Johan Evertsen

Despite Evertsen's successes and influence in the Dutch Navy, his abilities were questioned due to rumours that he was a coward.

He was the eldest (surviving) son of Johan Evertsen, also known as Captain Jan who died in 1617 fighting near La Rochelle against a French corsair.

He fought near La Rochelle in 1625 under Willem de Zoete, and in 1626 and 1627 in a campaign against the Barbary Coast under Laurens Reael.

Evertsen helped to achieve victory in the Battle of Dungeness, extricating Tromp's flagship from an English attack.

The battle went horribly wrong for the Dutch, and the first and second in command, Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam and Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, were killed.

When he travelled there, he was dragged from his carriage by an angry mob, mistreated, bound hand and foot, and thrown into the water.

After much conflict between the Admiralty and the family over the costs, both brothers were buried in 1681 in the Abbey of Middelburg, where their shared grave memorial remains.