December 10, 1652

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Dungness, fought on 10 December 1652 (the Gregorian date). This was the only victory of the Dutch over the English in home waters in a battle between the main fleets. The Dutch lost one ship, the Schiedam (for some reason sometimes called the Gelderland) (30 guns) and the English had two ships captured (the Garland and the Anthony Bonaventure). Shortly after the battle, Bastiaan Centsen, in the Haes, chased the hired English ship Hercules. The Hercules was run on shore and was abandoned by the cowardly crew. The Dutch got the Hercules afloat and took her as a prize. The Hercules had 34 guns while the Haes was a small ship with 30 guns.