In that case, however, Ruyter could, and probably would, have done just what he did at the Texel a year later,--check the van, the French, with a small containing force, and fall with the mass of his fleet upon the centre and rear.

It is the similarity of his action in both cases, under very different conditions, that proves he intended at Southwold Bay merely to keep the French in check while he destroyed the English.
In this battle, called indifferently Southwold Bay and Solebay, Ruyter showed a degree of skill combined with vigor which did not appear upon the sea, after his death, until the days of Suffren and Nelson.

His battles of the war of 1672 were no "affairs of circumspection," though they were fought circumspectly; his aim was no less than the enemy's total overthrow, by joining good combinations to fury of attack.

At Solebay he was somewhat, though not greatly, inferior to his enemies; afterward much more so.
The substantial results of Solebay fight were wholly favorable to the Dutch.

The allied fleets were to have assisted the operations of the French army by making a descent upon the coast of Zealand.