Note 178 — Chapter V

Martin Tromp, who fought this action, is often confounded with his even more famous son, Cornelis Van Tromp. In Dutch history he is always called Tromp. There would seem to have been five actions in the years 1652 and 1653. The first between Blake and Tromp, off Dover, May 29, 1652, when Blake was successful; the second in December, in which Blake was thoroughly beaten. After this occasion, Tromp placed the broom at his mainmast-head. The third on February 28, 1653, off Portland, when the Dutch were beaten, and lost three hundred merchantmen they had previously captured. The fourth on June 2, when the Dutch were again beaten. The fifth on August 10, an indecisive action, wherein Monk commanded the English instead of Blake, and Tromp was killed, leaving De Witt in command. The action between Ayscough and De Ruyter was fought on August 26, 1652.—See Sir E. Cust’s ‘Lives of the Admirals,’ etc., i. p. 370.