Naval Battles In The 17th Century

By André Geraque Kiffer

From the beginning to the mid-seventeenth century, several navies, especially those in the Netherlands and England, began to use new combat techniques. Previously, as we have noted, battles were often fought by large fleets of ships approaching and boarding enemy ships as opportunities presented themselves. The evolution of naval cannons during the first half of the 17th century soon led to the conclusion that the fleet needed to try to fight in a single line to make the most of its firepower, without one ship getting in the way of the other. The tactic was used by both sides in the Anglo-Dutch wars and was codified in instructions for combat, which formed the basis of the entire tactical system of the 17th and 18th centuries in the naval war. The search for the height advantage given by the bow and stern castles has been reduced, now that approach combat was less essential. The need for maneuver in battle made the castles weight and center of gravity a disadvantage. Then they shrunk, making the ship of the line lighter and more maneuverable than its ancestors, with the same firepower. As an additional consequence, the hull itself got bigger, allowing the size and number of cannons to also increase.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Feb 4, 2024

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ANDRÉ  GERAQUE  KIFFER

A  historical  simulation

of  naval  battles

in  the  17th  century

Author's  Edition

Resende

2020

---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

A  historical  simulation  of  naval  battles  in  the  17th  century. André  Geraque  Kiffer.

Author's  Edition,  Resende,  2020.

Bibliography:  128  p.  44  im.  21  cm..

1.  History.  2.  Art  of  War.  3.  Science  of  War.  4.  Wargames. I.  Author.  II.  Title.

ISBN  978-65-00-14836-7

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3 PROLOGUE

Supported  by  a  summary  of  the  historical  fact  (war, campaign  and  /  or  battle),  I  try  to  analyze  and highlight  the  decisive  factors,  before  simulating alternative  what  if…  hypotheses  through  a  board game.  In  the  simulation,  all  the  possibilities  of  the study's  purpose  are  completed,  when  the  past  of history  is  analyzed  based  on  the  theory  of  the present  and  designed  for  similar  situations  in  the future.  So  far  I  have  published  the  following  series: I.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Wars  of  the  First Empires  in  2010;  VIII.  Historical  Simulation  of  the First  World  War  in  2011;  II.  Historical  Simulation  of the  Wars  in  Classical  Greece  in  2012;  III. Historical  Simulation  of  the  Roman  Wars  in  2016; and  IV.  Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the Medieval  Era  in  2018.  I  plan  to  publish  the  following series:  V.  Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the Modern  Era  (1453  to  1774);  "VI.  Historical Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Age  of  Revolutions  (1775-

1860);  VII.  Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the

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Industrial  Age  (1861  to  1913);  IX.  Historical Simulation  of  World  War  II;  and  X.  Historical Simulation  of  the  Cold  War  (1917  to  1989)".  After being  based  on  this  comprehensive  view  of  Military History  since  1560  BC  in  Ancient  Egypt,  and  on  the knowledge  acquired  in  my  studies  for  a  doctor’s degree  of  Military  Science  in  2000  and  a  bachelor's degree  in  History  in  2019,  I  will  complete  the  project by  writing  and  publishing  an  own  theory  on  the  Art and  Science  of  War. Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  Science  of  War.

Wargames.

5 SUMMARY

HISTORICAL  FACTS………………………………...6 HISTORICALANALYSIS……………………………16 HISTORICAL  SIMULATIONS………………………36 DOWNS…………………....………......…………….38 DUNGENESS……………..…………………………48 GABBARD……………...…...……………………….61 LOWESTOFT…………….....……………………….79 FOUR  DAYS……………..….……………………….91 BEACHY  HEAD……………...…………………….101

ANNEXES........…………………………………….110

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SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  NAVAL  BATTLES HISTORICAL  FACTS Battle  of  The  Downs  (October  21  st  ,  1639)  1

1  , during  the  Eighty  Years'  War,  and  was  a  decisive defeat  of  the  Spanish,  commanded  by  Admiral Antonio  de  Oquendo,  by  the  United  Provinces  of  the Netherlands,  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten  Tromp.

