Jacob Van Wassenaer Obdam - Second Anglo-Dutch War

Second Anglo-Dutch War

After the English Restoration, Charles II of England became king, and tried to serve his dynastic interests by putting pressure on the States-General to make his nephew, the later William III of Orange, stadtholder. Believing the Dutch were weakened by their political divisions the English parliament grew ever more enthusiastic to start a war to take over the Dutch colonial empire. At first the Dutch tried to fend off this disaster by bribing Charles, but they soon understood he was too weak a king to resist the pressure from the English elite. In 1664 it became obvious war was unavoidable. In reaction the Dutch began to expand their fleet. Laid up obsolete ships from the previous war were activated and a new ad hoc building programme was started that year, soon followed by an official plan at a price of eight million guilders to build sixty heavier ships (so as to completely replace the core of the fleet) in the years 1665-67. Company warships were brought over from the Indies. Large merchants were hired or bought to be rebuilt.

In March 1665 the English declared the Second Anglo-Dutch War. When ordered by Johan de Witt in May 1665 to prevent a second English blockade of the Dutch coast - after the first had to be broken off for lack of supplies, the English Admiralty even so early in the war having a cash flow problem - Van Wassenaer commanded the largest fleet ever in Dutch history. He was deeply unhappy with it. In fact he refused to sail at all. In a meeting with De Witt he pointed out that this fleet lacked any unity. As the Mediterranean Fleet had been sent to West Africa under De Ruyter, only half of the home fleet now consisted of professional ships; the remainder of disparate vessels either too old or too new and all poorly trained, manned by sailors from all over Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia. How was he ever going to execute modern fleet tactics with that motly collection? De Witt's answer was simple: don't, revert to the old tactics and surprise the English fleet while having the weather gauge. Van Wassenaer shouted that he would never do that. Why not?, De Witt shouted back, Was it true then after all that he was no more than a coward? Van Wassenaer fell silent and after a few moments said he would obey.

Van Wassenaer took to sea and soon intercepted an English convoy from Hamburg, capturing nine merchant ships. De Witt sent letters to the fleet, but not to congratulate Van Wassenaer with his success but to ask him for what reason he was tarrying at the Dutch coast. Would he please be so kind as to at last attack the English fleet? Deeply offended, the Admiral sailed to the English coast. On 12 June he met the enemy fleet. But despite having the weather gauge he didn't attack, though he had clear written orders to do so. The next day the wind had turned and now he did engage the enemy, in a defensive leeward position, trying to form a line of battle. But as he had predicted, the fleet wasn't in any way ready for sophisticated manoeuvrings; it lost all cohesion and was trapped by the English rear. This Battle of Lowestoft turned into the worst naval defeat in Dutch history. The Dutch flagship Eendragt duelled her counterpart HMS Royal Charles and exploded; Van Wassenaer was not among the five survivors. One report stated that just before the explosion he was swept from the deck by an English cannonball fired across the ship.

The heavy defeat caused a national outrage. Trying to explain his commander's behavior captain Tjerk Hiddes de Vries, soon to be promoted to Lieutenant-Admiral of Frisia, wrote about the causes of the defeat: "In the first place God Almighty robbed our supreme commander of his senses — or never gave him any to begin with.".

Like any Dutch Admiral killed in action Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam was given a marble grave memorial, in this case of course a cenotaph. It is in The Hague, in the Old Church. His son, also named Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam, was a military commander in the War of the Spanish Succession.