Four Days' Battle 1666
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 11 June 1666 – 14 June 1666 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1666 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Nearest landmass | At sea (nearest continent: Europe) | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Anglo-Dutch War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 51.4000, 2.0000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Four Days' Battle was a naval engagement fought from 11 to 14 June 1666 (1–4 June O.S.) during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. It began off the Flemish coast and ended near the English coast, and remains one of the longest naval battles in history.
The Royal Navy suffered significant damage, losing around twenty ships in total. Casualties, including prisoners, exceeded 5,000 with over 1,000 men killed, including two vice-admirals, Sir Christopher Myngs and Sir William Berkeley. Almost 2,000 were taken prisoner including Vice-admiral George Ayscue.
Dutch losses were four ships destroyed by fire and over 2,000 men killed or wounded, among them Lieutenant Admiral Cornelis Evertsen, Vice Admiral Abraham van der Hulst and Rear Admiral Frederik Stachouwer. Although a clear Dutch victory, the surviving English ships were able to beat off an attempt to destroy them at anchor in the Thames estuary in early July. After quickly refitting, on 25 July the English defeated the Dutch in the St. James's Day Battle.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Four Days' Battle (revision 1370619913), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Margate 1387 · 20 km
- St. James' Day Battle 1666 · 28 km
- Battle of Dover (1652) 1652 · 37 km
- Battle of the Downs 1639 · 41 km
- Battle of Sandwich (1460) 1460 · 42 km
- Battle of Sandwich (1217) 1217 · 43 km
Other battles of the Second Anglo-Dutch War
- Battle of Barbados (1665) 1665
- Battle of Lowestoft 1665
- Battle of Vågen 1665
- Holmes's Bonfire 1666
- St. James' Day Battle 1666
- Battle of Landguard Fort 1667
- Battle of Martinique (1667) 1667
- Battle of Nevis 1667
- Raid on the Medway 1667
- Recapture of Fort Zeelandia (1667) 1667
All 11 battles of the Second Anglo-Dutch War →
Browse more: battles at sea · Europe · Early modern battles