On  the  morning  of  16  September  the  Spanish fleet  spotted  the  12-ship  squadron  of  Maarten Tromp  near  the  French  coast.  Tromp  immediately dispatched  one  of  his  ships  to  warn  Banckert, leaving  him  with  only  11.  De  With's  squadron  were visible  at  a  distance,  but  too  late  to  reach  Tromp. With  odds  of  57  against  11,  Oquendo  could probably  have  made  for  Dunkirk  directly,  and  there would  have  been  little  Tromp  could  to  do  stop  it.  But Oquedo  could  not  resist  the  chance  to  make  battle with  such  favorable  odds.  Perhaps  not  realizing  the size  of  the  Spanish  fleet,  Tromp  did  not  decline

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1  WARNER,  Oliver.  Great  Sea  Battles.  Cambridge:  Ferndale

Edns,  1981.

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battle  but  rather  ordered  his  squadron  into  a  tight line  of  battle.

Im  1:  Historical  board.

Had  Oquendo  given  the  order  for  a  line,  the immense  Spanish  fleet  could  have  probably encircled  and  dispatched  the  Dutch  squadron  in  a few  hours.  But  Oquendo  seemed  intent  on  boarding the  Dutch  flagship.  When  he  finally  decided  to  turn for  a  shot,  he  did  it  too  late  and  sailed  past  the Tromp's  poop.  The  Spanish,  whose  priority  was  to protect  the  troops,  not  to  endanger  them  by continuing  the  battle,  were  driven  to  take  refuge  off the  coast  of  England,  in  the  anchorage  known  as

The  Downs.

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Battle  of  Dungeness  (November  30  th  ,  1652)  2

2  , took  place  during  the  First  Anglo-Dutch  War  near the  cape  of  Dungeness  in  Kent.

Tromp  set  sail  from  the  naval  port  of Hellevoetsluis  with  88  men  of  war  and  five  fireships, escorting  a  vast  convoy  of  270  merchantmen  bound for  France,  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Indies.  At first,  unfavorable  southwestern  gales  forced  him  to return  but  on  23  November  he  again  sailed  south.

With  the  convoy,  accompanied  by  sixteen warships,  safely  delivered  through  the  Straits  of Dover,  Tromp  turned  to  the  west  in  search  of  the English,  and  on  29  November  1652  he  discovered the  English  fleet  of  42  capital  ships  and  ten  smaller vessels  anchored  in  the  Downs,  between  the landheads  of  North  Foreland  and  South  Foreland, commanded  by  General  at  Sea  Robert  Blake.

After  a  council  of  war  in  which  it  was  decided  to avoid  battle,  the  English  promptly  left  their anchorage,  sailing  south.  Blake  may  have  not

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2  CAPP,  Bernard.  Cromwell’s  Navy:  The  Fleet  and  the

English  Revolution,  1648-1660.  Oxford,  UK:  Clarendon

Press,  1979.

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realized  how  large  the  Dutch  fleet  was,  or  he  may have  feared  to  become  trapped  like  the  Spanish had  some  years  earlier  in  the  Battle  of  the  Downs. The  wind  was  now  strong  from  the  northwest,  so  the English  could  not  return  to  the  Downs  in  any  case, having  to  settle  for  Dover.

Im  2:  Historical  board.

The  English  fleet  swiftly  rounded  South Foreland  while  the  Dutch  were  unable  to  reach them,  both  fleets  anchoring  in  the  evening  at  about five  miles  distance.  During  the  night  a  storm dispersed  some  Dutch  vessels.  Next  morning,  at noon  the  two  fleets  began  to  move  southwest,  with the  English  hugging  the  coast  and  the  Dutch keeping  some  distance.  The  forces  were  separated

by  the  Rip-Raps  and  the  Varne  Shoal  and  therefore

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unable  to  engage.  Ultimately  the  curve  of  the shoreline,  the  cape  of  Dungeness  jutting  out,  forced the  English  to  turn  on  a  southerly  course.  Between the  Varne  Shoal  and  Dungeness  a  narrow  exit exists.