Robert Blake (admiral)

Robert Blake
General at Sea, (1598-1657)

Before Blake embarked on a naval career he joined the New Model Army as a captain in Alexander Popham's regiment, Blake distinguished himself at the Siege of Bristol (July 1643) and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. After his leading role in holding Lyme Regis in the Siege of Lyme Regis (April 1644) he was promoted to colonel. He went on to hold the Parliamentary enclave of Taunton during the Siege of Taunton in 1645. Taunton was of great strategic importance as it was situated where all the main roads converged, commanding all lines of communication, which at the time Blake alone understood.[23] After he took it by surprise, the siege earned him national recognition ; it was where he famously declared that he would eat three of his four pairs of boots before he would surrender. He subsequently succeeded in winning the Siege of Dunster (November 1645).[24][19]

In March 1649 the newly established Commonwealth government appointed Popham, Blake and Deane as Generals at Sea,[lower-alpha 2] in that respective order of command, even though Blake had little experience at sea up until that time.[25] With Deane committed in Scotland, Blake's first naval commission was in 1649, as second in command of the Dutch Navy[26][2][27] against a domestic enemy with the objective of crushing the weary remnants of the Royalist party. King Charles I's followers were completely conquered and expelled from the mainland in England, but they still continued to fight on the sea and were taking many prizes, causing outcries from many of the merchants.[28] Parliament was thus compelled to establish a naval administration, which appointed Blake, Popham and Deane as commanders of a fleet they were putting together and outfitting.[29] Some three weeks before the execution of Charles I, on 11 January 1649, Prince Rupert of the Rhine led eight undermanned ships to Kinsale where the King's flag was still flying, in Ireland, in an attempt to prevent the Parliamentarians taking Ireland from the Royalists.[30][31] Blake blockaded Rupert's fleet in Kinsale from 22 May, allowing Oliver Cromwell, who placed great confidence in Blake, to land at Dublin on 15 August.[32] Blake was driven off by a storm in October and Rupert escaped via Spain to Lisbon.[33] When it was learned that Rupert had fled to Lisbon, all cautionary protocols were suspended for the navy. Blake was recalled to Plymouth to supervise the fitting out of a fleet that was expanded to thirteen ships.[34] With his refurbished and well supplied fleet, Blake put to sea in February 1650 and dropped anchor off Lisbon in an attempt to persuade the Portuguese king to expel Rupert. After two months the king decided to back Rupert. Blake was joined by another eight warships commanded by Edward Popham, who brought authority to go to war with Portugal.[35][36] Blake now bore the risk and responsibility of a prolonged blockade, where now neither food nor water were accessible from the shore, making it necessary to periodically dispatch ships to Vigo or Cádiz for supplies,[37] to which Richard Bidley, 1899 was given the charge.[38]

Rupert twice failed to break the blockade, which was finally raised after Blake sailed for Cádiz with seven ships he had captured after a three-hour engagement with 23 ships of the Portuguese fleet (during which the Portuguese vice-admiral was also sunk.) Blake re-engaged with Rupert, now with six ships, on 3 November near Málaga, capturing one ship. Two days later Rupert's other ships in the area were driven ashore attempting to escape from Cartagena, securing Parliamentarian supremacy at sea, and the recognition of the Parliamentary government by many European states. Parliament voted Blake 1,000 pounds by way of thanks in February 1651. In June of the same year Blake captured the Isles of Scilly, the last outpost of the Royalist navy, for which he again received Parliament's thanks. Soon afterwards he was made a member of the Council of State.[39]

In 1651 Blake received orders to remove the Royalist Sir John Granville from the Isles of Scilly, where he had been appointed Governor by Charles II after a local rebellion. Granville had around 1,000 men under his command. The majority of Royalists forces were holding the main island of St Mary's, also defended by the guns of Star Castle and several frigates anchored, including the most powerful of the Royalist warships, making a direct assault very dangerous. Blake subsequently decided to secure Tresco and Bryher first, which would give the Commonwealth force a safe anchorage at New Grimsby harbour. After a failed attempt due to unfavourable winds, and other delays Blake finally prevailed and demanded Granville's surrender and ultimately secured the isles, also capturing many commanders and supplies[40][41]

