Willem Joseph van Ghent

On 6 March 1663, Van Ghent was appointed a salaried major. On 3 December 1664, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel and was appointed as the military governor of Hellevoetsluis, the major Dutch naval port. This promotion was put forward by the threat of a new war with the English: in March 1665, Charles II of England indeed declared the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In August 1665, Van Ghent was present on De Ruyter's fleet relieving the Dutch treasure fleet at Bergen after the battle of Vågen. The same year, he advised the leading politician of the Dutch Republic, Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt, to found a special marine corps, the Regiment de Marine, which was established on 10 December 1665. This is often seen as a precursor of the Dutch Royal Marine Corps. Van Ghent was to be its first commander, carrying the rank of colonel.

Together, Van Ghent and De Witt conceived the plan to let a victorious sea battle be followed by an immediate landing on the English coast, in order to destroy the enemy fleet at the Chatham Dockyard while it was under repair and at its most vulnerable. For this purpose on transport ships, a large marine contingent would be kept in reserve, to be employed when the opportunity arose.

However, if Van Ghent would in his capacity of commander of the marines and as an army colonel be present on the fleet, this would be too conspicuous, possibly betraying the plan to the English. Therefore, Van Ghent was appointed a naval captain with the Admiralty of the Maze to command the Gelderland. Although it was held in the navy that the rank of captain at sea was indeed equivalent to a colonel, many in the army disagreed and Van Ghent himself was bitterly disappointed to be humiliated by the proud Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Tromp in an incident, insisting that he was formally treated in accordance with his nominal rank. For the same reason of covert operation, Van Ghent's deputy, Vice-Commander of the Marines Lieutenant-Colonel François Palm, was also made a naval captain, on the Kruiningen and the Count of Hoorn was appointed Captain of another ship by the name Gelderland.

When the Dutch confederate fleet sailed south to meet the English in the Four Days' Battle, the Gelderland was damaged, even before the fight proper started, by a sudden swell, causing such heavy pitching that the foremast broke. The ship had to be towed to port. To be able to continue commanding the marines, Van Ghent moved to the Utrecht, the covering ship of De Zeven Provinciën, De Ruyter's flagship. Though the English fleet was indeed heavily damaged in the battle and was forced to withdraw, the Dutch fleet was in no condition to press the pursuit, let alone execute a complex landing operation. A major setback was the death of schout-bij-nacht (Rear-Admiral) Stachouwer, who had extensive amphibious operations' experience, during the second day of the battle.

Six weeks later, the Dutch navy set out again, with the fleet numbering ten flutes carrying the Marines. Main objective was to raid the English fleet, which was still lying in the dock with repairs after the battle. Van Ghent was present on his ship, the Gelderland. Inclement weather, however, prevented the amphibious landing and the English fleet sailed out from the river Thames. Rendered ineffective and in a sense superfluous, the transport ships were left behind near the Continental coast of Flanders and the Dutch navy actively sought battle with the English fleet. In the ensuing St. James's Day Battle, the Gelderland served as the covering ship of De Zeven Provinciën and shot off the rigging of the Royal Charles when it attacked the Dutch flagship. Forced to drop anchor as her own sails were in tatters, the Gelderland narrowly was saved from an approaching English fireship by intervention of Jan van Brakel, himself a fireship captain who just happened to pass rowing back with his crew in sloops after having expended his own vessel.

The Dutch, having narrowly averted disaster, for the moment abandoned any thought of an amphibious landing. After the battle De Ruyter accused Cornelis Tromp to have been responsible for the defeat. The latter also came under the suspicion of planning a coup d'état and was cashiered on 24 August. De Witt immediately proposed Van Ghent, seen as politically reliable, as a successor; the very same day he was promoted lieutenant-admiral and appointed commanding admiral in the Admiralty of Amsterdam. Van Ghent, not wanting to take sides in this political dispute, at first refused his appointment asking to be excused for his lack of experience. However, Tromp then wrote him a letter in which he made clear he would not hold any grudges against him and pointing out he would be a fool not to make use of such a rare opportunity. Van Ghent now accepted his appointment to the title (shared with two others) of Lieutenant-Admiral of Holland and West-Frisia, thereby jumping two ranks. The high rank would in future also provide a believable alibi for having Van Ghent present in the fleet, without suggesting any planned landing operations.

After having served as a squadron commander from 5 September till the middle of October 1666, as part of the national fleet trying to prevent a possible blockade of the Dutch trade lanes, Van Ghent was dispatched as a flotilla commander in April 1667 to block a Scottish fleet presumably aiming to intercept the first convoy to set out from the Texel. Van Ghent set out on his flagship Hollandia (with flag captain Thomas Tobias), commanding a force of 24 ships, to cruise the northern North Sea. In fact no naval action followed, although the entire Scottish militia was mobilised to repel a dreaded Dutch landing.

In May 1667, Van Ghent could finally take part in 'his' amphibious landing, the Raid on the Medway, the success of which was mainly due to his merit. The English fleet was laid up at the docks on the Medway due to financial deficits and was vulnerable to attack. Van Ghent first used the Dolphijn as his flagship, with flag captain Hendrik Vollenhove, having on board deputy to the States of Holland, Cornelis de Witt, for political control. He later moved his flag to the frigate Agatha to attack the docked English ships with a frigate squadron from 21 June 1667. Three of the heaviest English ships of the line were burned down and the Royal Charles was taken as a prize. The battle of Chatham was the greatest naval victory the Dutch would ever gain on the English, and it was the heaviest defeat the English Navy would be dealt in her history. Van Ghent was rewarded by the States-General of the Netherlands with a golden enamelled chalice, showing the event; sadly this priceless piece would be lost in the 18th century when it was trampled by the then-owner in anger when he was obliged to pay a gold-tax.

Immediately after having delivered the Royal Charles at Goeree, Van Ghent set out on the Dolphijn to Shetland to escort and protect the Return Fleet, a biannual convoy from the East-Indies, on this occasion commanded by Joan van Dam. At that time his vice-admiral was Johan de Liefde and his rear-admiral Hendrik Brunsveld. He only returned to the Texel, with his escortees, after the Treaty of Breda had been signed on 31 July 1667.