Battle of Lowestoft

Battle of Lowestoft
Part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Battle of Lowestoft by Hendrik van Minderhout, showing the action between the Royal Charles and the Eendracht
Date 13 June 1665 Location near Lowestoft, England Result English Victory
Belligerents
England	Dutch Republic
Commanders and leaders
James, Duke of York	Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam †
Strength
109 ships	103 ships
Casualties and losses
1 English ship lost, 300–500 killed	17 Dutch ships lost, 2000–2500 killed, c. 2000 taken prisoner

The Battle of Lowestoft took place on 13 June (New Style) 1665 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam attacked an English fleet of equal size commanded by James, Duke of York forty miles east of the port of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England.

The Dutch were desperate to prevent a second English blockade of their ports after the first was broken off by the English for lack of supplies. The leading Dutch politician, Johan de Witt, ordered Van Wassenaer to attack the English aggressively during a period of stable eastern winds which would have given the Dutch the weather gage. Van Wassenaer however, perhaps feeling that his fleet was still too inferior in training and firepower to really challenge the English in full battle, postponed the fight till the wind turned in order to seek a minor confrontation in a defensive leeward position from which he could disengage quickly and return without openly disobeying orders. His attitude would cost him a sixth of his fleet and his life.

The reason for the large number of squadrons was that the smaller Dutch admiralties — and the many new flag officers recently appointed by them — insisted on having their own squadron; the Admiralties of Amsterdam and the Maas (i.e. Rotterdam) then split their fleets to make squadrons of equal size to those of the smaller fleets.

Both national fleets could only be so large by employing armed merchants: the English used 24 of these; the Dutch twelve, some of them enormous Dutch East India Company warships, specially brought over from the Indies. The Dutch also had activated eighteen laid up warships from the previous war.

On 11 June Van Wassenaer sighted the English fleet but there was a calm and no battle could take place. On 12 June the wind again started to blow - and from the east, giving Van Wassenaer the weather gage. However, he simply didn't attack, despite clear orders to do so under these conditions. Next morning the wind had turned to the west and now he approached the enemy fleet.

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