More information : Primary Sources:
'On Thursday the 13 Instant, About One of the Clock, taking again their advantage of the Wind and the Tide, they advanced with six men-of-war and five Fire-ships and came up towards Upnor-Castle, but were so warmly entertained by Major Scot, who commanded there, and on the other side by Sir Edward Spragg from the Battery at the Shoare, that after very much Dammage received by them in the shattering of their Ships, in sinking several of their Long Boats manned out of them, in the great Number of their Men kill'd and some Prisoners taken, they were at the last forced to retire, having in this attempt spent in vain two of their Fire-Ships which attempted the ROYAL OAKE but were forced off and burnt down without any effect; but a third had its effect, the two others coming also aboard the ROYALL JAMES and the LOYALL LONDON, which are much injured by the fire but in probability may be again made serviceable, having been sunk before their coming up, and the greater part of them laid under water.' (3)
Sunday 13 June.
'Late at night comes Mr. Hudson, the cooper, my neighbour, and tells me that he come from Chatham this evening at five o'clock, and saw this afternoon the ROYAL JAMES, OAKE and LONDON, burnt by the enemy with their fire-ships . . . ' (7)
June 14. Chatham. Jno. Clapham to Sam. Pepys.
The enemy is expected on the return of the tide. Yesterday the ROYAL JAMES, ROYAL OAK, and LONDON were fired. Saw all three flaming . . . The enemy have lost five or six fire-ships, either by sinking or in executing their employ, and, as conjectured, a considerable number of men by the service of Upnor Castle. [Adm. Paper.] (8)
June 15. London. John Rushworth to Lady—.
The ROYAL CHARLES, STA. MARIA, ROYAL OAK, ROYAL JAMES, LOYAL LONDON, and UNITY, all great ships, are burned by the Dutch in Chatham River, besides two lesser ships, wherein were 500 men, all lost, and 12 more ships sunk in the river's mouth, to prevent the enemy coming in; yet they got over them and the chain too, and did this mischief. (9)
June 15. London. — to Viscount Conway.
. . . The Dutch, after easily beating off Sir Edw. Spragg from Sheerness Fort, which was not in a posture of defence (for which Sir Edward is much blamed), forced the chain, which some say was fastened with cable yarn, and came up. Ten frigates and as many fire-ships burned the AMITY and MATTHIAS. The Royal Charles, having 30 guns mounted, fired on them, but her ammunition was soon spent, so the Dutch took her, and put up their flag. Meanwhile the general caused the next ships, viz., the ROYAL JAMES, ROYAL OAK, LONDON, and two fire-ships, to be sunk, so the Dutch went away, carrying the CHARLES; she stuck, and they could not get her away that tide, but kept men aboard; they returned with Thursday's tide, but being unable to pass the sunken ships, stayed till the tide was half spent, and then burned the upper part of the OAK, JAMES, and LONDON. They made another attempt yesterday, but the general had so well provided that they were beaten off, and the same this morning; so they have left the river, and it is said fired the CHARLES at last. (10)
June 26. Sir Wm. Coventry to the Navy Com[missione]rs.
His Royal Highness has been told that the bottoms of the ROYAL JAMES and LONDON may be built upon, and if freed from their ballast and guns, would float so as to be brought into the Thames: they are to consider thereon, and report. (11)
Sunday 30 June.
'Up about three o'clock, and Creed and I got ourselves ready, and took coach at our gate . . . without any stop, got to Rochester about ten of the clock . . . Thence by barge, it raining hard, down to the chaine; and in our way did see the sad wrackes of the poor ROYALL OAKE, JAMES, and LONDON . . . ' (12)
July 11. Chatham. John Conny to Williamson.
The bottom of the ROYAL JAMES is got afloat, and those of the LOYAL LONDON and ROYAL OAK soon will be so. (13)
Sept. 10. Chatham Dock.John Brooke and Wm. Rand to the Navy Com[missione]rs.
Particulars of operations on the VANGUARD and other sunk ships in the river, and clearing away the moorings of the chain. The captain of the SUCCESS can spare 40 and the SIGNET 20 men. Must put some ropemakers on the JAMES and LONDON, to help them about. [Adm. Paper.] (19)
Sept. 10. Chatham Dock.William Rand and John Brooke to the Navy Com[missione]rs.
The ROYAL JAMES and LONDON being ready to sail, sent a warrant to Thos. Streton to take charge of the LONDON. He came and threw the paper at them, and refused to go, and Robt. Samson, who had a warrant for the JAMES, will not go either. No other pilots are to be had there, and their boatswains will not take the charge on themselves. [Adm. Paper.] (20)
Sept. 13. Chatham New Dock.John Brooke to the Navy Com[missione]rs.
The wrecks of the ROYAL JAMES and LONDON set sail today. Could not send them before for want of pilots, as those to whom he sent the warrants flatly denied coming about with them. Was constrained to send 33 ropemakers in the ships, as the captains could spare but 60 men. Promised to bring the ropemakers back, or to write to their Honours for money to bear their charges. [Adm. Paper.] (14)
The poet Andrew Marvell included the action on the Medway in his poem "Last Instructions to a Painter":
'Each doleful day still with fresh loss returns:
The LOYAL LONDON now the third time burns,
And the true ROYAL OAK and ROYAL JAMES,
Allied in fate, increase, with theirs, her flames.
