HMS Merlin (1666) explained
HMS Merlin was an 8-gun
yacht of the
Royal Navy, best known for its use as a pretext for the 1672 to 1674
Third Anglo-Dutch War.In August 1671,
Lord Arlington ordered
Merlin, carrying the English ambassador's wife
Dorothy Osborne, to pass Dutch ships anchored near
Brill; as agreed by treaty, the Dutch struck their flag in salute but failed to fire white smoke, a courtesy given to warships. Dutch commander
Van Ghent later explained he was doubtful as to whether the
Merlin came into that category and did not want to create a precedent.
Sir George Downing, English ambassador in
The Hague, was ordered to demand those responsible for this 'insult' be severely punished, which the
States General of the Netherlands refused. Intended to raise public support for the war, it was so obviously manufactured that it had the opposite effect.
Between 1681 and 1693, Merlin was employed by Captain Greenville Collins to complete a comprehensive survey of the British coastline, published in 1693 as Great Britain's Coasting Pilot; this makes it the first British warship dedicated to marine survey work, rather than exploration.[1] Partially based on Dutch maps and replicating some of their errors, nevertheless the charts were an enormous advance and "entitle Collins to rank not only with the earliest, but with the best of English hydrographers."
Sources
- Boxer. C. R.. 1969. Some Second Thoughts on the Third Anglo-Dutch War, 1672–1674. Trans. R. Hist. Soc.. 19. 3678740 .
- Book: Collins, Greenville . Great Britain's Coasting Pilot . London . Freeman Collins, sold by Richard Mount . 1693 .
- Book: Fulton . Thomas Wemyss . The Sovereignty of the Sea . 1769 . William Blackwood .
- Book: Rowen . Henry Herbert . John de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, 1625-1672. 1978 . Princeton University Press . 978-0691600437 . 2015.
- Book: Troost. Wouter. William III the Stadholder-king: A Political Biography. 2005. Routledge. 978-0754650713.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Mason . Geoffrey B . Royal Navy Hydrographic Survey Work up to the 1980s . 2007 . Naval-History.net. 5 May 2017.
