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Battle of the Downs
Part of the Eighty Years' War and Thirty Years' War
The Battle of the Downs by Willem van de Velde, 1659, RijksMuseum.
Date
21 October 1639
Location
Near The Downs, English Channel
Result
Dutch victory
Belligerents
Spain Portugal[a]
Dutch Republic
Commanders and leaders
Antonio de Oquendo Lope de Hoces † Miguel de Horna
Maarten Tromp Witte de With Joost Banckert Johan Evertsen
35-40 ships 5,000 sailors or marines 3,000 soldiers captured or interned in England[3]
100–1,000 men 1–10 ships lost
v
t
e
Eighty Years' War
Origins – List of battles
1566–1572
Western Europe
Beeldenstorm
Valenciennes
Wattrelos
Lannoy
Oosterweel
Dahlen
Heiligerlee
Jemmingen
Jodoigne
Le Quesnoy
1572–1576
Western Europe
Brielle
Mons
1st Mechelen
Goes
Naarden
Middelburg
Haarlem
IJsselmeer
Alkmaar
1st Geertruidenberg
Leiden
Delft
Valkenburg
Mookerheyde
Oudewater
Schoonhoven
Zierikzee
European waters
Flushing
Borsele
Haarlemmermeer
Zuiderzee
Reimerswaal
Lillo
1576–1579
Western Europe
1st Antwerp
Gembloux
Rijmenam
1st Deventer
Borgerhout
1579–1588
Western Europe
1st Maastricht
2nd Mechelen
Diest
1st Steenwijk
Kollum
1st Breda
Noordhorn
Niezijl
Lochem
1st Lier
2nd Antwerp
Eindhoven
Steenbergen
Ghent
Aalst
3rd Antwerp
Arnhem
Empel
Boksum
1st Grave
1st Venlo
Axel
Neuss
1st Rheinberg
1st Zutphen
1st Sluis
European waters
Ponta Delgada
Ten Years, 1588–1598
Western Europe
1st Bergen op Zoom
2nd Geertruidenberg
2nd Breda
2nd Zutphen
2nd Deventer
Delfzijl
Knodsenburg
1st Hulst
Nijmegen
Rouen
Caudebec
2nd Steenwijk
1st Coevorden
1st Luxemburg
3rd Geertruidenberg
2nd Coevorden
Groningen
2nd Luxemburg
Huy
1st Groenlo
Lippe
2nd Lier
Calais
2nd Hulst
Turnhout
2nd Rheinberg
1st Meurs
2nd Groenlo
Bredevoort
Enschede
Ootmarsum
1st Oldenzaal
1st Lingen
European waters
1st English Channel · Flanders
Bayona Islands
Gulf of Almería
1st Cádiz
Azores
1599–1609
Western Europe
1st Schenckenschans
Zaltbommel
Rees
San Andreas
Lekkerbeetje
Nieuwpoort
3rd Rheinberg
Ostend
1st 's-Hertogenbosch
2nd Grave
Hoogstraaten
3rd Sluis
2nd Lingen
3rd Groenlo
European waters
Dover Strait
2nd Sluis
1st Cape St. Vincent
1st Gibraltar
Twelve Years' Truce, 1609–1621
Western Europe
Aachen
East Indies
Playa Honda
1621–1648
Western Europe
Jülich
2nd Bergen op Zoom
Fleurus
3rd Breda
2nd Oldenzaal
4th Groenlo
2nd 's-Hertogenbosch
Meuse (2nd Maastricht)
Leuven
2nd Schenkenschans
3rd Schenkenschans
4th Breda
2nd Venlo
Roermond
Kallo
3rd Hulst
4th Hulst
European waters
2nd Gibraltar
2nd Cádiz
Slaak
Lizard Point
Dunkirk
2nd English Channel
The Downs
2nd Cape St. Vincent
Americas
1st Salvador
Puerto Rico
Bay of Matanzas
Abrolhos
Trujillo · Campeche
1st Saint Martin
2nd Salvador
Itamaracá
Southern Chile
2nd Saint Martin
East Indies
Mormugão
Galle
Malacca
1st San Salvador
2nd San Salvador
Manila
Cavite
Peace – Aftermath – Historiography
v
t
e
Thirty Years' War
Bohemian Revolt (1618–1620)
Pilsen
Lomnice
Sablat
Wisternitz
Bautzen
White Mountain
Neu Titschein
Palatinate campaign (1620–1623)
Bad Kreuznach
Oppenheim
Bacharach
Jülich
Mingolsheim
Wimpfen
Höchst
Bergen op Zoom
Heidelberg
Fleurus
Mannheim
Frankenthal
Stadtlohn
Transylvanian invasions of Hungary (1619–1621, 1623–1624, 1626)
Humenné
Érsekújvár
Tyrnau [de]
Hodonín
Vlach uprisings
Danish intervention (1625–1629)
Breda
Dessau Bridge
Oldenzaal
Lutter am Barenberge
Groenlo
Stralsund
Wolgast
's-Hertogenbosch
Swedish intervention (1630–1635)
Swedish landing
Frankfurt
Magdeburg
Werben
1st Breitenfeld
Bamberg
Rain
Maastricht
Nuremberg
Wiesloch
Alte Veste
Fürth
Lützen
Oldendorf
Pfaffenhofen
Steinau
Konstanz
1st Breisach
1st Rheinfelden
