Jan (Johan) van Galen (1604-1653) was a Commodore of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands. He fought
Jan (Johan) van Galen (1604-1653) was a Commodore of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands. He fought in the Eighty Years' War against Spain, becoming a captain in 1630. In 1639 he fought in the Battle of the Downs under the command of Joris van Cats. In 1645, as a Rear-Admiral, he was part of Vice-Admiral Witte de With's convoy breaking the blockade of The Sound by Denmark. In 1649 he was badly wounded when a gang of Spanish criminals intercepted him when he was returning in a sloop with prize money. He retired in 1650 but went back when the First Angle-Dutch War broke out. He continued fighting till a cannonball smashed his right lower leg - it was amputated below-deck and he died ten days later. Jan van Galen was given a state burial and in 1656, a marble grave memorial was erected.
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Photo credit: © World History Archive / Alamy / Afripics
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