A large fleet of merchant ships from England, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden sailed for the Mediterranean Sea, convoyed by a force commanded by Sir George Rooke. The fleet was commonly called the "Smyrna Fleet". The convoying force was a mixed fleet of English and Dutch warships:
Ship Guns Commander
Royal Oak 64 Gerard Elwes, flagship of
Vice-Admiral Sir George Rooke
Breda 62 flagship of Rear-Admiral Thomas Hopsonn
Monmouth 58 Peter Pickard
Lumley Castle (M) 56 George Meester
Monck 52 Stafford Fairborne
Lion 52 Thomas Gardner
Loyal Merchant (M) 50 Philip Harris
Princess Anne (M) 48 William Wakelin
Tiger Prize 48 Robert Sincock
Woolwich 46 Christopher Myngs
Newcastle 46 John Baker
Chatham 44 John Leader
Smyrna Factor (M) 40 Edward Littleton
Sheerness 28 John Norris
Lark 16 Peter Wotton
Admiraal Generaal 84 Rear-Admiral P. van der Goes
Gelderland 72 Andries Stilte
Zeeland 64 Philip Schrijver
Wapen van Medemblik 64 Juriaan van der Poel
Oost-Stellingwerf 52 ?
Nijmegen 50 ?
Schiedam 50 W. van Rechteren
Wapen van den Schermer 44 ?
Salamander, bomb vessel ?
Suzanna, bomb vessel ?
Dispatch, brigantine 2 Thomas Peacok
Speedwell, fireship 8 Thomas Simonds
Vulture, fireship 8 William Lindsey
Muscovia Merchant, storeship
Daniel Parsons
two Dutch fireships
The battle went badly for the Allies, as two Dutch ships were lost, the
Wapen van Medemblik and the
Zeeland, as well as 92 merchantships "taken, burnt, or sunk". The result could have been worse, if the French captains had followed Tourville's orders. The battle was fought near Lagos, Portugal and Cape St. Vincent.
Sources:
- R. C. Anderson, Lists of Men-of-War 1650-1700: Part I English Ships 1649-1702, 1966.
- William Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present, Vol.II, 1898.
- A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938.
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