In 1639, another large convoy of 75 ships and 24,000 soldiers and sailors was prepared to resupply the Spanish Netherlands. The convoys command was offered to Lope de Hoces, but he turned it down, as a result the command passed to Antonio de Oquendo, commander of the Mediterranean fleet. On 15 September the fleet was intercepted near the Strait of Dover by the squadron of Dutch Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp, who was reinforced two days later by a flotilla of Vice-Admiral Witte de With. De Oquendo took refuge in The Downs, in neutral English waters at the coast of Kent. On 21 October the Dutch fleet, grown to over a hundred ships, violated English neutrality and attacked the Spanish fleet, succeeding in destroying or capturing many enemy vessels.