Of all our navy none should now survive,
But that the ships themselves were taught to dive,
And the kind river in its creek them hides,
Fraughting their piercèd keels with oozy tides.' (4)
Pictorial Sources:
A topographical print with a key below numbers this incident 25, stating that it depicts the LOYAL LONDON, attributed to the Admiral of the Blue Flag (she had been the ship of the Vice-Admiral of the Blue in 1666, (16)) as set on fire by the fireship ROTTERDAM. She is depicted to the west of the ROYAL JAMES, the westernmost of the group, and to the west of Upnor Castle. (15)
Secondary Sources:
Date of event stated as 14-JUN-1667. The final day of the raids on the Medway ports saw the Dutch consolidating their triumph. Those great ships they could not take away were destroyed.
Also scuttled in shallow water, she was set on fire by the fireship ROTTERDAM, and burnt to the waterline. The remains were ordered to be salvaged 15-JUL-1667 and rebuilt at Deptford, although it is doubtful whether anything more than a few timbers could have been used. (1)
LOYAL LONDON, 2nd rate ship of the line, with 90 guns, dimensions 127 feet length x 41 feet 9 and a half inches beam, 1134 tons, burnt by the Dutch 1667. (2)
A sketch made by the diarist John Evelyn was sent to Samuel Pepys, entitled: "A Scheme of the Posture of the Dutch Fleete and action at Sherenesse and Chatham 10th, 11th, and 12th of June 1667, taken upon the place by J.E." It showed the chain, with the UNITY moored on the Gillingham side, just below it and with the CHARLES V and MATTHIAS just above it. The MONMOUTH lay beyond them in Gillingham Reach, and then above her, stretching as far as Rochester Bridge, the ROYAL CHARLES, MARY [SANCTA MARIA], ROYAL OAK, LOYAL LONDON, ROYAL JAMES, CATHERINE, PRINCESS, OLD JAMES, GUIDEN RYTER [GELDERSE RUYTER] TRIUMPH, RAINBOW, UNICORN, HENRY, HELVERSON [HILVERSUM] and VANGUARD.
The Duke of Albemarle decided early on Wednesday 13 June to move the three men-of-war, the LOYAL LONDON, ROYAL JAMES and ROYAL OAK, just above Upnor Castle towards the Upnor bank of the Medway until they went aground in the shallow water. He then ordered holes to be cut in their hulls to prevent the Dutch moving them, and this work was successfully carried out that day.
As a result of the Dutch council of war on Wednesday 13 June, it was decided that four men-of-war and three armed yachts should duel Upnor Castle with their guns in order to draw fire from five fireships bound for the three ships.
This was put into effect and the first fireship, the ROTTERDAM, grappled the LOYAL LONDON and set her on fire. All had been sunk in shallow water, but sufficient of their upper works remained above water to allow the fireship to do its work. Two other fireships followed suit against the ROYAL JAMES and ROYAL OAK; the LOYAL LONDON and ROYAL JAMES did not take fire as fiercely as the ROYAL OAK, so two more fireships were expended, one each, against the LOYAL LONDON and ROYAL JAMES.
There were few casualties, probably because of desertion, with the exception of Captain Douglas and his soldiers who died aboard ROYAL OAK.
Edward Gregory, Clerk of the Check at Chatham, witnessed the three ships afire, and wrote to Pepys: ' . . . it certainly made the heart of every true Englishman bleede, to see such three Argos's lost.' By contrast, Engel de Ruyter, son of Admiral de Ruyter, expressed his sentiments thus: 'It was a joy to see!'
The LOYAL LONDON, ROYAL JAMES and ROYAL OAK were burnt to the waterline by the Dutch.
Following the raid, Pepys commissioned James Norman, Clerk of the Survey at Chatham, to assess the financial impact of the damage caused. In his reply of 17 August 1667, Norman would not estimate the value of the three capital ships so burnt, deferring to Pepys, although he did value the burnt stores of the three ships at £1,000.
On 19 July it was decided that it would be worth while removing the LOYAL LONDON, ROYAL JAMES and ROYAL OAK to the Thames for rebuilding, and on 15 September the ROYAL JAMES and LOYAL LONDON were accordingly raised and set sail, the latter for Deptford, where she was rebuilt and launched on 25 July 1670. (5)
'In September, when the hulks had been jury-rigged and were ready to start, the crews mutinied and refused to trust themselves "on board two burnt-out wrecks". The Navy Commissioner reported to Whitehall: "The ROYAL JAMES and the LOYAL LONDON being ready to sail, we sent a warrant to Thos. Streton to take charge of the LONDON. He came and threw it at us and refused to go, and Robert Sansum who had a warrant for the JAMES will not go either."
'Eventually fresh crews were found by drafting sixty seamen from ships just come in from sea and together with thirty-three dockyard ropemakers, the remains of the ROYAL JAMES and the LOYAL LONDON set off for the Thames on the 13th September. The burnt-out shell of the LOYAL LONDON took nearly three years to rebuild and cost £20,470. King Charles himself came all the way to Deptford to see the launch in June 1670. He had hoped to persuade the City of London to bear some of the cost of rebuilding as they had done when the ship was first launched in June 1666, but this time, the City, impoverished by the Plague, the Great Fire, and the war, were not so accommodating, and Charles, in a fit of temper, put a line through the word LOYAL, and henceforth the ship was known simply as LONDON.' (6)
Built 1666, and present at the St. James's Day Fight that year. She was then burnt during the Raid on the Medway and was rebuilt to become the LONDON (1670); further references trace her career and further rebuilds as the LONDON, finally being broken up at Chatham in 1747. (16)(17)(18)
Built: 1666 (1)(2)
Where Built: Deptford (1)(2)
Owner: Royal Navy (1)(2)
Armament: 90 guns (2); 92 guns (1)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss |