English Captain: Henry Fenn

Henry Fenn served in both the Commonwealth and Restoration navies. In 1653, he commanded the hired merchant ship Roebuck (30 guns). At the Battle of the Gabbard, he was assigned to Joseph Jordan's division. He most likely was also at the Battle of Scheveningen. In 1654, he commanded the Gilliflower and the Dutch prize Augustine. In 1655, he commanded the Wildman. From 1656 to 1658, he commanded the 4th Rate Bristol. In 1660, he again commanded the Bristol. King Charles II continued Henry Fenn in command of the Bristol at the Restoration. In 1664, he was given command of the Montagu. He was again in command of the Montagu (58 guns) in 1665. The Earl of Sandwich was his patron, and had Henry Fenn and John Hayward were his "seconds" in April 1665. At the Battle of Lowestoft, the Earl of Sandwich and his seconds were in great distress. Bastiaan Centen put his ship the Oranje (76 guns) alongside Henry Fenn's ship and boarded. The Earl of Marlborough brought his ship the Old James to the rescue, and forced Bastiaan Centen to withdraw. Sadly, the Earl of Marlborough was killed later in the battle when the Dutch flagship Eendracht exploded. Later in 1665, Henry Fenn was assigned to Sir Jeremy Smith's fleet that went to Tangier from December 1665 to March 1666. At the time of the Four Days Battle, Henry Fenn's ship, the Montagu, was victualling at Portsmouth. By July 1666, he was succeeded in command of the Montagu by Daniel Helling. 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. Frank Fox, A Distant Storm: the Four Days' Battle of 1666, 1996.
4. J.R. Tanner, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Naval Manuscripts in the Pepysian Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Vol.I, 1903.