. . . "England"@en . . . "Battle of Lowestoft"@en . "near Lowestoft, England"@en . "1"^^ . "1665-06-13"^^ . . . "the Second Anglo-Dutch War"@en . . "Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam"@en . . "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 Stuart, Duke of York forty miles east of the port of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England. On 11 June Van Wassenaer sighted the English fleet of 109 ships carrying 4,542 guns and 22,055 men; it consisted of three squadrons. The Dutch fleet of 103 ships carrying 4,869 guns and 21,613 men had no less than seven squadrons:"@en . . . . . . "Battle of Lowestoft"@en . "17"^^ . "109"^^ . . . "103"^^ . "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 Stuart, 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 only 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. On 11 June Van Wassenaer sighted the English fleet of 109 ships carrying 4,542 guns and 22,055 men; it consisted of three squadrons. \n* James himself commanded the van, the squadron of the red flag; \n* Prince Rupert of the Rhine commanded the centre, the squadron of the white flag and \n* Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich commanded the rearguard, the squadron of the blue flag. The Dutch fleet of 103 ships carrying 4,869 guns and 21,613 men had no less than seven squadrons: \n* the first (from the Admiralty of Amsterdam) commanded by Van Wassenaer himself in Eendracht; \n* the second commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Johan Evertsen on Hof van Zeeland; \n* the third (from the Admiralty of de Maze) commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer on Groot Hollandia; \n* the fourth (the Frisian fleet) commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Auke Stellingwerf on Sevenwolden; \n* the fifth (from the Admiralty of the Northern Quarter) commanded by Vice-Admiral Cornelis Tromp on Liefde; \n* the sixth (the Zealandic fleet) commanded by Vice-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Elder on Vlissingen and \n* the seventh commanded by Vice-Admiral Volckert Schram on Wapen van Nassau. The reason for the large number of squadrons was that the smaller Dutch admiralties \u2014 and the many new flag officers recently appointed by them \u2014 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 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."@en . . "English Victory"@en .