Liegnitz [de]
1st Nördlingen
Strasbourg Bridge
Swedish-French Period (1635–1648)
Les Avins
Leuven
Schenkenschans
Ray-sur-Saône
Dömitz [de]
Haselünne [de]
Raon
Tornavento
2nd Magdeburg
Somme
Wittstock
2nd Breda
Venlo
Leipzig
Hanau
2nd Rheinfelden
Saint Omer
Fuenterrabía
Kallo
Wittenweiher
Thann [de]
Vlotho
2nd Breisach
1st Freiberg
Chemnitz
Melnik
Thionville
Salses
Cambrils
Montjuïc
Preßnitz
Plauen
La Marfée
Dorsten
Wolfenbüttel
Kempen
Honnecourt
Schweidnitz
2nd Breitenfeld
2nd Freiberg
Rocroi
Tuttlingen
Kolding
Freiburg
Philippsburg
Jüterbog
Bysjön
Jankau
Mergentheim
2nd Nördlingen
3rd Hulst
Brünn [de]
Korneuburg [de]
Totenhöhe [de]
Hohentübingen [de]
Triebl
Naples
Zusmarshausen
Wevelinghoven
Lens
Dachau [de]
Prague
Naval battles
Gibraltar
Genoa
The Slaak
1st Saint Martin
Lizard Point
Dunkirk
Channel
The Downs
Cape St. Vincent
2nd Saint Martin
Lister Dyb
Colberger Heide
Fehmarn
Treaties
v
t
e
Dutch–Portuguese War
Europe
Cape St. Vincent
The Downs
Brazil
1st Salvador
2nd Salvador
3rd Salvador
1st Recife
Mata Redonda
Abrolhos
Porto Calvo
4th Salvador
Itamaracá
Tabocas
Paraíba
Tamanare
1st Guararapes
2nd Guararapes
2nd Recife
Africa
1st Mozambique
2nd Mozambique
1st Elmina
2nd Elmina
1st Luanda
Kombi
2nd Luanda
Asia
Bantam
Amboina
1st Malacca
Changi
Cape Rachado
Macau
Persian Gulf
Hormuz
Goa
Mormugão
Galle
2nd Malacca
1st Colombo
2nd Colombo
Malabar
The Battle of the Downs took place on 21 October 1639 (New Style), during the Eighty Years' War. A Spanish fleet, commanded by Admiral Antonio de Oquendo, was decisively defeated by a Dutch force under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp. Victory ended Spanish efforts to re-assert naval control over the English Channel and confirmed Dutch dominance of the sea lanes, while it is also alleged to be the first major action to feature line of battle tactics.
The battle was initiated when Spanish chief minister Olivares sent a large convoy of troops and supplies for the Army of Flanders, escorted by some 50 warships. Since 1621, Spanish naval activity in the Channel had focused on avoiding direct conflict with the superior Dutch fleet, while attacking their merchant ships from bases in Dunkirk and Ostend. In a change from this policy, Oquendo was ordered to deliver the reinforcements but also bring the Dutch to battle; Olivares hoped victory would restore Spanish prestige and force the States General to negotiate peace terms.
The Spanish entered the Channel on 11 September and were intercepted by the Dutch in a series of actions between 16 and 18 September. Losses on both sides were minimal, but Oquendo took refuge in The Downs, an anchorage between the ports of Dover and Deal, where he was protected by English neutrality. Although blockaded here by the Dutch fleet, most of the reinforcements were transported to Dunkirk via small, fast frigates.
On 21 October, the Dutch entered the Downs and attacked the Spanish fleet with fireships. Unable to manoeuvre in the cramped waters and with the wind against them, the Spanish lost around ten ships captured or destroyed, while another twelve deliberately ran themselves ashore to avoid capture. Combined with the repulse of a similar-sized expedition against Dutch Brazil in January 1640, this marked the end of attempts to challenge Dutch maritime supremacy and an acceptance by the Spanish court that the war could not be won.
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^Stradling 1979, p. 208.
^(in Dutch)Schittering en schandaal, Biografie van Maerten en Cornelis Tromp., p.84
^Stradling 1979, p. 213.
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