Robert Blake Biography and Timeline

Birth of Robert Blake

Birth of Robert Blake

Siege of Bristol

Takes part in the defense of Bristol

Role range: 1642-1649

Siege of Lyme Regis

Takes part in the defense of Lyme Regis

Role range: 1642-1649

Defence of Lyme Regis

Blake helps defend Lyme Regis against a prolonged Royalist siege and preserves an important Parliamentarian foothold in the west.

Role range: 1642-1649

Command at Taunton

Blake takes command at Taunton and prepares the town to withstand repeated Royalist attempts to recover it.

Role range: 1642-1649

Siege of Taunton

Takes & holds Taunton for 2 years for the Parliamentary forces

Role range: 1642-1649

Defence of Taunton

Blake maintains the Parliamentarian defence of Taunton despite blockade, bombardment and repeated Royalist pressure.

Role range: 1642-1649

Appointment as General at Sea

Parliament appoints Blake as one of the generals at sea to command Commonwealth naval operations.

Role range: 1642-1649

Commander of Fleet

Appointed Commander of the Fleet

Role range: 1642-1649 – 1649-1657

Commander of Fleet

Appointed Commander of the Fleet

Battle of Cartagena

Chases the Royalist fleet from Kinsale to Lisbon & Cartagena where it is destroyed

Role range: 1642-1649 – 1649-1657

Capture of Scilly Isles

Captures the Scilly Isles

Role range: 1642-1649 – 1649-1657

Siege of Jersey

Lands with a Parliamentary invasion force & captures Jersey

Role range: 1642-1649 – 1649-1657

Council of State

Appointed Member of Council of State

Role range: 1642-1649 – 1651-1657

Plymouth Convoy Interception Blake

Robert Blake was a English naval commander in the relevant Anglo Dutch naval campaign. The English fleet sought to intercept the Dutch merchant convoy west of Plymouth as the Dutch escort moved to shield the merchantmen.

Role range: 1652-1654

Plymouth Squadron Combat Blake

Robert Blake was a English naval commander in the relevant Anglo Dutch naval campaign. The engagement developed into hard fighting between English vessels and the Dutch escort with neither side losing a major warship.

Role range: 1652-1654

Plymouth Convoy Passage Blake

Robert Blake was a English naval commander in the relevant Anglo Dutch naval campaign. After the clash the English returned to Plymouth while the Dutch convoy was able to continue its passage westward.

Role range: 1652-1654

Dungeness Convoy Strategy Blake

Robert Blake served as a English fleet commander in the Anglo Dutch naval conflict. Dutch sea operations near Dungeness followed an effort to protect merchant traffic through the Channel during the First Anglo Dutch War.

Role range: 1652-1654

Dungeness English Fleet Clash Blake

Robert Blake served as a English fleet commander in the Anglo Dutch naval conflict. Tromp and Blake led the opposing fleets in a battle near Dungeness that resulted in an English retreat after fierce fighting.

Role range: 1652-1654

Dungeness Channel Control Blake

Robert Blake served as a English fleet commander in the Anglo Dutch naval conflict. The Dutch success temporarily improved the passage of merchant shipping through the English Channel before the campaign resumed.

Role range: 1652-1654

Battle of Portland

Wins an exchange with the Dutch which closes the Channel to Dutch merchant shipping

Role range: 1652-1654

Battle of Harwich

Sinks 20 of the 110 ships sent by wTromp to break the English blockade of the Channel

Role range: 1652-1654

Portland Fleet Engagement Blake

Robert Blake served as a English fleet commander in the Anglo Dutch naval conflict. The three day battle near Portland pitted Dutch convoy escorts against an English fleet and culminated in heavy damage to Dutch warships.

Role range: 1652-1654

Portland Convoy Protection Blake

Robert Blake served as a English fleet commander in the Anglo Dutch naval conflict. The fighting centred on Dutch merchant shipping returning through the Channel and the opposing effort to intercept its naval escort.

Role range: 1652-1654

Portland Battle Aftermath Blake

Robert Blake served as a English fleet commander in the Anglo Dutch naval conflict. The Dutch escort preserved part of its merchant convoy although the English fleet gained the advantage in the three day engagement.

Role range: 1652-1654

Harwich Eastern Channel Operations Blake

Robert Blake was a English fleet commander during the wider First Anglo Dutch War. The naval operations off the English east coast formed part of the campaign that culminated in the Battle of the Gabbard near the Suffolk coast.

Role range: 1652-1654

Harwich North Sea Fleet Movement Blake

Robert Blake was a English fleet commander during the wider First Anglo Dutch War. The fleets manoeuvred in the southern North Sea as England and the Dutch Republic contested maritime communications in June 1653.

Role range: 1652-1654

Harwich Gabbard Campaign Context Blake

Robert Blake was a English fleet commander during the wider First Anglo Dutch War. Sources associate the June 1653 engagement with the Gabbard and North Foreland rather than establish an independent major battle at Harwich.

Role range: 1652-1654

Gabbard First Day Fighting Blake

Robert Blake served as a English reinforcement commander in the Anglo Dutch naval conflict. On the opening day English and Dutch squadrons fought near the Gabbard shoal while the English made effective use of sustained gunnery.

Role range: 1652-1654

Gabbard Second Day Engagement Blake

Robert Blake served as a English reinforcement commander in the Anglo Dutch naval conflict. On the following day renewed English pressure and additional warships contributed to a major Dutch reversal in the North Sea.

Role range: 1652-1654

Gabbard Dutch Fleet Retreat Blake

Robert Blake served as a English reinforcement commander in the Anglo Dutch naval conflict. The Dutch fleet withdrew after losses in the two day battle, allowing English forces to intensify pressure on Dutch shipping.

Role range: 1652-1654

Merchant Shipping

Despatched by Cromwell to protect English shipping and assert Commonwealth naval power

Attack on Tunis

Destroys Barbary shipping at Porto Farina and demonstrates English naval power

Role range: 1649-1657

Mediterranean Squadron

Commands English naval power in the Mediterranean during mounting conflict with Spain

Role range: 1649-1657

Death of Robert Blake

Death of Robert Blake, while was entering Plymouth Harbour

Capture of Jamaica

Defeats the Spanish after the British capture of Jamaica

Role range: 1649-1657

Siege of Santa Cruz

Destroys the Spanish West Indian Fleet in Santa Cruz