Note 75 — Chapter X
Reading edition
The Dutch admiral who, in June, 1667, dashed into the Downs with a fleet of eighty "sail", and many "fire-ships", blocked up the mouths of the Medway and Thames, destroyed the fortifications at Sheerness, cut away the paltry defenses of booms and chains drawn across the rivers, and got to Chatham, on the one side, and nearly to Gravesend on the other, the king having spent in debauchery the money voted by Parliament for the proper support of the English navy.