In April 1655 Blake was selected by Cromwell to sail into the Mediterranean again to extract compensation from the Duke of Tuscany, the Knights of Malta, and the piratical states of North Africa, that had been attacking English shipping. The Dey of Tunis was the only one who refused compensation, while also refusing to return captured British sailors held as slaves.[42][43] and further negotiations became futile.. Blake, aboard his flagship St George, at first, needing to replenish water and other supplies, withdrew his fleet to Trapani, leading the Dey to assume his fleet had retreated, and on.3 April 1655 he returned to Porto Farina. The following morning Blake, with fifteen ships, prepared for an attack on the castle and ships in the harbour which were protected by twenty cannon in the castle, along with other defensive works along the shore. During the assault Blake destroyed the two shore batteries and nine Algerian ships with continual cannon fire from Blake's ships, while the wind off the sea blew the intense smoke from the guns at the castle and into the town, obscuring the enemy's view. His crews boarded the ships docked in the harbour one at a time and set them ablaze, and within hours they were all reduced to scorched timber and ashes. With only twenty-five killed and forty wounded, it was the first time shore batteries had been neutralized without landing men ashore. Hoping that he had not exceeded his orders, Blake, upon submitting his report to Cromwell, found him most gracious and appreciative of his efforts.[43][44] At this time Blake received orders to proceed off Cadiz, and carry on hostilities against Spain, with the objective of intercepting the Plate ships and to intercept reinforcements intended for Spanish forces in the West Indies.[42][44]

Robert Blake's flagship, the Saint George, at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1657, by Charles Dixon

In February 1656 commercial rivalry with Spain was soon turned to war. In the Anglo-Spanish War Blake blockaded Cádiz, during which one of his captains, Richard Stayner, destroyed most of the Spanish plate fleet at the Battle of Cádiz. A galleon of treasure was captured, and the overall loss to Spain was estimated at £2 million. Blake maintained the blockade throughout the winter, the first time the fleet had stayed at sea over winter.

On 20 April 1657 Blake totally destroyed another armed merchant convoy, the Spanish West Indian fleet, in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife—a port so well fortified that it was thought to be impregnable to attack from the sea[5]—for the loss of just one ship. With expert marksmanship Blake's artillery successfully laid waste to most of the fort and destroyed or reduced the Spanish fleet to ashes. Although the silver had already been landed, Blake's victory delayed its arrival at the royal treasury of the Spanish government and earned the new English Navy respect throughout Europe.[45] As a reward Blake was given an expensive diamond ring by Cromwell.[18] The action also earned him respect 140 years later from Lord Nelson who lost his arm there in a failed attack; in a letter written on 17 April 1797, to Admiral Sir John Jervis, Nelson wrote "I do not reckon myself equal to Blake", before going on to outline the plans for his own attack.[46][47]

Blake's next adventures were during the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654). The war started prematurely with a skirmish between the Dutch fleet of Maarten Tromp and Blake on 29 May 1652, at the Battle of Dover.

On 19 May 1652, Tromp was patrolling in the English Channel with a fleet of forty ships between Nieuport and the mouth of the Meuse River, to provide protection Dutch merchant ships, while monitoring the activity of the English fleet who had been seizing Dutch merchant ships. Blake was lying in Dover Roads with fifteen ships, with eight others in reserve of the ccoast of Lincolnshire in The Downs.[48] When Tromp failed to lower his flag in salute, Blake, aboard his flagship the James, believing Tromp had just received orders from a Dutch dispatch ketch to commence battle, fired two warning shots, without ball. Subsequently the Battle of Dover began when Tromp refused to strike his flag, but instead hoisted a red battle flag in defiance,.[49] This caused Blake to fire a third gun, damaging Tromp's ship and wounding some crew members. Tromp in return fired a warning broadside from his flagship Brederode. Blake in turn fired a broadside and a five-hour battle ensued.[50] The fighting continued until nightfall, where both sides withdrew, the battle having no distinct victor.[51][52]

