At St. James's Day Battle, having spent another fireship and returning with his crew in sloops, Van Brakel saved the "Gelderland", the flagship of Lieutenant-Admiral Willem Joseph van Ghent from an attack by an English fireship. Because of the courage shown, Van Brakel was promoted to captain of a regular ship on 22 September 1666, a rare accomplishment for a fireship commander. In 1667, while in command of the frigate "Vrede", he became one of the heroes of the raid on the Medway and was given the honourable task of triumphantly towing the captured English flagship out of the Medway river. That same year Van Brakel was promoted full captain on 17 December.