Battle of Texel (Kijkduin) 1673: De Ruyter Saves the Dutch Republic

Kijkduin, 21 August 1673: in the second summer of the Disaster Year, Michiel de Ruyter's outnumbered fleet is all that stands between the Dutch Republic and an Anglo-French invasion. In one night, sounding the shallows off North Holland with the lead, he wins the wind from a fleet of some 150 sail. This is the campaign of the Schooneveld and the Battle of Texel, and the old admiral who said God had done everything. The Dutch at Sea: Michiel de Ruyter, 1672–1673, the Disaster Year. IN THIS FILM • 1672, the Disaster Year: France, England, Münster and Cologne attack, and Holland floods its own land to survive • The Schooneveld: a small fleet held like a fist among the sandbanks off Zeeland • 7 and 14 June 1673: De Ruyter comes out at Rupert, breaks the English line, and turns back to rescue Tromp • The night of 20–21 August: the Dutch fleet creeping toward the beach by the lead, then tacking as the wind comes off the land • Kijkduin: Banckert against the French, De Ruyter against Rupert, Tromp's Golden Lion against Spragge's Royal Prince CHAPTERS 0:00 Night off North Holland: Sounding the Shallows 1:14 I. The Disaster Year (1672) 4:32 II. The Little Band (Spring 1673) 7:02 III. The Schooneveld (1–7 June 1673) 15:31 IV. The Second Battle (14 June 1673) 18:23 V. The Invasion Fleet (July–August 1673) 20:53 VI. The Weather Gage (13–20 August 1673) 23:41 VII. Kijkduin (21 August 1673) 32:19 VIII. The Wind and the Guns 34:34 Epilogue (1673–1676) Dates are New Style (Gregorian); English sources give Old Style, 10 days earlier (Texel: 11 August 1673). SOURCES Primary: Gerard Brandt, Het leven en bedryf van den heere Michiel de Ruiter (1687); De Ruyter's letters to the Prince of Orange and the States General, 1673 (as printed by Brandt); Letters of the States General and orders of William III, 1673 (as printed by Brandt); Proclamations of the days of prayer and thanksgiving, June–September 1673; Cornelis Tromp's letter to his sister, 8 June 1673. Historians: A.T. Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890); P.H. Colomb, Naval Warfare (1891); W.L. Clowes, The Royal Navy, vol. II (1898); J.C. de Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche zeewezen, vol. II (1858); J.S. Corbett, Fighting Instructions 1530–1816 (1905). CREDITS Narration: synthetic voice (Kokoro TTS). Research, script, animation and edit: Astrolabe. Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): "Clash Defiant", "Dark Walk", "Five Armies", "Heroic Age", "Impact Prelude", "Moorland", "Oppressive Gloom", "Prelude and Action", "Stormfront", "Thaxted" (melody G. Holst), "Aftermath", "Decisions", "Echoes of Time v2", "Final Battle of the Dark Wizards", "Gathering Darkness", "Heart of Nowhere", "Colossus", "Death of Kings", "Egmont Overture Finale" (L. van Beethoven), "Lost Time", "For the Fallen". Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Music: "Ach Gott vom Himmel, sieh darein" (J. P. Sweelinck), organ: Anthony Mark LaMort, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), via Internet Archive; re-encoded. Music: "Mein junges Leben hat ein End" (J. P. Sweelinck), organ: Matthias Flierl, recording: Metzner, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa..., via Wikimedia Commons; trimmed, fade-out added. Music: "O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß" (EG 76; melody M. Greiter 1525, the Genevan Psalm 68 tune), organ: Volker Schöpfer, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons; re-encoded. Arranged for this film from public-domain melodies: "Wilhelmus", "Wilt heden nu treden" (Valerius 1626); Valerius settings by Peter Gerloff (CC0). Rendered with the GeneralUser GS SoundFont by S. Christian Collins. Sound effects from soundbible.com: "2 Minute Storm", "Crisp Ocean Waves", "Sea Waves" by Mike Koenig (CC BY 3.0); "Flock Seagulls" by Daniel Simion (CC BY 3.0); "Wind" by Mark DiAngelo (CC BY 3.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. Other sound effects: generated with ElevenLabs, or public domain. Links for every credit: see the pinned comment. Period paintings, prints and maps: public domain / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, the Rijksmuseum, Royal Museums Greenwich and other collections (incl. Willem van de Velde the Younger, Emanuel de Witte, Abraham Storck, Peter Lely, Peter Cross). Licence: because its soundtrack includes a CC BY-SA 3.0 recording, this film is shared under CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa... Rendered with the Chronicle Engine: a custom engine that rebuilds each battle from the historical record (fleets, maps, terrain, wind and weather) and renders it in 4K. #history #documentary #NavalHistory