Ruyter, Michiel Adriaanszoon de

Ruyter, Michiel Adriaanszoon de (mēkhēl` ä`drēänsōn' də roi`tər), 1607–76, Dutch admiral. His life was spent in the Dutch mercantile and naval service. He fought under Maarten Tromp in the first (1652–54) of the Dutch Wars and distinguished himself in the second Dutch War (1664–67) by the capture of English holdings on the Gold and Guinea coasts. He saved the Dutch fleet in a brilliant withdrawal after defeat at North Foreland (Aug. 4, 1666) and burned English ships (1667) in the Medway. With Cornelis Tromp he led the Dutch fleet in the third Dutch War (1672–78) and saved Dutch ports (1672) from attack by the English and French. Despite his protests over the conditions of the Dutch fleet, he was sent to the Mediterranean (1675), where he was mortally wounded at Messina.

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Ruyter, Michiel Adriaanszoon de 

Born Mar. 24, 1607, in Vlissingen; died Apr. 29, 1676, near Syracuse. Dutch naval commander.

Ruyter joined the navy in 1618. In 1641 he became a rear admiral (in 1653, vice admiral) and fought under the command of Admiral M. Tromp in the First Dutch War (1652–54). In 1665, Ruyter was promoted to lieutenant admiral and was named commander in chief of the navy of the Republic of the United Provinces. He won a number of major victories at Texel, Dunkerque, and elsewhere over the English and French navies during the Second and Third Dutch Wars of the 17th century. In 1673 he received the highest naval rank of general lieutenant admiral of Holland. Ruyter was mortally wounded on Apr. 22, 1676, in a battle against the French Navy near the island of Sicily.