Editing Michiel de Ruyter (section)

===Death===
During the course of the Dutch van squadron's disengagement from fighting, De Ruyter was fatally wounded when a cannonball struck him in the leg, and he died a week later at [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]].{{sfn|Jenkins|1973|p=59}}{{sfn|Blackmore|2014|p=99}} It is recorded that his French opponents honoured him by firing salutes as the ship carrying his [[embalmed]] body to the Netherlands passed the French fleet.{{sfn|Bruijn|2011|p=7}} On 18 March 1677, de Ruyter was given an elaborate state funeral. On that occasion, the Amsterdam professor [[Petrus Francius]] recited a Latin farewell poem of nearly a thousand [[hexameter]]s. His body was buried in the [[Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam|Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam]]. The [[Tomb of Michiel de Ruyter|praal tomb]] completed in 1681, designed and created by the Flemish sculptor [[Rombout Verhulst]], is on display in the [[Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam|Nieuwe Kerk]]. He was succeeded as supreme commander by Cornelis Tromp in 1679.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}