Guest blogger Frank Fox presents the second half of his important new assessment of the fleets that fought in the Battle of Beachy Head. Next week, I’ll be reporting on the Oxford Naval Conference in honour of John Hattendorf, which I’m attending.
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The Dutch squadron, commanded by Cornelis Evertsen, Lieutenant-Admiral of Holland and Westfriesland, formed the van of the allied fleet. The twenty-two ships, commanders, and their armament are given in Evertsen’s letters written after the battle and published in Hollandsche Mercurius, pp. 202-208. The manning figures are intended complements and not the actual numbers aboard. Most are from a list in J C M Warnsinck, De Vloot van den Koning-Stadhouder 1689-1690 (1934), p. 82; and from the appendices in J C De Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, v. 3 (1869), pp. 730-739. The letters in the ADM column indicate the admiralties to which the ships belonged; ‘A’ is Amsterdam, ‘M’ is the Maas (Rotterdam), ‘N’ is the Noorderkwartier (North Quarter), and ‘Z’ is Zeeland. The Dutch squadron was in three divisions, with the flagships and division commanders shown below in bold type. The ships of the van division flew a pendant at the fore, those of the centre division a pendant the main, and those of the rear division a pendant at the mizzen. Dutch flag-officers all flew the national tricolour as command flags. These were at the main for lieutenant-admirals, at the fore for vice-admirals, and at the mizzen for schout-bij-nachts (rear-admirals). In previous Dutch sea-battles, the ships had worn various combinations of several flags as ensigns and jacks to signify their admiralty affiliations, but whether this applied in 1690 is not clear.
The sources for the Dutch squadron note that there were four fireships, but do not identify them other than giving the names of three of the commanders. Dutch researcher Carl Stapel found the fourth commander and two of the fireship names (matched to commanders) in admiralty reports from April 1690, and a third fireship and commander (Van Brakel’s Suikermolen) turned up in the vast data compiled by James Bender for his soon-to-be-published Dutch Warships in the Age of Sail 1600-1714, which he graciously made available. The remaining fireship, expended in action under Commandeur Thameszoon of Amsterdam, I have tentatively identified as the Kroonvogel; she was the only Amsterdam fireship in 1690 aside from the Suikermolen which does not appear in later Dutch fleet lists. Perhaps uniquely for a Dutch fleet in battle in the seventeenth century, there were no light frigates present, as noted in one of Evertsen’s letters appearing in Hollandsche Mercurius, 1690, p. 206.
The published lists of the Dutch squadrons do not give the forenames of the commanders. I have filled in most of these from Mr Bender’s data; by chance, two that he could not supply appear in English warrants for travel to the Netherlands for officers of ships that were lost on the English coast after the battle – Jan van der Poel and Cornelis Calis (NA, ADM 44/339, pp. 307 and 314). Only two of the flag-captains (noted below) have so far been identified.
ADM SHIP GUNS MEN COMMANDER
Van Division
A Wapen van Utrecht 64 315 Pieter Claassen Decker
N Alkmaar 50 200 Jan Kalff
Z Tholen 60 330 Cornelis Calis
N Westfriesland 82 450 Vice-Adm. Gerard Callenburgh
A Prinses Maria 92 500 S.b.N. Gilles Schey
A Castricum 52 240 Ferdinand Joan Kuyper
A Agatha 50 210 Willem van der Zaan
Centre Division
A Stad en Lande 52 210 Abraham Taalman
N Maagd van Enkhuizen 72 370 Jan van der Poel
A Noord Holland 44 190 Rudolf Swaan
M Maagd van Dordrecht 60 300 Anthonij Pieterson
A Hollandia 70 360 Lt-Adm. Cornelis Evertsen /
Capt. Hendrik van Toll
M Veluwe 60 375 S.b.N. Jan van Brakel /
Capt. Matthias De la Cave
M Provincie van Utrecht 50 210 Jan van Convent
M Maas 64 340 Jan Snellen
Rear Division
A Friesland 68 350 Philips van der Goes
A Elswout 50 210 Adriaan Noortheij
A Reigersbergen 74 360 Abraham Ferdinand van Zijll
Z Gekroonde Burg 62 350 Vice-Adm. Karel van de Putte
N Noord Holland 72 320 S.b.N. Jan Dick
Z Veere 60 325 Cornelis Jansz. Mosselman
Z Kortgene 50 240 Andries de Boer
Fireships (not in line)
A Suikermolen 4 25 Abraham van Brakel
A Kroonvogel? 6 22 Thameszoon
N Maagd van Enkhuizen 6 22 Muijsevanger
Z Burg Etna 4 25 Cornelis Antheuniszoon
The English fleet was under Admiral Arthur Herbert, Earl of Torrington (1648-1716), who was the overall allied commander. The usual source for the English order of battle is Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy . . . , v. 2, p. 335. But this is incomplete in omitting light frigates and the stations of the fireships. A lesser known alternative that does give the approximate stations of the fireships is Memoirs Relating to the Lord Torrington, ed. J K Laughton, (Camden Society, 1889), p. 50. The Torrington referred to in this work is not Arthur Herbert, but George Byng, Viscount Torrington from 1721 and captain of the third-rate Hope in 1690. These sources disagree slightly in that Clowes states that the fourth-rate Constant Warwick was not in the line, while Byng assigns her a station (as shown below).
