Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer

Who was Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer?

Egbert Bartholomeuszoon Kortenaer or Egbert Meussen Cortenaer was an admiral of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. His second name is also given as Bartolomeuszoon or Meeuwiszoon. All of these are variations on the patronym "Son of Bartholomew".

Kortenaer was born in 1604 in Groningen of humble origins. In 1626 he was made boatswain, in 1636 second mate. In the First Anglo-Dutch War he served as first mate in 1652 on the Dutch flagship, Brederode. In the Battle of Dungeness he lost his right hand and eye. On 10 April 1653 he was made commandeur to replace flag captain Abel Roelants when Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp used Brederode as his flagship. In the Battle of Scheveningen Tromp was killed. Kortenaer kept Tromp's standard raised to keep up morale and took command of his squadron. On 21 October 1653 Kortenaer was promoted to captain. In the years after the war he often commanded squadrons as commodore when flag officers were absent.

In the Battle of the Sound, serving as flag captain on Eendragt, he beat off every Swedish attack while his commanding officer Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam was debilitated by gout. After this heroic conduct against the Swedish, Kortenaer was promoted to Vice-Admiral on 8 May 1659 and knighted by Frederick III of Denmark in the Order of the Elephant. On 29 January 1665, shortly before the Second Anglo-Dutch War, he was made Lieutenant-Admiral of the Admiralty of de Maze. He wasn't given command of the confederate Dutch fleet because he was a supporter of the House of Orange. A British intelligence report stated: "He is the best man they have".