They made a very different record in 1672 from that of 1666.
Before finally leaving the Four Days' Fight, the conclusions of another writer may well be quoted:-- "Such was that bloody Battle of the Four Days, or Straits of Calais, the most memorable sea-fight of modern days; not, indeed, by its results, but by the aspect of its different phases; by the fury of the combatants; by the boldness and skill of the leaders; and by the new character which it gave to sea warfare.

More than any other this fight marks clearly the passage from former methods to the tactics of the end of the seventeenth century.

For the first time we can follow, as though traced upon a plan, the principal movements of the contending fleets.

It seems quite clear that to the Dutch as well as to the British have been given a tactical book and a code of signals; or, at the least, written instructions, extensive and precise, to serve instead of such a code.

We feel that each admiral now has his squadron in hand, and that even the commander-in-chief disposes at his will, during the fight, of the various subdivisions of his fleet.