Witte Corneliszoon de With

Witte Corneliszoon de With (28 March 1599-8 November 1658) was a Dutch naval officer of 17th century. He was born in Brielle like Maarten Tromp, but went to the Dutch East Indies when he was fifteen, returning in 1625 as Vice-Admiral (in service of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie) of the Spice Fleet. In 1628 he was flagcaptain of Piet Heyn. In the Eighty Years' War against the Spanish he fought at the Battle of the Downs (1639), having become Vice-Admiral of Holland and West Frisia in 1637. In the First Anglo-Dutch War against the Commonwealth of England he commanded the Dutch fleet at the Battle of the Kentish Knock and fought in the Battle of Scheveningen. After the war he was denied command of the Dutch fleet because of his difficult personality. He fell in the Battle of the Sound , during the Northern Wars, commanding the avantguard of the Dutch fleet relieving Copenhagen from the Swedish, when his ship was grounded and surrounded by the enemy, who respectfully delivered his body to the victorious Dutch.

He had a lifelong rivalry with Admiral Maarten Tromp. De With was feared and hated by his inferiors - on several occasions crews refused to let him on board to use their ship as flagship - shunned by his equals and always full of insubordination against his superiors. In 1649 he was almost condemned to death when he withdrew his fleet from Brazil against orders. He was also seen as courageous, competent and an excellent sailor. He was embittered by the neglect of the fleet between 1639 and 1650.