The Battle of Plymouth
16 August 1652
This was the Second fleet engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War between the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
On 13 August 1652, the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter set sail from Calais with 32 (or36) men-of-war to escort a merchant fleet of 60 ships through the Channel to the Mediterranean.
General-at-Sea George Ayscue was patrolling, with forty men-of-war and armed merchantmen and five fireships, in search of prizes. He sighted the Dutch convoy off Plymouth on 15 August. de Ruyter altered course to fend off Ayscue's attack.
Although the English ships were in the majority, and were better armed, many of them failed to keep their station in the line of attack, and Ayscue lost the advantage, The battle continued all afternoon. As evening fell Ayscue broke off the engagement and sailed back to Plymouth. He was pursued by de Ruyter, who intended to attack the English ships in their anchorage until a change of wind forced him to withdraw. No ships were lost, but both sides suffered heavy casualties among their crews. The Dutch merchant convoy succeeded in escaping through the Channel.
Notes to the ship lists
Bold indicates a ship sunk, scuttled or blown up, or a captain killed or died of wounds
Italics indicates a ship or captain captured
The unknown fireship commanded by Captain Smithson was expended protecting a merchantman called Bonaventure which had been dismasted (Source: B021 Page 33)
This list has been colated from several sources, largely lists of officers and their ships. As such it is probably incomplete. A large portion of the Dutch ships listed will be Hired Vessels, but which has yet to be confirmed. The Friesland Admiralty ships' list is complete however.
Sources
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