April 29, 1676 - Famed Dutch naval leader Admiral Michiel de Ruyter (right) dies after the Battle of Agosta. The son of a beer porter, Michiel de Ruyter first went to at age 11. After brief service in the army, he returned to sea and successfully worked in the merchant trade until 1652. With the outbreak of the First Anglo-Dutch war later that year, de Ruyter was called into service. Commanding an outbound convoy, he defeated the English at the Battle of Plymouth, and was present for the Dutch defeats at Kentish Knock and Gabbard Bank. Following the death of Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp in 1653, de Ruyter declined overall command of the Dutch fleet, but did accept a position with the Admiralty of Amsterdam the next year. With the war concluded, de Ruyter spent the next several years on missions to the Mediterranean and Baltic. Cruising the Caribbean when the Second Anglo-Dutch War erupted, he raided several English colonies before returning to Europe. Given command of the Dutch fleet with the rank of lieutenant-admiral, de Ruyter won a victory at the Four Days' Battle (June 1666), but was defeated during the Battle of St. James' Day (August 1666). In June 1667, he oversaw the Dutch raid on the Medway. Sailing up the Thames, the Dutch were able to capture and burn several English ships only a few miles from London. When the war recommenced in 1672, he won victories at Solebay, Schoonveld, and Texel which prevented an English invasion. In 1676, he took command of a combined Dutch-Spanish fleet with orders to aid in putting down a revolt in Messina. Though he won fights at Stomboli and Agosta, he was mortally wounded at the latter and died on April 29, 1676.

Photograph Source: Public Domain