^hap.XXXIL from the I. os James I, to the Revolution, 54.1
*652. near the Downs, consisting of threeMen of War, and sixteen Merchant-men, under their Convoy, sent out aDetachment of Men of War after them,which had the good Fortune to take thewhole Squadron, and bring it into theFleet j Blake himself having, in themean Time, taken ten Dutch Shipsmore.
?h e Dutch The Dutch, in the mean Time, tohfl out a iet the Englijh fee they were not dis-sjjsfl couraged at these first Shocks, (g) gaveOrders to Van Tromp to hasten the E-quipment of a much larger Fleet, and,in a little Time, he came to Sea again^ with a Fleet of a Hundred and twenty
O^fompg Sail. His Orders were to fail North-ers ' ward, to secure the Dutch Herring-Fi-Ihery; But while he was yet on theCoast of Zealand, in the Height of Zu-riczee, being met by the Dutch Ambas-sadors returning from England, the chiefof them, M. Pauw, informed him,that Sir George Afcough, was lying with asmall Squadron of Men of War, in theDowns, just come from the Barbadoes,and advised him to surprize them,beforethey joined the Englijh -Fleet. Van
Tromp took this Advice, and steered hisCourse that Way; But to nd Purpose,Sir Georges Squadron lying too near inwith the Shoar; And besides, the Wea-ther being so tempestuous, that he wasglad to keep off from the Coasts; Aswe shall fee more particularly below.
Blake 'disperses the Dutch tiersing-Fh'et, and takes their Convoy.
•hs tlffper-’ In the mean Time, Admiral Blake,^ failing to the Northward, with seventytakes {Rapin says forty) Men of War, to dif-T ^°nvoy. perse the Dutch Herring Busies, hadthe good Fortune to meet with the whole
Fleet, of which he took about a Hun- 1652.dred, with twelve of the thirteen Fri-gats, which were their Convoy, andfunk the thirteenth. Having plunder’dthe Busies, he suffered them and theirCrews to return home.
In his Return, some of his Frigats ^ „
chased two Zealand Men of War, MencfWarwhich they took. He did indeed look taken.out for five Eafl-India Ships of that Na-tion, then expected home by the NorthScotland ; (Z>) But they escaped him.
An Attempt of Yon Tromp '5 miscarries.
In the mean Time Sir George Af~cough being arrived, as I have said a-bove, in the Downs, from Barbadoes,
(after having stop’d at Plymouth, wherehe left same Ships) with a Squadron often Men of War, and several DutchPrizes which he had taken by the Way,received Order to remain there ’till heshould be reinforced by some Ships fit-ting out from the River. (/)
Van Tromp, having received In-> telligence of this, came, as I have saidabove, with the main Body of his Fleet,and lay between the North Foreland,and': the North Sand-Head, in Order, aswell to prevent Sir George's Retreatthat Way, as to intercept the Ships com-ing from the River to his Assistance.
They likewise detached a strong Squa-dron to ly off the South Foreland , tohinder his escaping that Way. But up-on Notice of this Situation of the Ene-my’s, the Ships in the River were coun- Van Xromptermanded, and Fan Tromp, being wear- attempts aned out with expecting them, and with Englise .the bad Weather, which made the ffeDowns:Coast dangerous, resolved to attack SirGeorge Afcough in the Downs. To thisEnd he sent a Squadron of forty Ships
within
\
(g) About the fame Time they caused Me-dals to be struck, representing, on the Reverse,a Rock standing firm and stable in the Midst ofthe Sea, tho’ assaulted by the beating Wave ;, 1 andstormy Winds, with the Inscription :
Et Rapes immota Mari fiant Foedere juntli-
(h) Whitlock mentions, in the Month ofMarch, of this Year, a gallant Action of zn En-glijh Ship, which meeting with three Dutch Menof War, on the Coast of Scotland, that refused tostrike Sail to her, saluted them with a Broadside,a nd compelled them all to strike to her.
Some Time after, a Squadron of the Parlia-ment's Ships meeting with three Dutch Men of
War, and seven Merchants, the Dutch Admiralcame under the Lee of the Parliament's Ships, andkept his Flag up ; Whereupon the Englijh Com-madore sent a Boat on Board, to acquaint him,that they had received Orders from their Gene-ral to cause those Ships they met to take downtheir Flags >- Upon which the Dutch Admiral rea-dily complied, but the Vice-Admiral stood out,and would not take down his Flag, 'till the per-se a si ve Argument of a few Broad-sides forced himto it. These two Actions being omitted above,not to break off the Thread of my Discourse, Ihave chosen to place them here.
(1) Whitlock mentions his Taking five Shipshere.