| Summary : 1667 wreck of English fly boat which was scuttled as a blockship at Woolwich on 13th June during the Raid on the Medway (1584349) towards the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, when it was feared that the Dutch would penetrate up the Thames as far as Woolwich. She had been captured earlier in the war from the Dutch, in 1665. She may be identifiable with the Dutch yacht RUYTER on the grounds of her 18 guns, common to both RUYTER and HORSEMAN, the fact that RUYTER disappears from the Dutch records in 1665, and the English practice of renaming their Dutch prizes with a straightforward rendering of their original names into English, thus HORSEMAN from Dutch RUYTER (modern Dutch 'ruiter'), 'rider, horseman, cavalier'. She was recovered in August 1667 and broken up, but where this was done is unknown, possibly also at Woolwich or Deptford. The location assigned to this wreck is therefore arbitrary and for representative purposes only, as both the location of sinking and the location of breaking up are unknown. Constructed of wood, she was a sailing vessel. |
More information : A prize vessel captured from the Dutch in 1665 (1)(5) or 1666 (3), scuttled as a block ship. (1)(5)
HORSEMAN, flyboat of 18 guns, prize 1665, 68ft x 23ft, 191 tons, sunk to block Thames 1667. (2)
Scuttled, but part of a group of vessels which were raised in August 1667 and broken up, along with the HOUSE DE SWYTE (1433145), FORTUNE (896207) and GOLDEN PHOENIX (896208). The WELCOME was also part of this group, but was raised and re-entered service. (3)
HORSEMAN, flyboat of 18 guns, 191 tons BM, Dutch, captured 1665. Sunk 7.1667 as blockship in the Thames. (4)
Source (3) gives the position and date of loss as Woolwich, 13-JUN-1667; sources (4) and (5) as 'Thames', JUL-1667.
Source (6) lists a RUYTER yacht of 18 guns, launched in 1665 and last heard of that year. Given the correspondence with the HORSEMAN of 18 guns; her description as a flyboat, a type of Dutch origin; and the English practice of renaming their Dutch prizes with a straightforward translation of their original Dutch names, it is possible that this RUYTER yacht is the origin of the English HORSEMAN, since 'ruiter' in modern Dutch is 'rider, horseman, cavalier'. (7)
Note also that the standard 'named location' of Woolwich has been used for the spatial representation of this vessel, since neither the place of sinking nor the location of breaking up has been identified, but it may possibly have been at Woolwich or Deptford. (7)
Built: 1665 (6)
Where Built: Netherlands (1)(5)(6)
Captured: 1665 (1)(2)(4)(5); 1666 (3)
Armament: 18 x cannon (5)(6); 4 x guns (3)
Owner: Royal Navy (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss |