Dutch Raid on the Medway - Documentary Short

[Music] it's interesting that this event that here in England we tend to call the Dutch right he'd of 1667 it's not really remembered here it's not really generally taught in our schools here even those schools based in this part of the world in North Kent schools which know the River Medway [Music] it was very humiliating for the Royal Navy um and I suppose because it wasn't merely a natural event like the Fire of London and the Great Plague which were disastrous themselves and but it was an action initiated by an enemy of England that made extra humility [Music] during the seventh later 17th century the English and the Dutch found themselves in conflict because of their growing empires these were not wars of conquest they were wars about trade and commercial interests so what was happening is as these two emerging countries took over the empires of the Spanish and the Portuguese they were coming into conflict all around the world and occasionally that conflict was spilling over into activities in Europe [Applause] when always 1666 Robert Holmes secured a particular victory into shelling the veto on the valley estuary when he fell across a convoy or a gathered group of merchants around 150 ships burnt the fleet but the whaling factories on Westar shelling and inflicted a huge economic impact on the on the Dutch nation the Amsterdam Stock Exchange was forced to close for a week afterwards whilst they worked out what the what the cost really was to shelling certainly round up Dutch opinion against the English they felt that it was very young sportsmen like to have done that but then other events happened in Britain the Great Fire of London occurred in September that year and indeed many Dutch people regarded it as being divine retribution for Robert Holmes as actions in the league after the restoration in 1660 when charles ii became king because of a period of peace the navy was laid up many men were laid off in order to save money because in fact the english crown was virtually bankrupt at that period and lack of money was a terrible problem and more than anything the english wished for peace and quiet in order to recover their finances they made the mistake i think of antagonizing the Dutch and initiating the second anglo-dutch war and when they weren't in them really in a position of strength to do so [Music] [Music] the main people behind the idea were the brothers of it the initial plan came from Johan De Witt and the plan was executed by corn Elizabeth and he also contains the the Navy court-martial to actually go through with the plan why Hildegarde was seen as the big hero in dutch culture is that he was the commander general of the fleet responsible for attacking Chatham Yohann debate also helps me heal they actually became the commander General of the Dutch war fleet and he was overseeing the renewal of the fleet so another 80 stronger battleships were added to the fleet but the renewals leaves also the reason during the second Dutch Anglo war that did that's rattled challenged the British war fleet and were able to actually win the major part of the sea battles that were fought during the period I think the English knew him and respected him as an enemy of course at the datums in 1667 the date of the Dutch raid he had already had a world a well established career and had served in actions all around the world so and I think he was seen as certainly a respected enemy but also as a kind of figure head as a emblematic dutch figure [Music] the River Medway had become the major Anchorage the major home of the English Navy in the early 16th century up until that date the Navy had been dispersed around the country and it took a considerable period of time to bring all the ships together and make them readily whenever the Navy was required and it was thought that the estuary would be complex enough and certainly calm enough to keep the ship safe and protected later developments in the later sixteenth century added up no castle to ensure that the ships themselves had some kind of defense against any daring attack from enemies of England there was mad panic as soon as it became apparent that the Dutch were going to assault the Anchorage in the River Medway but I think for a long time the English tried to pretend it wasn't going to happen they knew the Dutch were coming they were well aware that they were anchored in the Thames Estuary they watched while the Dutch sent a squadron up the Thames towards London and then withdrew again and all this time it must have been apparent that eventually the Dutch would make an attempt on the anchorage itself in the Midway [Applause] de Ruyter though we sent five ships and some supporting fire ships the Medway they forced their way past Chien s where a guard ship was on duty they destroyed the fort and in a feat of tremendous navigation managed to sail all the way up to Dillingham to the point where a chain of being stretched across the river to defend the dockyard there were two guard ships placed at either end of the chain the idea being that as enemy ships tangled with the chain they will be blown to pieces by the cannons which were based on the guard ships but I would imagine that always the kind of major deterrent effect of the chain was its appearance it was supposed to look impossible it was supposed to look intimidating and frightening but of course the Dutch put it to the test and broke through it in many ways a huge huge defeat politically a huge embarrassment and at the time I don't think anybody if you read the diaries of people like peeps and evylyn we're not at all sure whether this was a raid on Chatham or the precursor to a fully fledged invasion in London being the target the most significant losses were the capital ships so the Royal Charles which is the English flagship the loyal London and the Royal James were easily the most significant ships which were lost and burnt or sunk or indeed in the case of the Royal Charles stolen they transported it to a hello food / and they decided that the depth of the ship was not efficient to be used as patrolling along the Dutch coast said he actually decided to demolish the ship and he only kept the stern of the ship with the coat of arms of James ii after that the disturb was exhibited and now it hangs in the reax Museum in Amsterdam if you think back to the 17th century with these large ships which powered by the wind and how difficult how challenging it was even for Englishmen who knew the estuary to get up and down it safely I just think that the English did not expect such an attack from that direction and the fact that the Dutch were not only able to get up the river but then were able to get back again taking one of the most important English ships with them I think astonished the English and indeed we know from samuel peeps his diary that many of the English were grudgingly admired the skill and the nerve with which they undertook the action and this brought it to my mind that they managed their retreat during this difficult passage with all their fear better than we could do ourselves in the main sea when the Duke of Albemarle run away from the Dutch when the Prince was lost and the world Charles and the other great ships come under ground upon the Gulliver thus in all things in wisdom courage force knowledge of our own streams and success the Dutch have the best of us and to end the war the victory on their side [Music]

Channel: OrangePhilter

Views: 36,836

Keywords: film, filmmaking, documentary, factual, interview, history, Dutch, raid, Medway, Chatham, short, historical

Id: 3Zi3kYbVdWw

Length: 11min 22sec (682 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 06 2018