Robert Blake (27 September 1598-17 August 1657) was an English Royal Navy admiral who served as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports from 1656 to 1657 and as an admiral during the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the Anglo-Spanish War.
Biography[]
Robert Blake was born in Bridgwater, Somerset, England in 1598. Blake was committed to the Parliamentary side in the English Civil Wars, serving with distinction in sieges on land before being appointed a General-at-Sea in 1649. He proved an outstanding sea commander from the outset, ensuring Parliamentary dominance at sea in the Civil War. Blake was involved in the outbreak of the First Anglo-Dutch War in 1652 and fought in most of the major battles of that fierce naval conteest. He suffered a serious defeat at Dungeness, but was the victor at the battles of the Kentish Knock, Portland, and the Gabbard. Peace with the Dutch in 1654 brought no rest for Blake, who led a fleet to the Mediterranean and destroyed the Tunisian Barbary pirate base at Porto Farina. England then went to war with Spain, allowing Blake to show his prowess in a winter blockade of Cadiz and the destruction of a Spanish treasure fleet at Tenerife. At both Porto Farina and Tenerife he used naval guns to suppress land batteries, a major tactical innovation. He died of old wounds within sight of Plymouth in 1657.