Battle of Portland

Battle of Portland
Part of the First Anglo-Dutch War
Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp.
Date 18-20 February 1653 Julian calendar Location Off Isle of Portland, English Channel Result English victory
Belligerents
United Provinces	Commonwealth of England
Commanders and leaders
Maarten Tromp	Robert Blake
Strength
70-80 warships	70-80 warships
Casualties and losses
8-12 warships, 20-40 merchant ships	1-3 warships

The naval Battle of Portland, or Three Days' Battle took place during 18-20 February 1653 (28 February – 2 March 1653 (Gregorian calendar)), during the First Anglo-Dutch War, when the fleet of the Commonwealth of England under General at Sea Robert Blake was attacked by a fleet of the Dutch Republic under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp escorting merchant shipping through the English Channel. The battle failed to settle supremacy of the English Channel, although both sides claimed victory, and ultimate control over the Channel would only be decided at the Battle of the Gabbard which allowed the English to blockade the Dutch coast until the Battle of Scheveningen, where Admiral Maarten Tromp would meet his fate at the hands of an English musket ball. As such, it can be considered a slight setback for the English nation and another example of Dutch superiority regarding pure seamanship at the time. It also illustrated England's drive to control the seas, which would ultimately allow it to become the prime maritime power of the world.

The First Anglo-Dutch War was caused by friction between the two naval powers of the century, competing for strategic supremacy over the world's merchant routes. England and the United Provinces had always been 'natural allies' against the Habsburgs, as deemed by the Council of State under the rule of Charles I. It has been argued that had Charles I stayed in power the war between the two nations would have never sprung, as he would never have obtained the necessary funding from parliament. However, the rise of the English Parliament under Oliver Cromwell saw the deterioration of diplomacy between the two as the Dutch stadtholder financially supported the Royalists. During the English Civil War, the Dutch had taken advantage of the internal strife within their neighbours, and greatly expanded their maritime presence throughout the world's merchant harbors and routes, ultimately even challenging British dominance in its colonies, and the Dutch even boasted of driving all nations out of the sea. Nonetheless, Cromwell did not challenge the Dutch, still consolidating his power at home.

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