English Captain: Edmund Chapman

Edmund Chapman commanded the Recovery (24 guns and a crew of 70 men) in early 1652. On 12 May 1652, he was with Anthony Young off the Start, when they stopped the two Dutch warships convoying 7 Straatsvaarders. Michael Baumber says that they were sent to the Start in hopes of meeting Sir George Ayscue's squadron returning from Barbadoes. They had supplies for them and were to warn them of danger of a Dutch attack. In September, he was with Andrew Ball's squadron on the expedition to the Sound. Later in 1652, he commanded the Entrance (43 guns) at the Battle of Dungeness. Edmund Chapman was one of the four captains disciplined for not fighting hard enough in the battle. In 1653, he commanded the Dutch prize Golden Cock (36 guns) at the Battle of Scheveningen, where he was killed. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, “English Fleet-Lists in the First Dutch War,” The Mariner's Mirror, Vol.XXIV No.4, October 1938.
2. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
3. Michael Baumber, General-at-Sea, 1989.
4. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., First Dutch War, Vol.I, 1898.