Note 170 — JOURNAL OF ELIZABETH LADY HOLLAND (continued 3)

Admiral Duncan had completely destroyed the Dutch fleet under Admiral de Winter on October 11, 1797, off the village of Camperdown. With sixteen ships of the line he captured eight Dutch ships of the line out of a total of fifteen. His task was rendered more difficult by the mutinous spirit which had affected many of his crews for some months previously.

Sir John Jervis’s victory had been gained on February 11 off Cape St. Vincent on the coast of Portugal. In his case the odds were greater with respect to the number of ships engaged, i.e. fifteen English to twenty-seven Spanish, but the ships of the latter were poorly manned, and in many cases the crews were incomplete. Indeed, it is probable that, had the English Admiral realised his superiority in this respect, he would have been able to destroy the whole Spanish fleet. As it was, four ships of the line were captured, and others destroyed.