The proper war started in June with an English campaign against the Dutch East Indies, Baltic and fishing trades by Blake, in command of around 60 ships. On 5 October 1652 Dutch Vice-Admiral Witte Corneliszoon de With, underestimating the strength of the English, attempted to attack Blake, but due to the weather it was Blake who attacked on 8 October 1652 in the Battle of the Kentish Knock, sending de With back to the Netherlands in defeat. The English government seemed to think that the war was over and sent ships away to the Mediterranean. Blake had only 42 warships when he was attacked and decisively defeated by 88 Dutch ships under Tromp on 9 December 1652 in the Battle of Dungeness, losing control of the English Channel to the Dutch. Meanwhile, the ships sent away had also been defeated in the Battle of Leghorn. Following the navy's poor performance at Dungeness, Blake demanded that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty enact major reforms. They complied by, among other things, enacting Articles of War to reinforce the authority of an admiral over his captains.[53]

After the Battle of Dungeness in November 1652 the Dutch navy was in control of the English Channel through the winter of 1652-1653, allowing trade and commerce to once again resume. During this time, however, the English fleet had been refitted and reorganized, and by the beginning of February the English fleet numbered about eighty ships, which were promptly put into operation on 11 February under the joint command of the generals-at-sea Blake, Monck and Deane, setting the stage for the Battle of Portland. Blake's main objective was to intercept Lieutenant-Admiral Tromp, who was expected to escort a large merchant fleet from the Mediterranean to the Netherlands.[54] The English fleet was divided into three squadrons, the Red, Blue and White, each with its own vice- and rear-admirals which for the first time in British naval history established an ordered command hierarchy for the British Navy. Blake, aboard his flagship the Triumph, was in command of the red squadron, with Monck in command of the Blue and Penn in command of the white.[55] Blake was informed that Tromp's fleet was approaching and was no more than forty leagues to the west.[56] Tromp had the great responsibility of getting his merchant convey home to safety, but when he learned that Blake was waiting for him in the channel, and that his fleet of warships was about the same size as Blake's fleet, and with the weather gage in his favor, he decided to take the initiative and move on Blake's fleet, leaving his convoy of merchant ships about four miles up wind.[55]

While Blake's fleet had recently been outfitted with fresh supplies and ammunition, Tromp has been out to sea since November and was in short supply of ammunition.[57][58] Knowing that Tromp's fleet and convoy of merchant ships had to pass his way to reach their destination, Blake was not compelled to go out searching for them. On 18 February the Dutch fleet of seventy-five ships came into Blake's view, but his squadrons had not yet grouped into their formations, having arrived there in haste at short notice. His red squadron was in position, but the White squadron was several miles to the east, while the Blue squadron was at some distance to the west, leaving Blake with about a dozen ships to face the entire Dutch fleet, which had the wind in their favor.[59] Tromp seized the advantageous opportunity and moved on Blake's lone squadron, and at eight in the morning a furious battle commenced. Subsequently Blake's squadron endured heavy damage and casualties, with 100 lives lost on the Triumph, but the squadron was able to keep the Dutch fleet at bay.[60] While the battle raged furiously, Blake was severely wounded in his thigh, while his flag-captain Andrew Ball was killed.[57] Several hours would pass before Blake's other squadrons arrived at the scene. As Tromp's ships began to use up their supply of powder, they retreated from the engagement and headed for home, while the withdrawal of the remaining ships turned into a desperate flight for survival.[60] Thanks to its command of the sea, the fleet was able to supply Cromwell's army with provisions as it successfully marched on Scotland. By the end of 1652 the various English colonies in the Americas had also been secured.

At the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 and 13 June 1653 Blake reinforced the ships of Generals Richard Deane and George Monck and decisively defeated the Dutch fleet, sinking or capturing 17 ships without losing one. Now also the North Sea was brought under English control, and the Dutch fleet was blockaded in various ports until the Battle of Scheveningen, where Tromp was killed.[61]

Peace with the Dutch achieved, Blake sailed in October 1654 with 24 warships as commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet,[62] successfully deterring the Duke of Guise from conquering Naples. In 1656, the year before his death, Blake was appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.[63]