| Michiel De Ruyter |
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| 1607 births | |
| 1676 deaths | |
| dutch sailors | |
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| anglo-dutch wars | |
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Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter ( 24 March 1607 - 29 April 1676 ) is one of the most famous Admiral s in Dutch History . De Ruyter fought the English in the first three Anglo-Dutch Wars and scored several major victories. EARLY LIFE De Ruyter was born in 1607 in Flushing (Vlissingen), son of a beer porter, and became a sailor at the age of 11 in 1618 . In 1622 he fought as a Musketeer against the Spaniards in the Dutch army under Maurice Of Nassau during the relief of Bergen-op-Zoom before once again joining the Dutch merchant fleet, steadily working his way up. In the years between 1623 an 1631 , according to English sources he worked in Dublin as an agent for the Vlissingen based merchant house of the Lampsins brothers. Although no Dutch source has any data about his where-abouts in these years, it's a fact that De Ruyter spoke Irish fluently. Occasionally he would travel as supercargo to the Mediterranean or the Barbary Coast . In 1631 he married for the first time to a farmer's daughter named Maayke Velders. The marriage did not last long: late 1631 Maayke died after giving birth to a daughter who followed her mother in death shortly after. It is unknown how De Ruyter, who during this time still simply referred to himself as 'Michael Adriaenszoon' (son of Adriaen) coped with the loss; information about his life during this period is very scarce. In he became captain of a private ship meant to hunt for Dunkirker Raiders who were causing Dutch merchant shipping much loss. He sailed repeatedly in this function between 1637 an 1640 . After sailing as 'schipper' of a merchant vessel named de ''Vlissinge'' for a while, he was asked by the Zeeland admiralty to become captain of the ''Haze'', a merchant ship turned man-of-war carrying 26 guns in a fleet under admiral Gijsels fighting the Spanish , teaming up with the Portuguese during their rebellion. The Dutch fleet, with De Ruyter as third in command, beat back a Spanish-Dunkirker fleet in an action of Cape St Vincent the 4th of November 1641 . After returning he bought his own ship, the ''Salamander'', and between 1642 and 1652 , mainly trading and voyaging to Morocco and the West Indies , became a wealthy merchant. During this time his esteem grew among other Dutch captains as he would regularly free christian slaves buying them at his own expense. In . De Ruyter decided the time had now come to retire, buying a pleasant house in Flushing . However for him the blissful family life would not last long. FIRST ANGLO-DUTCH WAR During the First Anglo-Dutch War ( 1652 – 1654 ), De Ruyter was asked to join the expanding fleet as a subcommander; after initially refusing and stating he wasn't qualified enough for such a job, De Ruyter proved his worth under Admiral Maarten Tromp , winning the Battle Of Plymouth . When the war ended after Tromp had been killed at the Battle Of Scheveningen , De Ruyter declined an emphatic offer from Johan De Witt , who would later become a personal friend, for supreme command declaring himself 'unfit' for such a responsible job and also fearing bypassing the seniority principle would result in much jealousy from Witte De With and Johan Evertsen . Later Colonel Jacob Van Wassenaer Obdam became the new Dutch supreme commander of the confederate fleet. De Ruyter - after wisely refusing to become Obdam's 'assistant '- remained in the service of the Dutch navy however and later accepted an offer from the admiralty of Amsterdam to become their Vice-Admiral on the 2nd of March 1654 . He relocated with his family to the same city in 1655 . 1655-1663 In July 1655 De Ruyter took command of a squadron of eight of which the ''Tijdverdrijf'' was his flagship and set out for the Mediterranean with 55 merchantmen in convoy. Meeting an English fleet under Robert Blake along the way, he managed to avoid creating a new incident. His orders were to protect Dutch trade. After destroying many a privateer and negotiating a peace agreement with Salé , De Ruyter returned home May 1656 . He did not stay home for very long as the same month the Estates-General , becoming ever more wary of Swedish king Charles X and his expansion plans, decided to make a statement and sent a fleet to the Baltic Sea , the southern coast of which the Swedes now also controlled as Charles had just invaded Poland and made himself king there. De Ruyter once again embarked on the ''Tijdverdrijf'' arriving in the Sound the 8th of June; there he waited for Admiral Jacob Van Wassenaer Obdam to arrive. After Obdam had assumed command De Ruyter and the Dutch fleet sailed to relieve the besieged city of Gdansk , which happened without any bloodshed on July 27th. Peace was signed a month later. Before leaving the Baltic De Ruyter and other flagofficers were granted audience by Frederick III Of Denmark . De Ruyter took