Glorious Revolution
William of Orange's invasion fleet makes its final departure from Hellevoetsluis
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗A first invasion attempt had already been blown back into port; the whole armada had to turn around and try again.
11 November 1688 — or 1 November, in England
William of Orange's invasion fleet departed Hellevoetsluis for a second time on 11 November 1688 in the Gregorian calendar used in the Netherlands, the same day called 1 November under the Julian calendar still used in England.
This was the successful departure. An earlier attempt had been driven back to its anchorage by strong north-westerly winds.
How large the fleet was
William sailed with an expeditionary army of about 15,000, carried in roughly 200 vessels and protected by 49 fighting ships, in the historian Robert Beddard's account.
Royal Museums Greenwich describes it differently — 50 ships of the line, 50 smaller warships and fireships, and about 400 transports. The totals diverge because sources classify warships, fireships, yachts, landing craft, and transports differently, so the figures should not be combined.
North first
The fleet initially sailed north, concealing where it meant to land, before turning down the English Channel. The easterly wind that carried it also prevented James II's fleet from intercepting it.
Four Gregorian days later, on 15 November, the fleet reached Torbay and William's army landed unopposed at Brixham.
Sources
Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited Date corrected
How this was checked
Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →
Date corrected. The research places this at 1688-11-11.
What the sources leave uncertain
- The event is 11 November 1688 in the Gregorian calendar used in the Netherlands and 1 November Old Style in contemporary English dating. The ISO date uses Gregorian because the event occurred in the Netherlands.
- Sources give different fleet totals because they classify warships, fireships, yachts, landing craft and transports differently; the sourced figures should not be silently combined.
- English-language histories often call this departure 1 November and the landing 5 November without stating that they are using the English Julian calendar.