Gilles Schey

A midshipman in 1656, he was in 1659 commander of a unit of marines during Michiel de Ruyter's liberation of Funen in the Dano-Swedish War (1658–1660).

He continued from 1661 as a lieutenant in the marines and participated in almost every battle that the Dutch fleet fought in those years.

He was present at the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665 and in actions of Lieutenant-Admiral Willem Joseph van Ghent in West Africa against the Barbary pirates in 1670.

In 1688 he commanded the Wapen van Utrecht in the fleet with which William III of Orange invaded the British Isles.

On 1 September 1697 Schey had in fact organised a mock battle on the IJ, which had made a great impression on the Tsar.

A portrait of Schey and a Black slave
Gilles Schey blames English Admiral Torrington for the loss of the Battle of Beachy Head before a court martial