confusion among his ships, which made a coordinated attack impossible. De Ruyter, utterly amazed and exclaiming, "What's wrong with this man? Has he gone mad or what?", exploited this disarray by engaging from some distance and firing at the allied masts and rigging, severely damaging Rupert's squadron. The French, when attacked by Banckert, disengaged immediately, very suspicious of the bizarre course of events. Only Tromp clashed with great fury with his eternal enemy Spragge until nightfall. A heavy sea made it impossible for the allies, though in a leeward position, to open their lower gunports, and strong gales had driven all three fleets dangerously close to the British coast. Rupert now desperately attempted to close with the Dutch to save his fleet from destruction, but they, four miles from the coast, retreated to save theirs, and by the morning of 15 June, the damaged allied fleets sailed into the Thames and De Ruyter was safely back in the Schooneveld. The allies had not lost any ships, but they had suffered considerable damage and had to return to port for repairs. Aftermath By skillful manoeuvre, De Ruyter had fought two engagements against a superior fleet, inflicted such damage against his opponents that they were forced to lift the blockade and retire, and taken care to avoid the decisive battle that the allies were hoping to fight. After refitting and establishing with great difficulty somewhat more cordial relationships, the allies decided to cruise off the Texel in the hope of drawing De Ruyter out of the Schooneveld and bringing him to action. But the resulting Battle of the Texel was a Dutch victory, and England was forced to withdraw from the costly and unproductive war. References Atkinson, C. T. "The Anglo-Dutch Wars", in The Cambridge Modern History, volume 5, 1908 Mahan, Alfred Thayer. The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783, 1890 Rodger, N. A. M. The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815, Penguin, 2004 Warnsinck, Johan Carel Marinus. Admiraal de Ruyter. De Zeeslag op Schoonefeld Juni 1673. ‘s-Gravenhage 1930 Conflicts in 1673 1673 in the Dutch Republic Military history of the North Sea Naval battles of the Third Anglo-Dutch War Naval battles involving the Dutch Republic Naval battles involving England Naval battles involving France Battles in Zeeland Battle of Schooneveld Naval battles of the Franco-Dutch War