de Ruyter was supreme commander of the rebuilt and expanded Dutch fleet, Frisian ships were present at the Four Days Battle near Dunkirk. In this battle the British lost ten ships and 2,800 men, compared with the four ships and two thousand man lost by the Dutch. Tjerk Hiddes distinguished himself by his bravery. This was to be the zenith of Frisian naval power, for not six weeks later the Dutch fleet was defeated in the St James's Day Battle with the thirteen Frisian ships being badly mauled. Tjerk Hiddes was mortally wounded, Rudolf Coenders killed. Still, the next year, 1667, the Frisian Admiralty again equipped eleven larger vessels. It rendered only a modest contribution to the decisive Raid on the Medway — its fleet was initially too late — but such ships as the Groningen (between 276 and 300 crew members and 70 guns), the flagship of the new Frisian operational commander Vice-Admiral Enno Doedes Star, were used to cover the national fleet. Third Anglo-Dutch War In the Third Anglo-Dutch War the Frisian fleet was already markedly diminished in power. As the province was under threat by the army of Bernhard von Galen it couldn't spend much funds on naval activities. As a result, after the initial Battle of Solebay, in which nine Frisian ships were present, the entire Dutch fleet was rather small, despite having to fight the combined Anglo-French force. The Admiralty of Friesland nevertheless provided the following ships and captains for the 1673 Battle of Texel, the last great sea battle of this war: Ships of the line: d'Elf Steden 50 (Witzo Johannes Beima) Prins Hendrik Casimir 70 (Rear-Admiral Hendrik Bruynsvelt) Groningen 70 (Vice-Admiral Enno Doedes Star) Oostergo 58 (Jan Janszoon Vijselaer) Frigate: Windhond 30 (Jan Pieterszoon Vinckelbos) Scouting vessels: Hoop 6 (Cornelis Reindertszoon Eenarm) Liefde (Jochem Jansen) "Brander": Welkomst (IJsbrand Albertszoon) Decline In the years after 1673, the Frisian fleet never recovered. Although the national Dutch fleet continued to grow in strength during the wars between William III of Orange and Louis XIV of France, the Frisians were unable to keep up with developments. In 1685 the entire Frisian fleet consisted of two frigates, and even these were in a poor condition. Between 1672 and 1712 Friesland had just seven naval vessels built. Due to the wars with France, in 1712 the Republic was financially exhausted. Even the rich province of Holland decided to temporarily