1667. After several fierce sea battles in the second Anglo-Dutch war, Brittish war funds were exhausted. They were forced to keep a big part of their ships laid up at the ports.
With the English fleet removed from the North Sea, the Dutch planned a daring raid on the English base at Chatham. Sailing up the Thames and the Medway, they stormed the fortress at Sheerness, destroyed fifteen ships, and captured the English flagship, Royal Charles, which was taken back to Holland as a trophy. The Medway raid was the worst defeat ever inflicted on the Royal Navy.
