The Battle of Solebay (Sole Bay).
1/In the 17th Century, Southwold was England's main fleet anchorage. The town had Easton Ness to the North and Dunwich to the South so forming a bay called Sole Bay. Some maps record the name as Soul Bay while others as Sawolde Bay. Since then coastal erosion has straightened the coastline to the extent that a bay no longer exists.
2/Southwold provided much to entertain the sailors and with war imminent, the fleet had been assembled in Sole Bay to carry out maintenance and supply before going on to a position off the Dogger Bank to blockade the Dutch Ports. Few if any of the ships were up to full complement. Many seamen (pressed men) and soldiers were sent from London and most of the crews were enjoying shore leave with the prospect of battle seeming very remote in the short term.
3/The Anglo-French Fleet was under the command of James Duke of York (later to become James II) aboard the 100 gun ROYAL PRINCE as Admiral of the Red. Edward Montagu Earl of Sandwich Admiral of the Blue aboard the 100 gun ROYAL JAMES and the Comte d'Estrées Admiral of the White aboard SAINT PHILIPPE were his side lieutenants. The fleet had over 90 ships over 40 guns plus a number of fire ships and pinnaces amounting to over 5,500 guns and 24,000 men. Initially this fleet was larger than that of the Dutch but the French decision to make away from the battle gave the advantage of numbers to the Dutch. The breaking away from the main Dutch force by Bankert in his pursuit of the French may have saved the English from a greater mauling.
4/The Dutch Republic had built up a large trade with Asia through the establishment of the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC). Similar to the later British East India Company they were permitted to set up trading posts and establish forts and garrisons as well as taking jurisdiction over existing Dutch Colonies and creating new ones. All their merchant vessels were heavily armed with cannon and shot being supplied by the Government. Charles II who had been reinstalled on the English throne twelve years previously felt that destruction of the Dutch fleet would have great benefits for the country allowing many Dutch cargoes to be seized on their return from Asia and enable English ships to take their place in this lucrative trade. The French had declared war on the Dutch and it was intended that French troops would be landed off Holland. To do this the Dutch fleet would have to be destroyed so Charles entered into an alliance with France in the belief that the two countries would be able to gather a fleet much superior to the Dutch. This war was very unpopular in England as The Dutch, like the English were Protestant whereas the French were Catholic.
5/The Dutch Fleet was anchored at their base on Walcheren Island. Approximately 90 nautical miles from Southwold. They, like the English, had difficulty in manning their ships and had to rely heavily on the seafaring population of North Germany. Their fleet was made up with Naval vessels and East Indiamen described as “defensible”. These were heavily armed merchant vessels. The Dutch Fleet was under the command of Admiral Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter aboard ZEVEN PROVINCIEN. He was a competent and successful sailor who had under his command 70 warships as well as 36 fireships. In all 4,484guns and 20,732 men They had already made one foray to find the English Fleet but arrived off the Medway during fog allowing the English Fleet, unaware of their presence, to sail to Southwold.
6/Intelligence was gathered from the Harwich Packet boats and passed on to Samuel Pepys whose task it was to disseminate the information to those requiring it. This was sent through the post office who adopted a rather lackadaisical attitude often losing despatches or delivering them long after they were relevant. It may have been the information that the Dutch Fleet was safely at anchor that led to James Duke of York to order the fleet to sail to Southwold Bay to careen (run the ships ashore to remove barnacles from the hull) and allow the crews shore leave.
7/During a battle signals were sent between vessels in the fleet by pinnaces, which were small rowing boats. Although a few flags were used, smoke from the guns often made it impossible to see them. Watchers on the shore during the battle were unable to see the ships due to the smoke.
8/Fireships were a major part of any naval force. The forerunner of the torpedo. They were intended to be sailed or rowed alongside an enemy vessel at which time they would be set on fire with the crew escaping by small boat. Canon balls would bounce off the hull of a ship and were not able to hole it under the waterline. The only way to ensure its destruction or capture was either to board or burn it. Some fire ships were made to look like major warships with dummy cannon and fake crews on the basis that one of the opponents main ships would grapple with them.
At 2.30 am on the morning of the 28 th May 1672 a French frigate sailed into Southwold Bay with the news that the Dutch Fleet had been sighted and were 2 hours sailing away. They were expected to approach from the South East but in the event approached from the North East with a good wind behind them. This caught the English and French fleets off guard and on a lea shore with many of the crew asleep in the various ale houses in Southwold, Dunwich and Walberswick. An urgent call to arms followed and slowly at 5.30am the fleets put to sea with many having to cut their anchor cables.
The French fleet, anchored off Dunwich, were to be in the Van (front) but the approach of the Dutch from an unexpected direction meant they were now in the rear. Amazingly they promptly sailed off to the south and away from the action. Later it was learnt that the French Commander Vice-Admiral Comte d'Estrées had been given secret orders by Louis XIV not to engage in the battle if he could avoid it. It was hoped that the Dutch and English fleets would destroy each other to the benefit of the French. This order was obeyed although van Bankert sweeping down from the North East engaged them with distance gunnery inflicting heavy casualties. The French responded and towards the end of the battle were sailing North in pursuit of the Dutch.
