Ka cika wannan jumlar: A shekara ta 1639, an shirya wani babban jirgi na jiragen ruwa guda 75 da sojoji da matuƙan jirgin ruwa guda 24,000 don su kai wa Netherlands na Spain kayayyaki. An ba da umarnin jagorantar ga Lope de Hoces, amma ya ƙi shi, sakamakon haka umarnin ya wuce zuwa Antonio de Oquendo, kwamandan rundunar jiragen ruwa na Bahar Rum. A ranar 15 ga watan Satumba, rundunar sojojin Holland mai suna Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp, wanda aka karfafa shi kwana biyu bayan haka ta hanyar jirgin ruwa na Vice-Admiral Witte de With, ya kama jirgin ruwa a kusa da Dover Strait. De Oquendo ya nemi mafaka a The Downs, a cikin ruwan Ingilishi mai tsaka tsaki a gabar Kent. A ranar 21 ga Oktoba, rundunar jiragen ruwa na Holland, ta karu zuwa fiye da jirgi dari, ta keta tsaka-tsakin Ingila da kuma
sun kai hari ga rundunar Mutanen Espanya, sun yi nasarar hallaka ko kama jiragen ruwa da yawa na abokan gaba.