Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (° 24 March 1607, † 29 April 1676) is the most famous admiral in Dutch history.
De Ruyter fought in the first three Anglo-Dutch wars and won several resounding victories. In addition, he was active in various conflicts on the Baltic Sea and against pirates in the Mediterranean Sea, alternately in the service of his country or of private shipowners.
De Ruyter was born in Flushing. He became a sailor at the age of 11 in 1618. By the age of 22 he was already captain of a merchant ship. In 1641 he fought against Spain. During the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654) De Ruyter proved his worth under Admiral Maarten Tromp, winning the Battle of Plymouth. After Tromp's death, at the Battle of Scheveningen, he refused command of the Dutch fleet.
In 1659 he fought Sweden, allied with Denmark. A year before the Second Anglo-Dutch War began, he fought the English fleet off the coast of Guinea. At that time, a third of the workforce of Admiral Ruyter's fleet was made up of French sailors forced to expatriate because the French fleet was almost non-existent.
During the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667), then accepting the supreme command, he led several battles. The four days battle in 1666 and the particularly humiliating foray on the Medway in 1667 for England, which brought the Dutch near London.
De Ruyter saved the day in the Third Anglo-Dutch War. His victories against the numerically superior Anglo-French fleet at the battles of Solebay (1672) and Texel (1673) prevented invasion.
Michiel Adriaenszoon De Ruyter was killed in battle against the French fleet near Messina in Sicily in 1676. His body was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk (“New Church”) in Amsterdam.