English Captain: Henry Toope

Henry Toope served in both the Parliamentarian and Commonwealth navies. He may well have been the merchant captain of the Giles, as he was her captain in 1646, when she was held in reserve, and from 1652 to 1653. On 21 May 1652, he was ordered to take his ship to join the force assembling in the Downs. This was only two days after the action against Tromp's fleet. He fought in the Battle of the Kentish Knock, and then was sent as convoy with the Dutch prizes for the Thames. He fought in the Battle of Portland in early 1653. In April 1653, he was sent to the Downs as part of reinforcement for the convoyers. In early May, he had been with the fleet, but was dispatched to convoy prizes. He seems to have missed the later battles. The Giles may have been in reserve at least part of the First Anglo-Dutch War, as well as during the Civil War. R.C. Anderson indicates that, although I cannot verify that it was true. 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. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910.

4. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.V, 1912.

5. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.I, 1898.

6. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.II, 1900.