VISITKENT
A DATE WORTHY OF YOUR DIARY:
THE BATTLE OF MEDWAY CELEBRATIONS
IN JUNE 1667 THE BATTLE OF MEDWAY WAS IN SAMUEL PEPYS’ DIARY. PERHAPS THE 350TH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS WORLD-CHANGING EVENT SHOULD BE IN YOURS. AMY WOODLAND FROM VISIT KENT EXPLAINS WHY …
This summer a series of events, exhibitions and cultural activities have been planned to mark the 350th anniversary of the Battle of Medway. Culminating in a spectacular pageant on the river that is likely to attract thousands of people, the programme is a fitting commemoration of a huge naval event that shaped British and world history. Given those facts it is surprising that so many people know so little about this significant battle in Kent.
At the time, news of the Battle of Medway, also known as The Dutch Raid, travelled fast and the events were recorded by Britain’ s most famous diarist, Samuel Pepys. For those who know little of the history, his words provide a clue as to why the event has not always been proudly remembered. He wrote:“ All our hearts do now ake; for the newes is true, that the Dutch have broke the chaine and burned our ships.”
It was June 1667. The English and Dutch were embroiled in a war, the second of an eventual four, over trading routes and colonies. The Dutch fleet, under the command of Lieutenant Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, carried out a daring raid on the British fleet as they were lying at anchor on the River Medway at Chatham. In the ensuing battle, defensive fire from Upnor Castle did not stop the Dutch fleet capturing two ships including the English flagship, the Royal Charles. It was taken to Amsterdam where its coat of arms remains on display at the city’ s Rijksmuseum today. Other ships were set alight, engulfing the Medway river in flames and, to avoid the Dutch fleet capturing more English ships, the Royal Navy sank some of its own vessels. Although the Dutch ships had broken through the defensive chain, they withdrew without reaching Chatham Dockyard, almost certainly their primary objective.
The defeat on the Medway was seen as humiliating. It sent shockwaves across England with many fearing that it was the start of an invasion or assault on London itself. In fact, this defeat brought the second Anglo- Dutch War to a conclusion. It also led to the rebuilding of both the English Fleet and
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