religious oppression. When the First Anglo-Dutch War started in 1652 he, then a cavalry Colonel, was again delegated to the States-General. There he supported the faction of Johan de Witt and Cornelis de Graeff, which proposed to build a strong professional confederate fleet, at the expense of the army. Because his father had been Lieutenant-Admiral, and through the influence of de Witt, he was made "Delegate of the States to the National Fleet" , thereby becoming responsible for all day-to-day dealings between the States-General and the navy, a position that carried much power. Near the end of the war, in the Battle of Scheveningen, the supreme commander of the confederate Dutch fleet, Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp, was killed in action. His second in command had been Vice-Admiral Witte de With, both a courageous and competent sailor and a man seen as politically reliable as he was not a supporter of the Orangist faction. He would thus seem to have been the natural choice for a successor to Tromp. De With, however, was a brusque and quarrelsome man who had made himself profoundly disliked throughout the fleet, both by its commanders and by the ordinary seamen, to the extent that many of the former complained about him to de Witt and a few refused to serve under him, while there were desertions among the later. Third in command had been Vice-Admiral Johan Evertsen, a brave sailor much admired by his men. However, Evertsen held his appointment from the Admiralty of Zeeland. As Holland was not only the richest Dutch province but the home of three of the five Dutch admiralties, including the two largest, its politicians and flag officers were not prepared to be subordinated to an admiral from one of the smaller Admiralties. He had also been a personal friend of the late stadtholder and was known to be a supporter of the plan to make his infant son stadtholder. Evertsen had also been accused by de With of cowardice when, during the Battle of Scheveningen he had withdrawn in his damaged ship rather than moving his flag to another vessel. The Admiralty of Amsterdam and the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier both suggested Michiel de Ruyter even though his rank was only that of Commodore. De Witt took this recommendation seriously, but de Ruyter steadfastly declined to be considered for the post. As de With and Evertsen were unacceptable and de