Editing Four Days' Battle (section)

===Fourth day, de Ruyter's attack===
[[File:Hallwylska museet 2012, tavelgalleriet by Holger Motzkau 38.jpg|thumb|right|The Four Days' Battle, by [[Abraham Storck]]]]
Albemarle and Rupert gambled that de Ruyter would remain to windward and at a distance, so that Rupert's ships could hold them off for long enough for Albemarle to crush Tromp and van Nes. Albemarle attacked at close range and sent in a fireship, both of which caused confusion among the Dutch. Teddiman's ''Royal Katherine'' so damaged Tromp's ''Wapen van Utrecht'' that Tromp was forced to retire and was unable to return to action; the ''Dom van Utrecht'' was forced to surrender to the ''Royal Charles'' and several other ships were disabled. Albemarle's policy prohibited his larger ships stopping to take possession of these captured or disabled ships, but he later claimed that his frigates should have set fire to them.<ref>Fox,  pp. 261-2</ref> Despite this, Albemarle had put a large proportion of the Dutch fleet out of action and his victory seemed certain.<ref>Fox, p. 262</ref>

De Ruyter, three miles to windward, looked on anxiously. He had been waiting for several hours for Tromp and van Nes to join him, but they had been routed in a few minutes. He later confirmed that he had thought he had lost the battle, but after consulting Vice Admiral [[Adriaen Banckert]], he waited until Rupert's squadron sailing east had passed his fleet sailing west then crossed Rupert's wake sailing northeast towards Albemarle's rear. At first, Albemarle thought that de Ruyter intended to link up with van Nes and escape with as many Dutch ships as possible, and his exhausted forces with little ammunition left did not move to oppose this manoeuvre.<ref>Fox, p. 262</ref>

De Ruyter's unexpected attack, when Albemarle appeared to be on the point of destroying Tromp's squadron, caused some British captains to lose their nerve, and things began to go badly for the English fleet. Rupert in the ''Royal James'' and his squadron at first assumed that de Ruyter was withdrawing and had started to make repairs; the masts and rigging of the ''Royal James'' in particular had been badly shaken. As soon as he realised that the Dutch were attacking Albemarle, Rupert ordered his ships to attack de Ruyter, who would be trapped between them and the main English fleet.<ref>Fox, pp. 263-4</ref> Almost immediately, the ''Royal James'' lost its main [[topmast]], its [[mast (sailing)|mizzen mast]] and several major [[yard (sailing)|yards]]: it was now disabled and the rest of the  squadron, rather than continuing against the Dutch, withdrew to defend their flagship and tow it westward. Rupert later claimed that there was no other ship he could use as a substitute flagship, but eyewitnesses claimed there were.<ref>Fox, pp. 264-5</ref>

Seeing this, de Ruyter realised that he could win the battle and raised the red flag as the signal for an all-out attack, concentrating on the English rear. Albemarle's flagship, the ''Royal Charles'' had a damaged  [[mast (sailing)|foremast]] and main [[topmast]], and had suffered shot holes to windward, so Albemarle was unable to tack to assist the rear for fear of losing masts or flooding. He also believed that his captains, unnerved by the sudden change of fortune, would not tack at his signal unless the ''Royal Charles'' led them.<ref>Fox, p. 265</ref> Those English ships of Teddiman's squadron and others in the rear that stayed in line were able to follow Albemarle westwards, as the Dutch were as short of gunpowder as their opponents, and aimed to board and capture them. The ''Rupert'' lost a mast, but managed to fight off her pursuers, however the Frisian Rear-Admiral Hendrik Brunsvelt captured the merchant ''Convertine'', which was entangled with  {{HMS|Essex|1660|6}} and the former Dutch HMS ''Black Bull'' which' later sank. Brunsvelt's vice admiral, Rudolf Coenders in ''Groningen'' captured HMS ''Clove Tree'' (the former [[Dutch East India Company|VOC]]-ship ''Nagelboom'').<ref>Fox, pp. 265-7</ref>