Viertageschlacht
When the Dutch confederate fleet sailed south to meet the English in the Four Days' Battle, the "Gelderland" was damaged, even before the fight proper started, by a sudden swell, causing such heavy pitching that the foremast broke. The ship had to be towed to port. To be able to continue commanding the marines, Van Ghent moved to the "Utrecht", the covering ship of , De Ruyter's flagship. Though the English fleet was indeed heavily damaged in the battle and was forced to withdraw, the Dutch fleet was in no condition to press the pursuit, let alone execute a complex landing operation. A major setback was the death of "schout-bij-nacht" (Rear-Admiral) Stachouwer, who had extensive amphibious operations' experience, during the second day of the battle.