Robert Blake

Robert Blake 1599-1657, English admiral. A merchant, he sat in the Short Parliament (1640) and joined the parliamentary side in the civil war. He defended Bristol, Lyme, and Taunton against royalist attacks (1643-45). Appointed a "general at sea" (1649), he embarked on a brilliant naval career in his middle age. In 1650 he pursued the royalist fleet under Prince Rupert to Portugal, where he intercepted a large Portuguese treasure fleet at the mouth of the Tagus River. He caught up with Rupert in the Mediterranean and virtually destroyed his fleet. In 1651 he captured the Scilly Islands from royalist privateers and helped to reduce Jersey. In the first of the Dutch Wars he won several major victories against the Dutch and suffered one serious defeat. In 1655 he attacked and destroyed a Barbary pirate fleet at Porto Farino. In the winter of 1656-57 he blockaded the Spanish coast and sank the Spanish fleet at Santa Cruz. Made a member of the council of state in 1651, he helped to develop the effective Commonwealth navy.

Blake, Robert (1599–1657) English admiral. He was a member of the LONG PARLIAMENT and fought for the ROUNDHEADS during the ENGLISH CIVIL WAR. He achieved successes against the Royalists (1649–51), the Dutch (1652–54), and Spain (1656–57). His involvement in the preparation of the Fighting Instructions and Articles of War was crucial to the developing professionalism of the English navy, as was his association with the building of large, heavily armed vessels.

Blake, Robert (1599–1657). Admiral. Educated at Oxford, Blake volunteered for the parliamentary army in 1642, and distinguished himself at the sieges of Lyme and Taunton. In February 1649 he was one of three colonels appointed admiral by the Commonwealth. His first assignment was to neutralize the royalist navy under Prince Rupert besieging Kinsale. Having done this, he chased Rupert to Lisbon. Defeated by the Dutch commander Tromp at Dungeness (30 November 1652), he avenged his humiliation at Portland and Beachy Head (18–20 February 1653). In 1654 he was given command of the Mediterranean fleet, where he campaigned against Turkey and Spain. His victory over the Spanish West Indies fleet in April 1657 was the occasion of a public thanksgiving in London. Blake suffered from chronic illness, and died at sea after the Spanish campaign.