eems

Naval battle during the Eighty Years’ War

The first naval battle of the Eighty Years’ War took place on 10 and 11 July 1568. On the Ems near Delfzijl, the Beggars, led by Jan Abels and Diederik Sonoy, clashed with François van Boshuizen’s Spanish-Habsburg flotilla. Blockade François van Boshuizen wanted to prevent the army of Louis van Nassau from being supplied by sea after his victory at Heiligerlee.

At Lodewijk’s request, the water beggars sprang into action. This led to the Battle of the Ems. The battle went well for the water beggars. The Habsburgs were defeated on the first day. The next day a few more ships were captured. Groningen Lodewijk van Nassau did not benefit much from this victory. He had to end his attack on Groningen when the Duke of Alva and Caspar de Robles advanced towards Groningen. Lodewijk broke the siege and tried to return to Germany. At Jemmingen it came to a battle. Lodewijk lost 7,000 men, but was barely able to save himself by swimming across the Ems.

TRAFFIC ON EEMS

The river Ems is deep enough for heavy transport. The industry of Delfzijl is visible in the background,

RIVER EEMS

The Ems is a river that flows through northwestern Germany and borders the northeastern part of the Netherlands at its mouth via the Dollard and Westereems. It runs through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. It rises in the Senne and flows into the North Sea.
The Ems is 371 kilometers long, 238 kilometers of which are navigable.
The Ems-Jade Canal, which starts at Emden, connects the Ems with the Jade. The Dortmund-Ems Canal runs largely parallel to the Ems. One of its tributaries is the Hase. It rises in the Teutoburg Forest and splits at a bifurcation in the Else, which runs to the Weser, and the Hase proper, which flows into the Ems at Meppen. Cities on the Ems are: Telgte, Greven, Emsdetten, Rheine, Lingen, Meppen, Haren, Lathen, Papenburg, Leer, Emden and Delfzijl. The Eemskering is located between Leer and Emden. The Dutch municipality of Eemsdelta takes its name from the river Ems, just like the former municipality of Eemsmond.