Britain's First Great Admiral

On the 17 August 1657 a British fleet tacked its way up the English Channel towards Plymouth. It was led by the parliamentary ship Naseby. A great welcome had been planned by a grateful nation for the fleet commander. As it approached the Sound the Admiral released his hold on life and expired in his moment of triumph. He would later be granted a state funeral attended, by Oliver Cromwell and the whole of the ruling Council. They all knew how much they owed this diminutive West Countryman.

Robert Blake’s life began in the late summer of 1599 at Bridgwater, Somerset. His father had owned a little land near Taunton but had sold up and moved to Bridgwater to become a trader, shipping goods to the Netherlands. As the business prospered, the family invested the profits by buying land in the neighbouring countryside. Robert was the eldest of fifteen children and was brought up a Puritan. At the age of sixteen his father sent him to St. Alban’s Hall, Oxford but he transferred to Wadham, a new college specifically founded for the sons of West Country gentlemen. Here he acquired a taste for academic life and stayed for ten years. Unfortunately he failed to become a fellow of the college. The Master of Wadham wanted tall, impressive-looking fellows and Robert was only five feet six.

At his father’s death in 1625, he returned to Bridgwater and took over the family business but found it in difficulties. Recent European events had killed trade and brought about a depression. Despite this, the twenty-six year old Robert, with the responsibility of eleven surviving brothers and sisters to feed, set aside his books and took up the challenge of bills of lading and accounting. In the course of the next fifteen years he restored the family fortunes, saw his siblings well placed in the worlds and gained the respect of his fellow citizens to the extent that they voted him their Member of Parliament in 1640.

He hated the restrictive atmosphere of the House of Commons, preferring action to tedious debate. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Robert found a new role, that of a soldier. He was given command of a company in the Parliamentary forces defending Bristol. The city was soon under siege by a Royalist army led by Prince Rupert of the Rhine. The Cavaliers stormed the walls and took part of the city. Even when the defenders surrendered, Robert held out in a small, outlying fort on the edge of Bristol for a further day on the excuse that he had not received official orders from his commanding officer, Colonel Nathaniel Fiennes. Rupert initially ordered Blake to be hanged but was persuaded to rescind the instruction and allow him to go free (a decision he would later regret).

The small port of Lyme Regis in Dorset was held by Parliament and it was there that Robert next saw action. Made Governor of the town, he faced a besieging force led by Rupert’s brother, Maurice, in April 1644. With 500 men and the good fortune to be supplied by sea, Blake repelled an attempt to storm his defences and even withstood a heavy bombardment from canon on the cliffs overlooking the town. On 14 June Lyme was relieved by a force led by the Earl of Essex, and Maurice had no alternative but to withdraw.

The following month this once-businessman pulled off a daring military venture. He realised that the communications centre of Taunton was only weakly held by the Royalists. Blake marched from Lyme and quickly took the Town. In March the following year a Cavalier contingent under Lord Hopton laid siege to Taunton but Robert had had time to prepare. He built barricades in the streets and removed much of the thatch from the roofs to reduce the risk of fire and provide feed for his horses. In May Hopton attempted to storm the defences and succeeded in forcing the Parliamentary troops into a small area centred on the church and castle. On the brink of defeat, news came of a Roundhead force marching from Blandford on the orders of Lord Fairfax. Hopton panicked and beat a hasty retreat. Robert Blake was now a hero among his West Countrymen and was again returned to Parliament.

With his knowledge of maritime matters, albeit in the commercial sector, Blake was appointed, with two colleagues, Popham and Richard Deane, Commissioner to the Navy. By now he was fifty years of age. British shipping had been pestered by Robert’s old enemy, Prince Rupert, who had placed himself at the head of a fleet of privateers. Up to this point Parliament had neglected its navy and the men had become demoralised and mutinous. With Blake in charge of the small fleet, the men quickly warmed to his methods of command. He outlawed flogging for only the most serious of offences and quickly gained the sailors’ fidelity. Typical of the new commander, he went straight to the heart of the matter. Instead of patrolling vast areas of sea, he discovered that the Prince was operating out of Kinsale in Ireland. Blake stationed his ships outside the port; he effectively shut the door and turned the key. Rupert was helpless. It was only a heavy winter storm that coursed the fleet to slacken its grip and allow Rupert to sneak away. The Prince counted himself fortunate and left British waters, sailing to the safety of Portugal.

Rupert wintered with his new found friend, King John IV, and planned to release havoc on British shipping in the Mediterranean come spring. The Prince slipped anchor and sailed down the river Tagus for the open sea – straight into the arms of Blake. The wiley old ex-businessman, ex-soldier, had followed his prey and was waiting. Rupert was hurled back and, once again, blockaded in port. The King of Portugal was furious and ordered his outward-bound Brazil fleet to sweep the troublemaking Englishman from the seas. Blake attacked the emerging ship, captured nine, and sent the rest scurrying back into port. Two months later, in July, 1650, King John combined his fleet with that of Rupert’s, making a total of forty-four ships, and set sail to rid himself of this inconvenience once and for all. Blake had ten ships and they had been on station for almost a year. As the combined fleet reached the sea, he hammered the head of the column and drove it back in disorder. The English Admiral regarded the actions of the Portuguese as an act of war and spent the rest of the summer capturing and boarding coastal traffic.

In September a further attempt was made to break the blockade. Under cover of a heavy mist, thirty-four vessels ventured out. By now Blake was down to three ships. Most commanders would have called it a day and made a strategic withdrawal. Not Blake. As the enemy left their hazy protection, he opened fire and wrecked the leading vessels before they had time to deploy. The rest saw discretion as the better part of valour and fled.