Maritime record DUN 187 - Battle of Solebay

The Battle of Solebay took place in 1672 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War of 1672-4, as the Dutch under Michiel de Ruyter surprised a combined Anglo-French fleet under Edward Montagu and the comte d'Estrées off Southwold. The action began at approximately 7am 'within two miles' of Southwold and ranged south between Southwold and Aldeburgh; the English fleet was left at 4pm in Southwold Bay (Sole Bay, or Solebay as the battle is conventionally spelt). The play of guns was heard as far south as the Straits of Dover by the Dover-Calais packet boat, and as far north as Sister Churches (Owthorne and Withernsea, north of the Humber). A number of fireships were expended early on in the action on both sides, on the English side the BANTUM (1383188), KATHERINE (1383204), ALICE AND FRANCIS (1383197) and the ANN AND JUDITH (1383206). The FOUNTAIN, captured from the Algerians in 1664, caught fire prematurely and exploded (1383212). The principal English casualty was the ROYAL JAMES (documented wreck event, 1383252; site of possible remains, 912901, with another potential site at 1533927), which accounted for at least one Dutch fireship expended in attacking her (1383256). For a representative record for the other fireships expended in the action, whose final tally is unknown, please see 1536102. On the Dutch side the JOZUA was lost (1536053) together with another unknown Dutch vessel (1536069). On the day after the battle a Scottish dogger was chased ashore at Bridlington by Dutch ships (1554495). The battle took place against the backdrop of a French invasion of the Netherlands in 1672. Two further naval battles took place at Schooneveld and a third off the Texel in 1673: at the end of the war the Treaty of Westminster ceded New Amsterdam to England, to become the city of New York. The location of the battle is arbitrary and for representative purposes only, based on a location two miles from the shore between Southwold and Aldeburgh in the early stages of the battle.