De Reuter (de Ruyter) - greatest admiral of the 17th century?

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   Sorry, maybe you were mistk by the translation form of Ruyter what happens to be Reuter???

Yes, De Reuter was magnificent in his glory. He defeated the English
many times, he defeated the Englsh and French combined navy. He sailed
into English port, robbed the flagship andd burned four ships. 

Brief description fo his life:

He was born in 1607 in Flushing. In 1622 he fought as a musketeer
against the Spaniards in the Dutch army under Maurice of Nassau. 
The Dutch fleet, with De Ruyter as third in command, beat back a
Spanish-Dunkirker fleet in an action of Cape St Vincent the 4th of
November 1641. After returning he bought his own ship, the Salamander,
and between 1642 and 1652, mainly trading and voyaging to Morocco and
the West Indies, became a wealthy merchant. During this time his esteem
grew among other Dutch captains as he would regularly free christian
slaves buying them at his own expense.During the First Anglo-Dutch War
(1652�1654), De Ruyter was asked to join the expanding fleet as a
subcommander; after initially refusing and stating he wasn't qualified
enough for such a job, De Ruyter proved his worth under Admiral Maarten
Tromp, winning the Battle of Plymouth. In July 1655 De Ruyter took
command of a squadron of eight of which the Tijdverdrijf was his
flagship and set out for the Mediterranean with 55 merchantmen in
convoy. Meeting an English fleet under Robert Blake along the way, he
managed to avoid creating a new incident. His orders were to protect
Dutch trade. After destroying many a privateer and negotiating a peace
agreement with Sal�, De Ruyter returned home May 1656. In this Second
Anglo-Dutch War (1665�1667) he won a hard-fought victory in the Four
Days Battle (June 1666) but narrowly escaped disaster in the St James's
Day Battle (August 1666). He then became seriously ill, recovering just
in time to take nominal command of the fleet executing the Raid on the
Medway in 1667. The Medway raid was a costly and embarrassing defeat
for the English, resulting in the loss of the British flagship and
bringing the Dutch close to London and the war to its end.

Raid of Medway:

 The Dutch, under nominal command of Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de
Ruyter, bombarded Sheerness, went up the River Thames to Gravesend,
then up the River Medway to Chatham, where they burnt four capital
ships, and towed away the Royal Charles, pride and normal flagship of
the English fleet.

Continuing:

De Ruyter saved the situation for the Dutch in the Third Anglo-Dutch
War. His strategic victories over larger Anglo-French fleets at the
Battles of Solebay (1672), the double Schooneveld (1673) and Texel
(Kijkduin) (1673) warded off invasion. The new rank of
Lieutenant-Admiral-General was made especially for him in February
1673. He took command of a combined Dutch-Spanish fleet and fought a
French fleet under Duquesne twice to a draw at the Battle of Stromboli
and the Battle of Agosta where he was fatally wounded when a cannonball
hit both his legs. His body was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)
in Amsterdam.

De Ruyter was highly respected by his sailors and soldiers, who used
the term of endearment Bestev�er ("Granddad") for him, both because of
his disregard for hierarchy (he was himself of humble origin) and his
refusal to back away from risky and bold undertakings despite his
usually cautious nature.

Was he
brilliant or was he lucky?

Edited by rider