In June 1665, after the Second Anglo-Dutch war broke out, a fleet under Michiel de Ruyter sailed to Newfoundland, and raided the place, and damaged the colony severely.

Quick Facts Date, Location ...

Raid on Newfoundland (1665)
Part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War
Present day St. John's
Date June 1665 Location St. John's Result Dutch Victory St. John's captured[1]
Belligerents
Dutch Republic	England Newfoundland
Commanders and leaders
Michiel de Ruyter	Christopher Martin
Strength
20 ships [2]	Fortifications and defences of St. John's, and a coalition of planters and migratory fishermen[3]
Casualties and losses
none	all ships taken, fort and houses destroyed,[4] and goods, canons, and guns taken

Close

De Ruyter first set sail to the Barbary coast to capture Barbary pirates, then whe went to Algiers to free Christian slaves. He continued patrolling in the Mediterranean Sea until he got secret orders from the States-General to recapture forts in West Africa, and harm the English colonies in the Americas.^[5]

After recapturing the colonies in West Africa,^[6] he set sail for Newfoundland. He divided his fleet in three, and sent one part to Bay Bulls, while he himself went to St. John's (where he first had to break a massive cable across The Narrows^[2]), and he sent the third part of his fleet to Petty Harbour.

In Petty Harbour they captured 2 English ships completely filled with salt, oil, and wine, on the other hand de Ruyter captured one frigate and a fluyt. They stayed there for a bit capturing other numerous English ships and vessels, filled with bread, meat, peas, and lots of fish. After de Ruyter had captured all these ships, he had around 300 prisoners. He thought it was too dangerous because maybe they would rebel, so he freed some on the island.^[7] However this was not the only port he raided: he sailed around the coast and attacked numerous ports in the colony causing significant damage.^[8]