{{Infobox military conflict |conflict=Battle of the Downs |partof=the Eighty Years' War |image=The battle of the downs, by willem van de velde.JPG |image_size=300px |caption= The Battle of the Downs by Willem van de Velde, 1659, RijksMuseum. |date=21 October 1639 |place=Near The Downs, English Channel |casus= |territory= |result=Dutch victory |combatant1= Spain Portugal |combatant2= |commander1= Antonio de Oquendo Lope de Hoces Miguel de Horna |commander2= Maarten Tromp Witte de With Joost Banckert Johan Evertsen |strength1=22 galleys, 29 galleons, 13 frigates, 6,500 sailors, 8,000 marines, 30 transports carrying 9,000 soldiers |strength2=95 warships {{Efn|Dutch Order of Battle; incomplete, since contemporaneous Dutch sources only list participating captains and in many cases it is unknown which ship they commanded 26 September: Aemilia 57 (Tromp, flag captain Barend Barendsz Cramer) Rotterdam Frederik Hendrik 36 (Pieter Pietersz de Wint) Amsterdam; on 21 October this was Witte de With's flagship Hollandsche Tuyn 32 (Lambert IJsbrandszoon Halfhoorn) Northern Quarter (Noorderkwartier) Salamander 40 (Laurens Pietersz Backhuysen) – WIC ship Gelderland 34 (Willem van Colster) Rotterdam Sampson 32 (Claes Cornelisz Ham) Noorderkwartier Omlandia 28 (Jan Gerbrandszoon) Frisia Groot Christoffel 28 (hired by Noorderkwartier admiralty, Frederick Pieterszoon) – blew up on 26 September Deventer 28 (Robert Post) Amsterdam Gideon 24 (Hendrick Jansz Kamp) Frisia Meerminne 28 (Jan Pauluszoon) Zealand Veere 32 (Cornelis Ringelszoon) Zealand Reinforcements 27 September: Maeght van Dordrecht 42 (Vice-Admiral Witte de With) Rotterdam Overijssel 24 (Jacques Forant) Amsterdam Utrecht 30 (Gerrit Meyndertsz den Uyl) Amsterdam Sint Laurens 32 (A.Dommertszoon) Bommel 28 (Sybrant Barentsz Waterdrincker) Amsterdam Reinforcements 28 September: Banckert squadron: t Wapen van Zeeland 28 (Vice-Admiral Joost Banckert) ZealandZeeridder 34 (Frans Jansz van Vlissingen) ZealandZutphen 28 (Joris van Cats) AmsterdamWalcheren 28 (Jan Theunisz Sluis) Amsterdam '''t Wapen van Holland 39 (Lieven Cornelisz de Zeeuw) Noorderkwartier Neptunis 33 (Albert 't Jongen Hoen) Noorderkwartier Amsterdam 10 (Pieter Barentsz Dorrevelt) Amsterdam Drenthe 16 (Gerrit Veen) Amsterdam Rotterdam 10 (Joris Pietersz van den Broecke) Frisia Arnemuyden 22 (Adriaen Jansz de Gloeyende Oven) Zealand Ter Goes 24 (Abraham Crijnssen) Zealand Friesland 22 (Tjaert de Groot) Frisia After reinforcements 30 SeptemberEvertsen squadron:Vlissingen 34 (Vice-Admiral Johan Evertsen, flag captain Frans Jansen) ZeelandDe With squadron: thirty ships, four fireshipsJol squadron, seven ships:Jupiter (Cornelis Cornelisz Jol "Houtebeen") WICDe Nijs squadron, eight ships}} |casualties1=35 ships 5,000 sailors or marines 3,000 soldiers captured or interned in England |casualties2=100–1,000 men1–10 ships lost }} The Battle of the Downs' took place on 21 October 1639 (New Style), during the Eighty Years' War. A Spanish