Battle of the Narrow Seas (1602)

[Anatol]

The Battle of the Narrow Seas, also known as the Battle of the Goodwin Sands or Battle of the Dover Straits was a naval engagement that took place on 3–4 October 1602 during the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585 and part of the Dutch Revolt.
In 1602 Frederico Spinola, younger brother of Ambrogio Spinola, had distinguished himself greatly as a soldier in the Army of Flanders and had succeeded in 1599 going through the English Channel and passing the straits of Dover unmolested; this led to a panic called the invisible armada, as it encouraged suspicions that the attempt might be renewed and on a larger scale.
Buoyed by this achievement, he had indulged Philip III of Spain, the Duke of Lerma and Martín de Padilla, in a vision of a massive galley-borne invasion of England from Flanders. However, the council brought him down to a mere eight galleys, provided at Spinola's expense. He was on his way from San Lucar to Lisbon but he was defeated by Sir Richard Leveson at Sesimbra Bay, which cost him two galleys. After this defeat Spinola took his remaining six galleys back to Lisbon and filled his vessels with pay chests for Flanders.
In England word had spread that Spinola was on his way in an attempt to run the English Channel again. The heading of the six galleys was for Sluis.
Queen Elizabeth decided to act, so she appointed Sir Robert Mansell to join with a States fleet before Dunkirk and Sluis, to see what they could do to impede them. Meanwhile, the States of Holland and West Frisia had sent a flotilla of four of his ships back north under Jan Adriaanszoon Cant, known by the English as Jan van Cant.
Mansell, with three ships (the 30-gun Hope along with the 42-gun Victory and the Answer), departed and patrolled about Dungeness.
In the moonlight of 3 October, just before midnight, Mansell was on the lookout for Spinola's galleys, which were soon sighted. Mansell decided on creating as much damage as possible; instead of concentrating on one galley, he ordered his gunners to blaze away at anything they saw in the moonlight and as a result he believed that damage was inflicted on most of the galleys.
By the time both fleets reached Goodwin Sands the Spanish galleys started to retreat in desperation for the Flemish coast. A gale was now blowing strongly from the west which favoured the pursuing English ships and soon the gunfire was a signal for the Dutch to engage.
The action continued across the Narrow Seas towards Dunkirk, Nieuwpoort, Gravelines, and Sluis.[5] The Dutch Admiral Jan Cant soon cut off the Spanish and the English waited outside of the Flemish road stead in case any tried to escape elsewhere. The States' ship Makreel came in sight and attacked the already damaged San Felipe, pouring in a broadside. Drawing off from this assailant, the galley found herself close to Vice-Admiral Cant's Halve Maene. The galley tried to evade discovery by remaining immobile in the darkness but this had disastrous results. The Halve Maene bore straight down upon the galley and struck at her amidships carrying off her mainmast and her poop. Whilst extricating itself with difficulty from the wreck, Halve Maene sent a tremendous volley of cannon fire straight into the waist. San Felipe sank quickly, carrying with her all the galley slaves, sailors, and soldiers.
Vice-Admiral Cant came up once more in the Halve Maene and finished galley Lucera (Morning Star) off by ramming, tearing the galley apart.[3] Meanwhile, Victory and two States' galiots were chasing two galleys: San Juan and Jacinto, which were already in a sinking state. With nowhere to escape and the gale blowing against them, the only option was for the commanders to run them aground near Nieuwpoort.
Casualties were exceptionally heavy for the Spanish; as two galleys sank with all hands, with perhaps over 2,000 killed, wounded, or captured. At Calais the wrecked galley was chopped up and used as firewood by the French, the Spanish crew were interned and the galley slaves freed. Casualties for the Dutch and English were light with some ships suffering no casualties at all. Two Dutch ships were damaged in the ramming that took place but the rest of the Dutch ships suffered only minor damage. The battle clearly showed the difference between galleons and galleys, in particular the uselessness of a Mediterranean-type galley in northern waters. The transition in warfare, along with the introduction of much cheaper cast iron guns in the 1580s, proved the "death knell" for the war galley as a significant military vessel.
The stamp design is based on a painting by the artist Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom: “Dutch ships ramming Spanish galleys 1602”.
Antigua and Barbuda 2021: (4x4e)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of ... Background.