eet had disappeared. De Ruyter had weighed anchor during the
storm and run out to sea. Monk suspected that he had gone back to his old
cruising ground off the Naze, and when the wind fell and the weather
cleared up in the afternoon of the 24th he weighed and sailed for the end
of the Gunfleet to look for the enemy in that neighbourhood. He found no
trace of him, and anchored again off the Gunfleet that evening, getting
under way again at two in the morning of the 25th.

De Ruyter's light craft had kept him informed of Monk's movements. The
Dutch admiral had avoided battle, when it was first offered, because he
hoped to manoeuvre for the weather gage, but the failing wind before the
storm had made it hopeless to attempt to work to windward of the English.
At a council of war held on board De Ruyter's flagship on the evening of
the 24th it was decided to accept battle next day, even if the Dutch had to
fight to leeward. When the sun rose the two fleets were in sight, "eight
leagues off the Naze," De Ruyter in his old position to seaward and
southward of Monk.

The English "general at sea" had ninety-two battleships and seventeen
fireships at his disposal. Following the custom of the time, the English
was, like the Dutch fleet, organized in three divisions. The van,
distinguished by white ensigns, was commanded by Sir Thomas Allen; the
centre, or red division, flew the red ensign (now the flag of our merchant
marine), and was under the personal command of Monk and Rupert; the rear,
under Sir Jeremy Smith, flew the blue ensign. Battles at sea were now
beginning to be fought under formal rules which soon developed into a
system of pedantic rigidity. It was a point of honour that van should
encounter van; centre, centre; and rear, rear. The Dutch were moving slowly
under shortened sail in line ahead to the south-east of the English. Monk
formed his fleet in line abreast on the port tack. The orders were that as
they closed with the enemy the ships were to bear up on to a course
parallel to that of the Dutch and engage in line ahead, division to
division and broadside to broadside. Training cruises and fleet manoeuvres
were still things of a far-off future, and the ships of Monk's three
divisions were all unequal in speed and handiness, so the manoeuvre was not
executed with the machine-like regularity of a modern fleet. The van and
centre came into action fairly together, but the rearward ships straggled
into position, and Tr