PETRUS JOHANNES SCHOTEL
COMMENCEMENT OF THE FOUR DAYS’ BATTLE, 11 JUNE 1666
Honours were about even at the end of the first day of the Four Days’ Battle, despite the fact that the English were outnumbered. Two Dutch ships were sunk, but the English lost three as prizes, and a further two were forced to run for harbour.
This painting shows the moment when the Amsterdam captain, Heijndrick Adriaensz. of the Third Squadron, has himself rowed across to the captured Swiftsure, the flagship of Vice-Admiral William Berkeley, who had been killed in the fighting. The English colours have been struck and replaced by the Dutch tricolour. Right of the Swiftsure is the Dutch warship Reiger.
