The Royal Navy's Darkest Day

In June 1667 the Dutch navy executed the most daring raid in its maritime history.

Legendary admiral Michiel de Ruyter led his fleet up the Medway and destroyed the English fleet. It took the flagship HMS Royal Charles as trophy back to the Republic.

"It was a national humiliation"

The stern piece of the Royal Charles is still to be admired in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Royal Charles stern piece at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Professor Andrew Lambert, a naval historian from Kings College London explained the public display of the Royal Charles was an insult to the English.

"It was a personal insult, the king's own ship was in Amsterdam, and for a few guilders you could go on board, and have a laugh at the English".

The Dutch victory in the Medway forced Charles II to take the peace negotiations more seriously, and within a few weeks the Second Anglo-Dutch war came to an end with the Treaty of Breda signed in 1667.