“Einde van den Slag” [end of the battle]. Etching with engraving from a series of prints of the Battle of Dogger Bank during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, made in 1781 by Matthias de Sallieth after a drawing by Frederik Reitz, published by Johannes Smit and Son in Amsterdam. Size: 31 x 46,5 cm.
In 1776, the American colonies declared independence from Great Britain. The Dutch Republic recognized them, which in 1780 led to a British declaration of war and a blockade of the Dutch coast. At that time, both the British and the Dutch traded with the Baltic Sea region, and with the outbreak of war, the grain fleets were protected by warships.
The battle took place on August 5, 1781, near the Dogger Bank (a sandbank in the North Sea). An English fleet under Vice-Admiral Hyde Parker attacked the Dutch navy, which was escorting a convoy of merchant ships to the Baltic. The Dutch, under Rear Admiral Johan Zoutman, repelled the attack, but both sides suffered heavy damage, and the Dutch grain trade with the Baltic region came to an end.
In the Netherlands, which had not fought a naval battle for a long time, the battle was celebrated as a grand victory.
Many Dutch people wore a special ribbon in remembrance of the battle. To financially support the widows of the fallen sailors, funds were established. From a merger of two of these funds, the Maritime School of Navigation (Kweekschool voor de Zeevaart) was financed in 1785.
Literature: Frederik Muller, Nederlandse Historieplaten (1876-77), nr. 4426-a
Price: Euro 275,-
