The Battle of Sandwich in 851 was the first known naval battle in English history. It was a Kentish victory against a Danish Viking fleet.[1]
Battle of Sandwich | |||||||
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Part of the Viking invasions of England | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kentishmen | Vikings | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Æthelstan | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | More than nine ships | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Nine ships lost |
In 851 King Æthelwulf of Wessex scored a major victory at the battle of Aclea over an army drawn from 350 Danish ships. He had appointed his eldest son Æthelstan under-king of Kent, and in the same year Æthelstan and his ealdorman Ealhhere defeated a Danish fleet off Sandwich in Kent.[1]
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded under 851 that: "King Æthelstan and Ealdorman Ealhhere fought in ships, and slew a great army at Sandwich in Kent, and captured nine ships, and put the others to flight.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Stenton, Frank (1971) [1943]. Anglo-Saxon England (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.
- ^ Whitelock, Dorothy, ed. (1979). English Historical Documents, Volume 1, c. 500–1042 (2nd ed.). London, UK: Routledge. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-415-14366-0.