Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter

Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter , 1607-76, Dutch admiral. His life was spent in the Dutch mercantile and naval service. He fought under Maarten Tromp in the first (1652-54) of the Dutch Wars and distinguished himself in the second Dutch War (1664-67) by the capture of English holdings on the Gold and Guinea coasts. He saved the Dutch fleet in a brilliant withdrawal after defeat at North Foreland (Aug. 4, 1666) and burned English ships (1667) in the Medway. With Cornelis Tromp he led the Dutch fleet in the third Dutch War (1672-78) and saved Dutch ports (1672) from attack by the English and French. Despite his protests over the conditions of the Dutch fleet, he was sent to the Mediterranean (1675), where he was mortally wounded at Messina.

Ruyter, Michiel Adrianszoon de (1607–76) Dutch naval commander. He served under Maarten TROMP in the First ANGLO-DUTCH WAR and was the rival of Cornelius Tromp in the Second and Third wars. His most daring coup was in 1667 when, knowing that the English fleet was laid up for lack of money, he sailed up the rivers Thames and Medway, remained in the Chatham dockyard for two days destroying many ships, and made off with the Royal Charles, the English fleet's newest ship.

Ruyter, Michiel de (1607–76) Dutch seaman, one of his country's greatest naval commanders. During the First Anglo- Dutch War (1652–54) he reached the rank of vice admiral. In the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–67), he commanded the fleet that defeated the English off Dunkirk (1666). In 1667, he sailed up the Medway, destroying much of the English fleet. He was again victorious in the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–74), inflicting severe losses on an Anglo-French force.