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Battle on the Zuiderzee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Battle on the Zuiderzee | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Eighty Years' War | |||||||
 Dutch ships after the battle. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Dutch rebels | Spain | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Cornelis Jansz Dircksz | Maximilian de Henin Count of Bossu | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 24 ships, 700 sailors | 30 ships, 1300 sailors | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| Unknown | 6 ships captured by the Dutch – 300 sailors taken prisoner | ||||||
| Eighty Years' War |
|---|
| Oosterweel – Rheindalen – Heiligerlee – Jemmingen – Jodoigne – Brielle – Haarlem – Flushing – Borsele – Zuiderzee – Alkmaar – Leiden – Reimerswaal – Mookerheyde – Gembloux – Maastricht – 1st Breda – Punta Delgada – Antwerp – Boksum – Zutphen – 1st Bergen op Zoom – Gravelines – 2nd Breda – Turnhout – Nieuwpoort – Ostend – Sluys – Gibraltar – 2nd Bergen op Zoom –3rd Breda – Bay of Matanzas – 's-Hertogenbosch – Maastricht – 4th Breda – Kallo – The Downs – Hulst – Puerto de Cavite |
The Battle on the Zuiderzee (October 11th 1573) was a naval battle during the Eighty Years' War in which a Dutch Fleet destroyed a larger and better equipped Spanish fleet on the Zuiderzee.
One the largest Dutch cities, Amsterdam, was occupied by the Spanish. The supply routes for this cities almost exclusively went through the Zuiderzee. The Dutch rebels tried to disturb this route as much as they could. In 1573 the Spanish Govenor Maximilian de Henin Count of Bossu tried to destroy the rebels once and for all by sending a large fleet from Amsterdam to the Zuiderzee. Bossu's Fleet consisted of 30 ships with over 1300 crew, his flagship "The Inquisition" weighed over 250 tons and had armoured plating. On the opposing side the Gueux managed to assemble a fleet of 24 (much smaller and more lighty armed) ships and 700 men.
Bossu left Amsterdam on October 5th and was almost completely attacked by the Dutch. The latter, because heavily outgunned, has chosen a boarding tactic and tried to get to the Spanish ships as fast as possible. Because of the wind the Dutch ships failed to reach the Spanish fleet and the Duth fleet was severely damaged by the Spanish guns.
It wasn't until October 11th the wind turned and the Dutch could execute a surprise attack. The Spanish flagship was boarded and rann aground. The attackers threw boiling water and threw primitve molotov cocktails at the Spanish and the battle lasted for a whole night. When Bossu found out his fleet had abbandoned him he surrendered.