The Dutch had divided their fleet into smaller squadrons the better to attack the English who by this time were beating north. De Ruyter led the centre squadron with his flagship the 80 gun ZEVEN PROVINCIEN supported by Lientenant Admiral Aert van Nes in the 76 gun EENDRACHT . The advanced squadron was led by van Brakel in the 62 gun GROOT HOLLANDIA . The left was held by Lieutenant Admiral Adriaan Bankert in the 70 gun WALCHEREN . The rear was led by Lieutenant Admiral van Ghent in the 82 gun DOLFIJN supported by vice admirals Sweers and Schram.
By 8am the English fleet had become spread out and ragged and were an easy target for the close formed Dutch who could select particular vessels at will. Unlike the Dutch the English were unable to form tight echelons and therefore did not have the firepower to protect each other and deliver effective broadsides.
De Ruyter seeing the Royal Standard flying from the ROYAL PRINCE which with the VICTORY was sailing to windward of the rest of her squadron ordered his group to attack.
Meanwhile van Brakel's advanced squadron commenced to attack the ROYAL JAMES.
In the light breeze, the smoke from the broadsides obscured the sight of ships from each other and the support for the English ships that should have been available was not forthcoming. By 8am De Ruyter and van Nes were within 200 yards of the ROYAL PRINCE and although the VICTORY was astern it appeared to those on deck that they were fighting alone. De Ruyter was thwarted by the massive fire power of the English ships. Two Dutch fire ships were sent in under their own oars but were sunk by the stern chasers of the English. The Duke of York felt that the ROYAL PRINCE was so badly damaged with the loss of her rigging that he transferred to the SAINT MICHAEL . Becoming aware of the shift of the Royal Standard the Dutch turned their attention on the SAINT MICHAEL . The wind had backed during the morning and took the Duke of York, De Ruyter and van Nes northward towards the shoals off Lowestoft. Realising the danger, the fleets tacked and proceeded southward. Van Nes closed the 82 gun ROYAL KATHERINE and took her with two of his smaller ship. The ROYAL KATHERINE was later retaken by her crew and resumed the fight.
In the north van Brakel in the GROOT HOLLANDIA managed to engage the ROYAL JAMES by grappling. She became fast on the port bow of the ROYAL JAMES allowing her guns to sweep along the two upper gun decks inflicting heavy casualties. The heavy guns in the lower deck of the ROYAL JAMES were able to keep firing however and seriously damaged the DOLFIJN of van Ghent. Kempthorne and Jordan coming up from the south in FAIRFAX and RAINBOW were unable to make out what was happening and sailed past. As the ebb tide had begun drifting the ROYAL JAMES close to the Red Shoal off Lowestoft a stern anchor was dropped with the GROOT HOLLANDIA drifting off after the grapples had been cut by the crew of the ROYAL JAMES . Sandwich had ordered the mainsail set and the stern anchor cut but in the meantime the Dutch fireship VREDE commanded by Captain van de Ryn succeeded in getting alongside. Flames quickly spread through the vessel and it was decided to abandon her. It is believed that the boat intended to take Sandwich off was capsized by those who were desperate to escape drowning. The SAINT MICHAEL with the Duke of York aboard passed close to the burning ROYAL JAMES and the Duke ordered a frigate from Spragge's division to search for survivors.
The final moments of the ROYAL JAMES are somewhat confused with one report saying she exploded while another stating that she burned to the waterline with no explosion possibly due to her gunpowder being damp.
The first English successes were beginning to come to light, the 48 gun STAVOREN of the Amsterdam Squadron was taken and the 54 gun JOSUA was sunk by a broadside from the 72 gun EDGAR . The Dutch however had managed to cripple the 74 gun ships CAMBRIDGE and RESOLUTION . The SAINT MICHAEL had become so badly damaged that the Duke of York transferred to the LONDON . The VICTORY too was forced to leave the fight to make repairs.
De Ruyter seeing Bankert's squadron returning from the fight with the French gathered his fleet to him and sailed South East to meet him. Although pursued by the Duke of York and the divisions of Kempthorne and Jordan with relatively few ships they maintained this course until nightfall so ending the Battle.
The loss of men was considerable and bodies were washed up for many days after. Over 800 wounded from all the combatants were landed at Southwold.
The Battle of Sole Bay was a tactical triumph for the Dutch. The surprise attack with so many of the English Fleet ashore including the ROYAL PRINCE had caught them at a tremendous disadvantage. This enabled De Ruyter to position his ships to effect while the English were still trying to sort themselves out. Although the Dutch lost two ships captured and two destroyed the English had lost the ROYAL JAMES the biggest and newest ship they had.
The English were unable to blockade the Dutch ports as intended and neither were they able to support a French landing off Holland.
Had the Anglo-French fleet been at sea then the outcome would surely have been very different. However this was not the case and if winners are sought then the laurels must be handed to De Ruyter.