On the 9 December 1652, a Dutch fleet of 88 men of war and five fire ships caught an English fleet just off Dungeness Point.

Weather prevented an engagement that day but at 3pm on the following day the English fleet of 42 ships, under the command of General-at-Sea Robert Blake, met again. By sunset, the English fleet was badly damaged, with five ships lost; two captured and many more severely damaged to the Dutch fleet's one lost ship. Blake and his remaining ships escaped under the cover of darkness, avoiding further losses but the damage was done.

For the next two months, the Dutch controlled the Channel until the Battle of Portland 28 February-2 March 1653 when the English, employing a new naval strategy of squadrons of ships array in lines of battle, restored their dominance over the Channel soundingly defeating the Dutch fleet.

Last update: 19-07-2008 00:58