TROMP, MAARTEN HARPERTSZ

(1598–1653)

Naval officer. Tromp was given command of a warship as early as 1624. Together with Vice Adm. Piet Hein, he fought the Dunkirk privateers. In 1639, he fought again as a lieutenant admiral. During the last decade of the Revolt(1568–1648), Tromp defeated a Spanish fleet near the Downs in 1639. During the First Anglo-Dutch War, he defeated the English fleet near Dover in 1652, but was himself defeated near Portland in 1653. In the same year, he fell near Terheijde. Tromp is one of the most popular admirals in Dutch history, along with Hein and Michiel de Ruyter.