Battle of Sandwich, also called the Battle of Dover, (24 August 1217). For an island nation, defeat at sea could mean invasion and conquest. The battle that took place in the Strait of Dover in 1217 saved England from French occupation, but it has also gone down in history as the first battle fought by sailing ships in the open sea.

Dover: white cliffs The white cliffs of Dover, Kent, England, rising above the Strait of Dover. © Rachelle Burnside/Shutterstock.com

King John of England had clashed regularly with his leading barons and, in June 1215, was forced to sign the Magna Carta (Great Charter), an agreement guaranteeing baronial, church, and other rights in relation to the crown. The decree by Pope Innocent III two months later, which declared that John need not adhere to the charter, caused the barons to rise in revolt. They sought French help against John, promising the throne to Prince Louis of France. Louis landed in Kent while the rebellious barons seized the Tower of London.

Magna Carta An engraving of King John signing the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215, at Runnymede, England. © Photos.com/Thinkstock

After John’s death in 1216, the rebel army was defeated at Lincoln by William Marshal—regent for the new young king, Henry III—and forced onto the defensive. In the south, the French were more successful and managed to besiege Marshal and his supporters in Dover. A French invasion fleet of seventy supply ships and ten escorting warships crossed the English Channel but was met by a forty-strong English fleet, led by Hubert de Burgh, that had sailed out of Dover. The English fleet first sailed past the French before turning to attack them in the rear, grappling the enemy ships before boarding them.

The French commander, Eustace the Monk, was found hiding in the bilges, or bottom of the ship’s hull, and was immediately executed as the English towed sixty-five French ships into Dover. With his fleet captured, Louis was forced to abandon his invasion of England and made peace later in the year.

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Losses: English, none of 40 ships; French, 65 of 80 ships captured.