THE PROMOTED PRIVATEER.
The martial and naval heroes of England have been recruited from all
classes, patrician and plebeian, with a large contribution from the
class intermediate, to which Allen belonged. Some commanders rendered
eminent service, to each of the great parties in the State, about the
middle of the seventeenth century, who contended for supreme power--the
Royalists and the Parliamentarians. Allen was not of these; he and his
family were always steadfast in their adhesion to the royal cause.
He is supposed to have been the son of a merchant and shipowner of
Lowestoft, Suffolk. He rendered effective service as a privateer in the
North Sea, before receiving a commission in the Royal Navy.
At the Restoration, Allen was rewarded for his fidelity, by being
appointed to the command of the _Dover_, which was one of the first of
the ships commissioned by the Duke of York. In the two following years
he was in succession appointed to the command of the _Plymouth_, the
_Foresight_, the _Lion_, and the _Rainbow_. In 1663 he was appointed
commodore and commander-in-chief of the fleet in the Downs, and was
allowed the special distinction of flying the Union flag at his
main-top,--the _St. Andrew_ being his flag-ship. In August 1664 he was
appointed commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, in succession to
the gallant Sir John Harman, who was ordered home. He seems to have
been entrusted with diplomatic as well as naval functions, which may
be inferred from Pepys recording, in his _Diary_, under date Nov. 28,
1664, “certain news of the peace made by Captain Allen at Tangier.”
Specific instructions were given to him, however, to take in tow or
destroy any Dutch men-of-war he might fall in with, and especially to
capture their Smyrna fleet. He had a squadron of seven ships, which
he posted so as to command the Straits of Gibraltar. His patience in
waiting was not greatly strained. The Dutch Smyrna fleet--forty sail
in all--hove in sight about the time expected, the escort consisting
of four men-of-war. England had declared war against the Dutch
States-General, and Allen attacked--it was in spring of 1665--without
hesitation. The contest was obstinate; the Dutch, as usual, brought
the stoutest of their merchant ships into the line of battle. Brackel,
the Dutch commodore, was killed; the line was broken; several of the
Dutch ships were sunk, and four of the richest were captured, but one
of these was so much damaged in action that it foundered on the passage
to England. Its cargo was valued at more than £150,000. A portion of
the Dutch fleet took shelter in Cadiz, where they were blockaded by
Allen, until the state of his supplies compelled his return to England,
when the Dutchmen were allowed to come out. This important victory
was not gained without loss on the part of the English, including two
ships, the _Phœnix_ and the _Nonsuch_, which were so much damaged as
to become unmanageable; other two, the _Advice_ and the _Antelope_,
were also much injured. The Dutch men-of-war did a great deal of firing
at comparatively long range; Allen did not fire a shot, until the
antagonists were within pistol shot. The Dutch commodore, Brackel, was
killed in the action. The fight was close in shore, and was watched by
crowds of Spaniards, who, it is stated, laughed to see the alacrity
with which the Dutch made for refuge. On his return to England, Allen
was made admiral of the blue, and had also a special commission to act
as vice-admiral of the fleet, then under the command of the Earl of
Sandwich. On the 24th June 1665, the honour of knighthood was conferred
upon him. In the following year he was appointed admiral of the white,
and hoisted his flag on board the _Royal James_, which Prince Rupert
made his flag-ship,--Allen remaining on board, however, as captain of
the fleet. The prince, with a squadron, proceeded down the Channel on
the lookout for a French naval force, which was expected to join the
Dutch. Prince Rupert, in conjunction with Monk, Duke of Albemarle,
commanded the Channel fleet. While Prince Rupert, with Sir Thomas
Allen, were thus looking out for the expected hostile French fleet,
Albemarle, greatly out-numbered,--sixty sail against ninety-one,--was
engaged with the splendid Dutch fleet, commanded by the three famous
admirals, De Ruyter, Evertsen, and Van Tromp. The fight had lasted
for three days, and would probably have resulted in the defeat of
Albemarle, but for the timely arrival, 4th June, of Allen’s white
squadron, which compelled the Dutch to withdraw. On the 25th July the
hostile fleets again met, both eager to renew hostilities. Sir Thomas
Allen had the post of honour. He led the van, and commenced the battle
by a furious attack on Admiral Evertsen, who commanded the Friesland
and Zealand squadrons. The carnage was awful, and the Dutch loss
crushing. Evertsen, chief in command of the combined squadrons, was
killed, as were also his vice-admiral, De Vries, and his rear-admiral,
Koenders. The _Tolen_, commanded by Vice-Admiral Banckart, was taken
and burned, with another large man-of-war. The defeat of the Dutch was
decisive. Their fugitive ships were pursued to the shores of Holland.
