Battle of Leghorn

Battle of Leghorn
Part of the First Anglo-Dutch War

The Battle of Leghorn, 4 March 1653 by Willem van Diest, painted mid-17th century
Date4 March 1653
Locationnear Leghorn, Italy
Result Dutch victory
Belligerents
Commonwealth of England  United Provinces
Commanders and leaders
Henry Appleton
Richard Badiley		 Johan van Galen
Casualties and losses
2 ships sunk
3 ships captured
150 dead or injured
50 captured		 Unknown

The naval Battle of Leghorn [lower-alpha 1] took place on 4 March 1653 (14 March Gregorian calendar), [lower-alpha 2] during the First Anglo-Dutch War, near Leghorn (Livorno), Italy. It was a victory of a Dutch fleet under Commodore Johan van Galen over an English squadron under Captain Henry Appleton. Afterward an English fleet under Captain Richard Badiley, which Appleton had been trying to reach, came up but was outnumbered and fled.

In 1652 the government of the Commonwealth of England, mistakenly believing that the United Provinces after their defeat at the Battle of the Kentish Knock would desist from bringing out fleets so late in the season, split their fleet between the Mediterranean and home waters. This division of forces led to a defeat at the Battle of Dungeness in December 1652, and by early 1653 the situation in the Mediterranean was critical too. Appleton's squadron of six ships was trapped in Leghorn by a blockading Dutch fleet of 16 ships, while Richard Badiley's of eight was at Elba.

The only hope for the English was to combine their forces, but Appleton sailed too soon and engaged with the Dutch before Badiley could come up to help. Three of his ships were captured and two destroyed and only Mary, sailing faster than the Dutch ships, escaped to join Badiley. Badiley engaged the Dutch, but was heavily outnumbered and retreated.

The battle gave the Dutch command of the Mediterranean, placing the English trade with the Levant at their mercy, but Van Galen was mortally wounded, dying on 13 March.

One of the Dutch captains at the battle was son of Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp, Cornelis Tromp, who was to become a famous admiral himself.

Ships involved

Netherlands (Johan van Galen)

The battle of Leghorn. Johannes Lingelbach
The Battle of Leghorn, 1653 by Reinier Nooms.

England

Henry Appleton's squadron

  • Bonaventure 44 (Stephen Lyne) - Blown up by Vereenigde Provincien
  • Leopard 48 (flag) - Captured (by Eendracht?)
  • Sam(p)son 40 (hired merchantman, Edmund Seaman) - Burnt by fireship
  • Mary 30 (hired merchantman, Benjamin Fisher)
  • Peregrine 30 (hired merchantman, John Wood) - Captured by Zwarte Arend
  • Levant Merchant 28/30? (hired merchantman, Stephen Marsh) - Captured by Maagd van Enkhuysen
  • Richard Badiley's fleet
  • Paragon 52 (flag)
  • Phoenix 36 (Owen Cox)
  • Elizabeth 36 (Jonas Reeves)
  • Constant Warwick 32 (Upshott)
  • Mary Rose 32 (hired merchantman, John Turtley)
  • Lewis 30 (hired merchantman, William Elle)
  • William and Thomas 30 (hired merchantman, John Godolphin)
  • Thomas Bonaventure 28 (hired merchantman, George Hughes)
  • ? (fireship, Peter Whyting)

The fireship is listed as Charity in Mariner's Mirror vol. 49, but according to Mariner's Mirror vol. 24 that ship was expended during an action off Plymouth on 27 August 1652.

Notes

  1. ↑ the Dutch call the encounter by the Italian name Livorno
  2. ↑ During this period in English history dates of events are usually recorded in the Julian calendar, while those the Netherlands are recorded in the Gregorian calendar. In this article dates are in the Julian calendar with the start of the year adjusted to 1 January (see Old Style and New Style dates).

    References

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