Cornelis Tromp’s flagship during the battle of Kijkduin, 1673. In this battle, Michiel de Ruyter managed to defeat the much larger combined English-French fleet with the Dutch fleet, thus saving the Republic from destruction.

Cornelis Tromp is hier in duel met het schip van Edward Spragge. Spragge, een Engelse admiraal had zijn koning gezworen dat hij Tromp zou doden of gevangen nemen in de volgende slag.

Van Spragge’s Engelse wikipedia pagina
>In the fourth Battle of Texel on 21 August 1673, Spragge and Tromp, commanding their respective rear divisions, again clashed repeatedly, each having their ships so damaged as to need to shift their flags to fresh ships twice. First the Prince Royal duelled the Gulden Leeuw; when the former ship was dismasted and half of her crew dead or wounded, Spragge shifted to HMS St George and Tromp to the Comeetstar. On the second occasion, whilst passing from the St George to the Royal Charles, Spragge’s sloop was hit by cannon fire, a cannonball passing through the hull of the St George hitting the boat. The Admiral was injured but perhaps died by drowning as his vessel sank, just before reaching the ropes of the St George to which it had been rowed back as quickly as possible. The sloop remained partially floating and the body of Spragge was recovered with the head and shoulders still out of the water and his arms so cramped around the wood that much force had to be applied to free them.

Geschilderd door Willem van der Velde