Battle of Camperdown

Battle of Camperdown
Part of the War of the First Coalition
The Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797, Thomas Whitcombe
Date 11 October 1797 Location Off Camperduin, North Sea 52°45′N 4°12′E / 52.750°N 4.200°E / 52.750; 4.200 Result British victory[1]
Belligerents
Great Britain	Batavian Republic
Commanders and leaders
Adam Duncan	Jan de Winter
Strength
16 ships of the line 2 frigates 1 sloop 4 cutters 1 lugger (OOB)	15 ships of the line 6 frigates 4 brigs 1 aviso (OOB)
Casualties and losses
203 killed 622 wounded	540 killed 620 wounded 3,775 captured 9 ships of the line captured 2 frigates captured
class=notpageimage| Location within North Sea

The Battle of Camperdown (Dutch: Zeeslag bij Kamperduin) was fought on 11 October 1797^{[Note 1]} between the British Royal Navy's North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Batavian Navy fleet led by Vice-Admiral Jan Willem de Winter. Duncan's fleet won a complete victory over de Winter's in what was the most significant engagement between British and Batavian forces during the French Revolutionary Wars, capturing eleven ships without losing any of their own.

In 1795, the Dutch Republic was overrun by the French Revolutionary Army and reorganised into the Batavian Republic, a French sister republic. After several French Navy campaigns ended in disaster, the Batavian navy was ordered move to Brest, France in 1797. This rendezvous never occurred, as the French and their allies failed to capitalise on the Spithead and Nore mutinies that paralysed the British Channel and North Sea fleets in the spring of 1797. By September, the Batavian fleet was blockaded in the Texel by the North Sea Fleet under Duncan, though the British were forced to return to Great Yarmouth for supplies in October. De Winter used the opportunity to lead the Batavian fleet into the North Sea; when they returned to the Dutch coast on 11 October, a waiting Duncan intercepted them off Camperduin.

Attacking the Batavian line of battle in two groups, Duncan's ships broke through its rear and van before engaging with Winter's frigates. The battle split into a leeward melee, where superior British forces overwhelmed the Batavian rear, and a windward melee, where a more even exchange centred on battling flagships. As the Batavians attempted to reach shallower waters and escape Duncan's attack, the British leeward ships joined the windward melee and forced de Winter's flagship Vrijheid and ten other ships to strike.

The loss of Vrijheid prompted the remaining Batavian ships to disperse and retreat, and Duncan ordered his fleet to sail back to Yarmouth with their prizes. Struck by gales en route, two prizes were wrecked and another had to be recaptured before Duncan's fleet reached England. Casualties in both fleets were heavy, and the Batavian Navy was broken as an independent fighting force, losing eleven ships and more than 1,100 men.

Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).