#MICHIEL DE RUYTER FREE#

TrompвЂ™s death during the Battle of Scheveningen ended the war and De Ruyter declined an emphatic offer from Johan de Witt for supreme command, because he considered himself вЂunfitвЂ™ and also feared that bypassing the seniority principle would bring him into conflict with Witte de With and Johan Evertsen. De Ruyter functioned as a squadron commander, being referred to as a Commodore, which at the time was not an official rank in the Dutch navy. He also fought at the Battle of Kentish Knock and the Battle of the Gabbard. After initially refusing, De Ruyter proved his worth under supreme commander Lieutenant-Admiral (the nominal rank of Admiral-General was reserved for the stadtholder but at the time none was appointed) Maarten Tromp, winning the Battle of Plymouth against Vice-Admiral George Ayscue. First Anglo-Dutch WarДuring the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652вЂ“1654), De Ruyter was asked to join the expanding fleet as a subcommander of a Zealandic squadron of вЂњdirectorвЂ™s shipsвЂќ: privately financed warships. He bought a house in Flushing, but his blissful family life would not last long. On 8 January 1652 he married the widow Anna van Gelder and decided the time had come to retire. In 1650 De RuyterвЂ™s wife, who in 1649 had given him a second son named Engel, unexpectedly died.

#MICHIEL DE RUYTER FREE#

During this time his esteem grew among other Dutch captains as he would regularly free Christian slaves by redeeming them at his own expense. After returning he bought his own ship, the Salamander, and between 16, he mainly traded and travelled to Morocco and the West Indies to amass wealth as a merchant. After sailing for a while as schipper ( skipper) of a merchant vessel named de Vlissinge, he was contacted again by the Zeeland Admiralty to become captain of the Haze, a merchant ship turned man-of-war carrying 26 guns in a fleet under admiral Gijsels fighting the Spanish, teaming up with the Portuguese during their rebellion.ДЄ Dutch fleet, with De Ruyter as third in command, beat back a Spanish-Dunkirker fleet in an action off Cape St Vincent on 4 November 1641.

In the midst of this, in 1637, De Ruyter became captain of a private ship meant to hunt for raiders operating from Dunkirk who were preying on Dutch merchant shipping. One of these died shortly after birth, the others were named Adriaen (1637), Neeltje (1639) and Aelken (1642). In the summer of 1636 he remarried, this time to a daughter of a wealthy burgher named Neeltje Engels, who would give him four children. At this point he did not yet have a command of his own. In 16 De Ruyter sailed as a navigating officer aboard the ship Groene Leeuw (Green Lion) on whaling expeditions to Jan Mayen. The marriage lasted until the end of the year 1631 when Maayke died after giving birth to a daughter who followed her mother in death three weeks later. In 1631 he married a farmerвЂ™s daughter named Maayke Velders. An explanation might be found in the meaning of the older Dutch verb ruyten or ruiten which means вЂњto raidвЂќ, something De Ruyter was known to do as a privateer with the Lampsins ship Den Graeuwen Heynst. вЂњDe RuyterвЂќ most probably was a nickname given to him. In those years he usually referred to himself as вЂњMachgyel AdriensoonвЂќ, his name in the Zealandic dialect he spoke, not having yet adopted the name вЂњDe RuyterвЂќ. He would occasionally travel as supercargo to the Mediterranean or the Barbary Coast. Although Dutch sources have no data about his whereabouts in those years, it is known that De Ruyter spoke Irish fluently. According to English sources he was active in Dublin between 16 as an agent for the Vlissingen-based merchant house of the Lampsins brothers. That same year he rejoined the Dutch merchant fleet and steadily worked his way up. In 1622 he fought as a musketeer in the Dutch army under Maurice of Nassau against the Spaniards during the relief of Bergen-op-Zoom. The pious De Ruyter was very much loved by his sailors and soldiers from them his most significant nickname derived: BestevaГЄr (older Dutch for вЂgrandfatherвЂ™.)Дe Ruyter was born in 1607 in Flushing (Vlissingen) as the son of beer porter Adriaen Michielszoon and Aagje Jansdochter Little is known about De RuyterвЂ™s early life, but he probably became a sailor at the age of 11. He fought the English and French and scored several major victories against them, the best known probably being the Raid on the Medway. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter ( Dutch pronunciation: ) (24 March 1607 вЂ“ 29 April 1676) is the most famous and one of the most skilled admirals in Dutch history. Michiel de Ruyter painted by Ferdinand Bol in 1667Д«ay of Syracuse (Fatally wounded by a cannonball during the Battle of Agosta)

Michiel de Ruyter (born Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter)

Michiel de ruyter