Local history

At the beginning of 1665, war broke out between England and the United Provinces of the Dutch Republic. In May 1667, the two sides met at Breda to discuss terms for a peace settlement. At the same time, however, a Dutch fleet, under the command of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, was preparing to surprise the English navy as it lay moored in the river Medway.

The Dutch attacked Sheerness and took it on 10 June. There was great panic in the Medway area and especially in and around the dockyard at Chatham, which was assumed to be the enemy’s ultimate target. However, the action taken to protect the fleet proved desperately ineffective. When de Ruyter launched his main attack on 12 June, his ships broke the defensive chain stretched across the river at Gillingham and captured the English flagship, the Royal Charles.

The next day the fleet moved further upriver and sank a number of important English ships. As they approached the dockyard, the Dutch came under fire from Upnor Castle. This resistance and the fact that some English ships were being deliberately sunk to block the river upstream, meant that de Ruyter decided to withdraw. This he did, on 14 June, taking with him the Royal Charles and the Unity, as well as most of his own fleet.

It was a triumphant victory for the Dutch. The royal arms from the stern of the Royal Charles are to this day proudly displayed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. For the English navy, the post-mortem was long and bitter.

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