Chapter XIV: 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.

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.