Maarten Tromp | |
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Birth name | Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp |
Nickname(s) | Bestevaêr |
Born | 23 April 1598 Brielle, Dutch Republic |
Died | 31 July 1653 Battle of Scheveningen | (aged 55)
Buried | |
Allegiance | Dutch Republic |
Years of service | 1607–1653 |
Battles / wars | |
Signature |
Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp or Maarten van Tromp (23 April 1598 – 31 July 1653) was an army general and admiral in the Dutch navy during much of the Eighty Years' War and throughout the First Anglo-Dutch War. Son of a ship's captain, Tromp spent much of his childhood at sea, during which time he was captured by pirates and enslaved by Barbary corsairs. In adult life, he became a renowned ship captain and naval commander, successfully leading Dutch forces fighting for independence in the Eighty Years' War, and then against England in the First Anglo-Dutch War, proving an innovative tactician and enabling the newly independent Dutch nation to become a major sea power. He was killed in battle by a sharpshooter from an English ship. Several ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy have carried the name HNLMS Tromp after him and/or his son Cornelis, also a Dutch admiral of some renown.