The light frigates and small warships omitted by the published sources are identified in the Admiralty’s monthly fleet distribution lists (NA, ADM 8/2). The presence of several not mentioned in accounts of the battle were verified from their logs, preserved in NA, ADM 52/87 (Portsmouth), ADM 51/384 (Garland), ADM 52/69 (Milford), ADM 51/3963 (Salamander), and ADM 51/214 (Concord). I have taken the minutely detailed data in ADM 8/2 as the most reliable authority for captains, guns, and complements of all ships.
The English had an overall strength of thirty-five men-of-war of the fourth rate or larger, seven light frigates and small warships, sixteen fireships, and one hospital ship. In addition, the fleet was accompanied by a swarm of small ketches and smacks which had been hired as tenders and utility craft for the men-of-war. They are not listed here because those actually present seem unrecorded. But these vessels, their masters, and the ships to which they were assigned can be found in NA, ADM 1/3560, fo. 805; and ADM 49/29, fos 39v-52r and 61v-62r.
The English formed the centre and rear squadrons of the allied fleet, with the flagships indicated below in bold type. The centre, designated the Red Squadron, was in three divisions; while the rear, designated the Blue Squadron, was undivided (two expected flag-officers were missing; Sir Clowdesley Shovell had not returned from escorting King William III to Ireland, and Henry Killigrew’s squadron was delayed in coming home from the Mediterranean). In the Red Squadron, Torrington flew a Union flag at the main, his vice-admiral in the van division a red flag at the fore, and the rear-admiral a red flag at the mizzen. The ships of this squadron displayed a red pendant at the main and wore the red ensign. In the Blue Squadron, the only flag-officer, Rear- Admiral Delavall, flew a blue flag at the mizzen. All of his ships had a blue pendant at the main and wore the blue ensign. As usual, all the English ships wore a small Union flag as the jack.
Several vessels just missed inclusion in this list. The fourth-rates Assurance, Foresight, Phoenix, and Mary Galley, along with the fifth-rate Play Prize (plus an unidentified Dutch man-of-war) came to the fleet the day after the battle; the sixth-rate Julian Prize was two days late (NA, ADM 52/110, Suffolk master’s log; NA, ADM 52/66, Mary Galley master’s log; and NA, ADM 51/494, Julian Prize captain’s log).
RATE SHIP GUNS MEN COMMANDER
Red Squadron (centre) – three divisions
Van Division
3 Plymouth 60 340 Richard Carter
4 Deptford 50 280 William Kerr
3 Elizabeth 70 460 David Mitchell
2 Sandwich 90 660 Vice-Adm. Sir John Ashby /Capt.William Bridges
fs Wolf 8 45 Thomas Urry
fs Vulture 8 45 James Moody
3 Expedition 70 460 John Clements
3 Warspite 70 420 Stafford Fairborne
4 Woolwich 54 280 James Gother
3 Lion 60 340 John Topley
Centre Division
4 Constant Warwick 42 180 John Beverly
3 Rupert 66 400 George Pomeroy
2 Albemarle 90 660 Sir Francis Wheeler
3 Grafton 70 460 Henry, Duke of Grafton
fs Roebuck 8 45 Isaac Townsend
1 Royal Sovereign 100 815 Adm. Earl of Torrington /Capt. John Neville
fs Dolphin 8 45 William Vickers
fs Owner’s Love 10 40 Thomas Heath
2 Windsor Castle 90 660 George Churchill
fs Speedwell 8 45 John Mason
3 Lenox 70 460 John Granville
3 Stirling Castle 70 460 Anthony Hastings
Rear Division
3 York 60 340 Thomas Hopson
3 Suffolk 70 460 Wolfran Cornwall
3 Hampton Court 70 460 John Layton
2 Duchess 90 660 Rear-Adm. George Rooke /Capt. Thomas Gillam
fs Hound 8 45 Thomas Fowlis
fs Spy 8 45 Frederick Weighman
3 Hope 70 460 George Byng
3 Restoration 70 460 William Botham
Blue Squadron (rear) – undivided
3 Anne 70 460 John Tyrrell
fs Fox 8 45 William Stone
fs Thomas & Elizabeth 10 40 Thomas Marshall
4 Bonaventure 48 230 John Hubbard
3 Edgar 72 445 John Jennifer
3 Exeter 70 460 George Meese
3 Breda 70 460 Matthew Tennant
1 St. Andrew 96 730 Robert Dorrell
fs Charles 6 25 Anthony Roope
2 Coronation 90 660 Rear-Adm. Sir Ralph Delavall /
Capt. John Munden
fs Griffin 8 45 Peregrine Clifford Chamberlain
fs Hawk 8 45 William Harman
2 Royal Katherine 84 540 Matthew Aylmer
fs Cygnet 10 40 Robert Wilmot
3 Cambridge 70 420 Simon Foulks
3 Berwick 70 460 Henry Martin
4 Swallow 48 230 Benjamin Walters
3 Defiance 64 400 John Graydon
fs Hunter 8 45 Thomas Kercher
fs Cadiz Merchant 12 45 David Greenhill
3 Captain 70 460 Daniel Jones
Light Frigates – not in line, stations unknown
5 Portsmouth 32 135 Francis Wyvell
5 Milford 32 135 Charles Hawkins
5 Garland 30 130 Thomas Robinson
6 Sally Rose 22 80 Thomas Gardner
6 Saudadoes 16 75 Roger Newton
6 Fubbs yacht 12 40 John Guy
6 Salamander bomb 10 35 William Martin
Hospital Ship
5 Concord — — Ralph Crow
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank James Bender and Carl Stapel for helping to fill out details of the Dutch squadron, and Richard Endsor for photographing numerous documents in the National Archives and for his painting that accompanies the blog. Dr Peter Le Fevre kindly supplied other useful documents.
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