the two fleets were now moving in the same northwesterly direction at the same speed from about 8am. Up to this point, casualties had been relatively light, but in the heavy fighting that followed, the Frisian commander, Lieutenant-Admiral Auke Stellingwerf, was cut in two and the veteran Lieutenant-Admiral Kortenaer, probably the most competent Dutch commander present, was fatally wounded, both by cannonballs. Quartermaster Ate Stinstra then took command of Kortenaer's ship. All reports of the stage of the battle from late morning to midday are fragmentary. Although the English fleet had become disarranged through executing its tacking manoeuvres, the Dutch were in greater disarray and many Dutch ships failed to remain in a coherent line of battle. In theory, their being in a leeward position would have given the Dutch guns greater range, allowing them to destroy the rigging of the English ships from a safe distance with chain shot, but in reality the seven squadrons began to block each other's line of fire. In addition, those flag officers and captains most hungry for battle quickly left the less enthusiastic officers and older ships behind, while company ships were untrained in the tactics of fighting in formation. As far as can be established, Kortenaer's squadron led the Dutch fleet, ranged against Lawson, followed by Johan Evertsen and Obdam, who were mainly opposing Sandwich's squadron, with Tromp and Cornelis Evertsen towards the rear, facing Rupert. The ships of the Dutch fourth and seventh squadrons were scattered throughout the line, and most of the English Red Squadron formed a separate line to the west of the main area of combat, remaining almost out of range of Dutch gunfire for several hours. Around midday, Lawson's flagship, the Royal Oak, left the line having suffered significant damage, with Lawson himself wounded. He was quickly replaced by Joseph Jordan, who soon returned the flagship to lead its division. Afternoon The long gunnery contest continued until around 2pm, with the Dutch putting significant pressure on the English Blue Squadron, while holding their own elsewhere, because much of the Red Squadron was largely inactive. However, James and Penn began to send reinforcements to assist Sandwich around noon. The fiercest fighting of the early afternoon was between Obdam's and Sandwich's squadrons, the latter of which was concentrating its fire and heavily damaging the opposing Dutch ships. Obdam's flagship Eendracht and about five other large Dutch ships tried to