Raid on the Medway 1667
Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1667 | Wikidata P580 start time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 17th century | derived |
| Period | Jacobite & later | derived |
| Country | England | derived |
| War / conflict | Second Anglo-Dutch War | Wikidata |
| Participants | Dutch Republic, Kingdom of England | Wikidata |
About the battle
The Raid on the Medway, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War between June 12 to 14 June 1667, (June 22 to June 24 Gregorian modern calendar) was a successful attack conducted by the Dutch navy on English warships laid up in the fleet anchorages off Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham in the county of Kent. At the time, the fortress of Upnor Castle and a barrier chain called the "Gillingham Line" were supposed to protect the English ships.
The Dutch, under nominal command of Willem Joseph van Ghent and Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, over several days bombarded and captured the town of Sheerness, sailed up the Thames Estuary to Gravesend, then sailed into the River Medway to Chatham and Gillingham, where they engaged fortifications with cannon fire, burned or captured three capital ships and ten more ships of the line, and captured and towed away the flagship of the English fleet, HMS Royal Charles, the stern of which is still on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Politically, the raid was disastrous for the war plans of Charles II of England. It led to a quick end to the war, and a favourable peace for the Dutch.
Visiting the battlefield
In June 1967, the Dutch destroyer Holland made a courtesy visit to Chatham, with costumed Marine re-enactors on board, to commemorate the tercentenary of the Raid.
Location
- Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 51.4039, 0.5319
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Raid on the Medway (revision 1377685570), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Commemoration”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).