his line up into a solid defensive platform and retreat to shallower waters while Duncan formed his own line of battle, but the sudden, disorganised British attack had thrown his plans into confusion. As a result, gaps had opened up between his van, centre and rear, leaving the last four ships greatly outnumbered and unsupported. De Winter gave urgent orders for the van and centre to drop back and assist the rear, but there was little time, and his situation looked desperate: although the Dutch and British lines each mustered 16 ships, the British vessels were almost all larger and more strongly built than their Dutch counterparts, and their crews were experienced seamen in the heavy weather conditions, while the Dutch crews, confined to port for the previous year, had little understanding of the skills required in combat at sea. The Dutch line of battle was accompanied by a second line to the east, formed from ten frigates, brigs and smaller craft. These vessels, unlike the smaller ships with the British fleet, were well armed and situated so that their guns covered the gaps between the ships that formed the Dutch line of battle, ready to rake any British vessels that attempted to break through. Battle Collapse of the Dutch rear guard At 12:05, Duncan raised the signal ordering his ships to engage the enemy closely. At the same time, the Dutch ship Jupiter, under Rear-Admiral Hermanus Reijntjes, fourth from the southern end of the line, opened fire on the rapidly approaching Monarch. The Dutch ships had waited until the British were well within effective range in order to maximise the effect of their shot, and soon Onslow's flagship was under fire from the entire rearguard of the Dutch line, the ship suffering damage while attempting to break through the Dutch line between Jupiter and Haarlem at 12:30. On Monarch, Captain Edward O'Bryen remarked to Onslow that he could not see where his ship could pass between the closely formed Dutch ships, to which the Admiral responded that "the Monarch will make a passage." Striking the small gap between the ships, Onslow fired raking broadsides into both vessels and then turned to lay his ship alongside Reyntjes' flagship. As he did, the Dutch frigate Monnikkendam and the brig Daphné pulled out of the second line and attempted to fill the gap Monarch had created, firing into the British ship of