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Robert Blake
Sign in to savemilitary commander of the Commonwealth of England (1599-1657)
Key facts
- Preceded by
- Thomas Kelsey
- Succeeded by
- Lord Winchilsea
- Born
- ( 1598-09-27 ) September 27, 1598, Bridgwater , England
- Died
- August 7, 1657 (1657-08-07) (aged 58) , Off Plymouth , English Channel
- Resting place
- Westminster Abbey (initially);, St Margaret's (now)
- Relations
- Vice Admiral Benjamin Blake (Brother), Joseph Blake (nephew)
- Nickname
- Father of the Royal Navy
- Allegiance
- Commonwealth of England , The Protectorate
- Branch service
- Royal Navy
- Years of service
- 1649–1657
- Rank
- General at sea
- Commands
- Mediterranean Fleet
- Conflicts
- See list English Civil War Siege of Lyme Regis Sieges of Taunton First Anglo-Dutch War Battle of Dover Battle of the Kentish Knock Battle of Dungeness Battle of Portland Battle of the Gabbard Action of 14 April 1655 Anglo-Spanish War Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Robert
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Place of birth
- Bridgwater
- Place of death
- Plymouth
- Occupation
- politician
- Position held
- Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
- Educated at
- Wadham College
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Conflict
- Anglo-Spanish War
- Military branch
- Royal Navy
- Military rank
- admiral
- Image
- Robert Blake.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- place of burial
- Westminster Abbey
- Commons category
- Robert Blake
- date of birth
- 1598-00-00
- date of death
- 1657-08-07
- member of
- Short Parliament
- described by source
- New International Encyclopedia
- different from
- Robert Blake
- writing language
- English language
- start of work period
- 1649-00-00
- name in native language
- Robert Blake
via Wikidata · CC0
~27 min read
Encyclopedic overview
General at Sea Robert Blake (27 September 1598 – 7 August 1657) was an English naval officer who served as general at sea and the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports from 1656 to 1657. Blake served under Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War and Anglo-Spanish War, and as the commanding Admiral of the State's Navy during the First Anglo-Dutch War. Blake is recognised as the "chief founder of England's naval supremacy", a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy well into the early 20th century.
Despite this, due to deliberate attempts to expunge the Parliamentarians from historical records following the Stuart Restoration, Blake's achievements tend to remain relatively unrecognised. Blake's successes, however, are considered to have "never been excelled, not even by Nelson" according to one biographer, while Blake is often compared with Nelson by others.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Robert Blake” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.