a liking to the Danish king who would later become a personal friend. In 1658 the Estates General decided to once again sent a fleet to the Baltic Sea to protect the important Baltic trade and to aid the Danes against continued Swedish aggression. In accordance with the States' Balance Of Power politics a fleet under Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob Van Wassenaer Obdam was sent. On the 8th of November a bloody melee took place in the Sound , which Battle Of The Sound resulted in a Dutch victory, relieving Copenhagen . Still the Swedes were far from defeated and the States decided to continue their support. De Ruyter took command of a new expeditionary fleet and managed to liberate Nyborg in 1659 . For this he was knighted by the Danish king Frederick III Of Denmark . SECOND ANGLO-DUTCH WAR , 1666 .]] In 1664 , a year before the Second Anglo-Dutch War officially began, he clashed with the English off the West African coast, where both the English and Dutch had significant slave stations, retaking the Dutch possessions occupied by Robert Holmes and then crossing the Atlantic to raid the British colonies in America. Arriving off Barbados in the Caribbean at the end of April, 1665 aboard his flagship ''Spiegel'', he led his fleet of thirteen vessels into Carlisle Bay , exchanging fire with the English batteries and destroying many of the vessels anchored there. Unable to silence the English guns and having sustained considerable damage to his own vessels, he retired to French Martinique for repairs. Sailing north from Martinique, de Ruyter captured several English vessels and delivered supplies to the Dutch colony at Sint Eustatius . Given the damage he had sustained, he decided against an assault on New York (the former New Amsterdam ) to retake New Netherland and proceeded to Newfoundland , capturing several English fishing boats and temporarily capturing St. John's before proceeding to Europe. On his return to The Netherlands he learned that Van Wassenaer had been killed in the disastrous Battle Of Lowestoft . Many had expected that command of the confederate fleet now go to Tromp's son Cornelis, not least Cornelis Tromp himself. Tromp however, was not acceptable to the regent regime of Johan de Witt because of his support for the Prince of Orange's cause. De Ruyter's popularity had grown after his heroic return and he instead was made commander of the Dutch fleet on 11 August 1665, as Lieutenant-Admiral (a rank he shared with four others) of the Amsterdam admiralty. In this Second Anglo-Dutch War ( 1665 – 1667 ) he won a hard-fought victory in the Four Days Battle (June 1666 ) but narrowly escaped disaster in the St James's Day Battle (August 1666). He then became seriously ill, recovering just in time to take nominal command of the fleet executing the Raid On The Medway in 1667 . The Medway raid was a costly and embarrassing defeat for the English, resulting in the loss of the British Flagship and bringing the Dutch close to London and the war to its end. THIRD ANGLO-DUTCH WAR AND DEATH , 1677 .]] De Ruyter saved the situation for the Dutch in the Third Anglo-Dutch War . His strategic victories over larger Anglo-French fleets at the Battles of Solebay ( 1672 ), the double Schooneveld ( 1673 ) and Texel (Kijkduin) (1673) warded off invasion. The new rank of Lieutenant-Admiral-General was made especially for him in February 1673. Again taking the battle to the Caribbean, this time against the French, De Ruyter arrived off Martinique aboard his flagship ''Zeven Provinciën'' on July 19 1674 . He led a substantial force of thirty warships, nine storeships, and fifteen troop transports bearing 3,400 soldiers. Attempting to assault Fort Royal , his fleet was becalmed, allowing the greatly outnumbered French defenders time to solidify their defenses. The next day, newly-placed booms prevented de Ruyter from entering the harbor. Nonetheless, the Dutch soldiers went ashore without the support of the fleet's guns, and were badly mauled in their attempt to reach the French fortifications atop the steep cliffs. Within two hours, the soldiers were returning to the fleet, having suffered 143 killed and 318 wounded, as compared to only 15 French defenders lost. His ambitions thwarted and the element of surpise lost, de Ruyter sailed north to Dominica and Nevis , then returned to Europe with disease spreading aboard his ships. He took command of a combined Dutch-Spanish fleet and fought a French fleet under Duquesne twice to a draw at the Battle Of Stromboli and the Battle Of Agosta where he was fatally wounded when a cannonball hit both his legs. His body was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk (''New Church'') in Amsterdam . De Ruyter was highly respected by his sailors and soldiers, who used the term of endearment ''Bestevâer'' ("Granddad") for him, both because of his disregard for hierarchy (he was himself of humble origin) and his refusal to back away from risky and bold undertakings despite his usually cautious nature. REFERENCES
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