The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars- 1652-1674

[oldpop2000]

This thread is about a new subject that I am beginning to study. It is not well documented in history from what I can understand. It is the Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars from around 1652 to 1674. They do extend beyond that but initially I will stay within that range. They are interesting, being a trade war, with another name of the "Navigation Wars".

Some of my initial sources are:

Broadside: Emerging Empires Collide - This is an historical drama designed to teach the history of the wars. It is outstanding.

The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery by Paul M. Kennedy

The Anglo-Dutch Wars of the Seventeenth Century by J. R. Jones - This book is reportedly the best scholarly study of those wars and the most thorough.

Warships of the Anglo-Dutch Wars 1652-1674

The Influence of SEA POWER Upon History 1660-1753 by Alfred Thayer Mahan

Principles of Maritime Strategy by Julian S. Corbett

Samuel Pepys Diary - Pepys was a clerk in the Admiralty and close to Lord Albermarle

The principals are England under Charles II and the Dutch under Jan De Witt. The admirals were men like Lord Albemarle of the English, De Ruyter and Tromp of the Dutch. It does involve New Netherlands and New Amsterdam, the latter now call New York on Manhattan Island. There were four wars and some great naval battles along with new tactics developed by the British. The most widely remembered is the Line of Battle tactics. This combat formation was used by the British Navy and was very successful until De Ruyter and his admirals decided to adopt it. Just an historical note: If you examine the battle formation used by Jellicoe when he engaged the German High Seas Fleet, you might see this same Line of Battle formation. It began in the First Anglo- Dutch war when the British had changed their warship building to heavier gunned, larger warships. They were emphasizing firepower and long range gunnery.

Anyway, if any of you have studied this or have an interest, hop in here and lets discuss it. Keep in mind, I am beginning my study but I have read about this war.

Let the games begin.

[oldpop2000]

Well, let's start by getting a map and figuring out where the main action was. If we start on Southeast England near Norwich and head almost due south Dover, across the Channel to Calais and northeast up the coast to Zeeland then almost due north to the Zuyder Zee then across to a town titled Lowestoft then you have the approximate area of the major naval battles.  Now were their other actions in the war? Yes, on the west coast of Africa by the British to take over the Dutch trade and in the Mediterranean.

This should give us all a visual reference for the naval battles. These wars were naval wars, not land wars although Louis XIV and some areas east of the Dutch Republic did make some movements, they were generally fought at sea and in some of coastal areas.

[director]

That strategic area of operation is tightly controlled by geography. The Channel is narrow, and the prevailing winds (I think I remember) blow from the southwest to the northeast. That forced Dutch ships to choose between the wild run north around Scotland (long and hazardous by weather) or a slow beating upwind up the Channel. Thus the importance of Portsmouth over London as an operational base (though the capital did remain a primary building-fitting out-supply base area).

In addition, Dutch waters are shallow compared to British ports. This wasn't as important early on because all the ships were small, but over the course of the wars ships got bigger. Increased displacement for Dutch vessels could only come from increased length and/or beam, not draft. That made their vessels less weatherly and handy - a sailing ship needs some depth of keel when sailing with the wind abeam or tacking, otherwise it slides downwind. That's one of the reasons why Dutch ships tended to be smaller than their English equivalents.

One of the hallmarks of the era was the non-professional officer corps, mostly drawn from merchant ranks and not well-disposed to follow orders. Numerous engagements were decided by one division or another, on one side or both, hanging back and failing to come up into action. Another was the primitive state of communications, both to the fleets and among the ships of the fleet. That made it hard for an admiral to give any sort of detailed or complicated order so mostly the battles were 'melee clumps' the Dutch excelled at, or sterile lines bombarding each other without decisive result.