Witt in the battle. (Chapter 2, “The Two Brothers”)