There was great rejoicing in London on receipt of the news of the
victory. On the 29th July the following notice was read from the pulpit
at Bow: “The Dutch have been totally routed; fourteen ships taken,
twenty-six burnt and sunk, two flag-ships taken, and with them, twelve
hundred men,--six thousand men taken in all. Our ships have blocked up
the Zealanders in Flushing, and ride before them top and top-gallant.
The Dutch fleet are got into the Texel, and we ride before the same.
The Lord Mayor ordered thanks--to be given this forenoon throughout
the city.” On the 18th September a valuable prize fell into Allen’s
hands in the Channel--a French ship, quite new, and considered the
finest in the French navy, the _Ruby_, of fifty-four guns. De la Roche,
commander, mistook Allen’s white squadron for a squadron of the French
navy, and was captured before he could make more than a faint show of
resistance.
[Illustration: AN ALGERINE CORSAIR.]
The Duke of York, desirous to commemorate the victories over the Dutch,
commissioned Sir Peter Lely, the court painter, to paint a portrait
group embracing the “flag men” and heroes of the fleet. The Duke of
York had himself commanded at the brilliant action off Lowestoft
on the 3rd June 1665, when the Dutch, under Admirals Opdam and Van
Tromp, sustained a total defeat. The picture by Lely included the
principal naval commanders of the time;--and the number of figures
shows conclusively that the age was rich in naval heroes. Among the
subjects in this historical painting are the Duke of York, Lord High
Admiral; Prince Rupert; George Monk, Duke of Albemarle; Montague,
Earl of Sandwich; Admirals Sir Thomas Allen, Sir George Ayscough, Sir
Thomas Teddiman, Sir Christopher Myngs, Sir Joseph Jordan, Sir William
Berkeley, Sir John Harman, Sir William Penn, and Sir Jeremy Smith.
In November 1666, Allen had the honour conferred upon him of being
elected an Elder Brother of the Trinity.
The Dutch war being apparently over, the naval authorities were left
at liberty to prosecute more civilising, although not purely pacific,
enterprises. In the autumn of 1668, Allen sailed in command of a
squadron to repress the Algerine pirates, who had taken advantage
of the war to ply their nefarious occupation against all such
merchant ships as came in their way which they considered worth
rifling,--killing and destroying with ready ferocity where they could
not rob. Nationality was with them no object. The Dutch suffered as
well as the English, and the whilom enemies were united in seeking
redress for their common grievance. The Dutch sent a squadron under
Admiral Van Ghent, with the same object in view as England had, in
sending Allen. The united squadrons drove the corsairs on to their own
shores. Large numbers of English and Dutch prisoners made slaves, who
had formed the crews of ships captured by the pirates, were released
and exchanged by Allen and Van Ghent.
Ere he returned home, Allen visited Naples and Florence, and was
received with great honour at both places. After paying these visits
he returned to Algiers, where he received fresh assurances that the
terms of the treaty for the suppression of piracy would be scrupulously
observed. He returned to England, but as soon as he had left, the
corsairs resumed their depredations. Allen returned to Algiers, and
inflicted summary vengeance on the persons and property of the pirates,
destroying a large number of their vessels. In 1670 he was recalled at
his own request, and on his return home was appointed Comptroller of
the Navy. In 1678, war with France appearing imminent, he was again
appointed to a command at sea. Happily, the occasion for his active
service did not arise, and he passed the few closing years of his life
at Somerleyton, an estate that he had purchased near his native place.
He lived there in quiet privacy, respected by all who knew him, in the
enjoyment of what he had well earned--Peace with honour.
SIR JOHN HARMAN.