Battle at nevis

In 1665–1666, the English from the former Dutch colonies captured Sint Eustatius , Saba , St. Martin , Tobago and some other islands. But the situation began to change, on February 18, 1667, Captain Abraham Kriensen seized Suriname , and later took back Tobago ; the French captured Antigua , St. Christopher and Montserrat . Nevis Island was endangered. This was the situation when, in March 1667 , Captain John Berry, who was sailing on the hired 56-gun warship Coronation from England, reached Barbados . He proposed to the Governor of Barbados a plan to counter the threat of the Franco-Dutch attack on Nevis . Private ships were hired and armed, 10 ships in total and 1 firefighter . Command entrusted to John Berry.

The British believed that the Dutch and French were going to sail from St. Christopher in the composition of twenty warships, six small ships and six large transports. Berry sailed on time, just to attack the allies at the moment when they themselves were preparing to attack.

But according to Dutch sources, the allies did not sail from St. Christopher , but from Martinique . The departure of the Allied fleet occurred around 4 May.

The strength of the allied squadron, or rather two separate squadrons, the French and the Dutch, consisted not of thirty-two, as Berry believed, but of eighteen ships, the largest of which carried only 38 guns. The immediate objective of the Allied squadron was not to attack Nevis, but to destroy the English squadron and gain control over the waters of the West Indies .

According to English sources, the British had twelve ships, not eleven, as Berry reported; some of them were much heavier than any of the allied ships. French sources say that the Allies had eighteen ships, and the British seventeen, superior strength. ^[one]

The result of the battle was a victory for the Allies, the British were defeated, losing at least three ships. After the battle, the French squadron left for Martinique , the Dutch sailed to Virginia . The British stayed with Nevis. ^[2]

The losses of the English squadron were 24 killed, 28 wounded, in addition, about 30 more people died on the exploded ship Bristol . ^[one]

The loss of the Franco-Dutch squadron is about 80 people. ^[one]

• Lys Couronné, 38 guns, Captain d'Elbe;
• Justice, 32 guns, Vice Admiral de Klodore, Captain Jacques Gauvin;
• Concorde, contre-amiral battant pavillon de du Lion, captain Jamin
• Florissant, 30 Cannons, Captain La Jone;
• Les Armes d'Angleterre, 24 guns, Captain Burde;
• Saint-Christophe, 26 guns, Captain Seguin;
• L'Harmonie, 32 guns, captain Pengo;
• Notre-Dame, 10 guns and 12 feathers, Captain Du Vigno;
• Marsouin, flutes, 18 guns, Captain Sanson;
• Cher-Amy, Brander, Captain Lekuble.
• Zelandia, 32 guns, Admiral Abraham Crinssan;
• The ship of the Vice-Admiral and Rear Admiral of the Dutch, 26 and 28 guns;
• Lévrier, hollandais, 22 guns, captain Daniel Pitre;
• Saint-Jean, 34 guns, Captain Chevalier;
• Hercule, 26 Cannons, Captain Garnier;
• Hirondelle, 14 guns, captain Mallet;
• Mercier, 24 guns, frigate, captain Tadurno;
• Soncy, Brander, Captain Ferrand.

• Coronation , 56 guns.
• Bristol
• and 10 more - 15 private ships, including firefighters.

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• Marley, David. Chronology of Armed Conflict in the Western Hemisphere. - 2008. - ISBN 978-1598841008 .