Background
Early in 1667 the French, having joined on the side of the Dutch, decided to target England's Caribbean colonies. They captured their half of St. Kitts, Antigua, and Montserrat, and now threatened to invade Nevis. In March, Captain John Berry, in the 56-gun Man-of-war Coronation arrived at Barbados and the Governor decided to make an attempt to save Nevis. He bought up a number of armed merchantmen and created a squadron of ten men-of-war and one fireship under Berry's command. [3]
Having arrived at Nevis, Berry decided on blockading French held Saint Kitts on 17 April. On 14 May at Martinique French Admiral de La Barre, Martinique's governor Vice Admiral Robert de Clodoré and Guadeloupe's governor Rear Admiral Claude François du Lyon, plus the fireships were met by Crijnssen’s Dutch squadron who had reconquered Berbice and St Eustatius from the English. In a conference they decided on a combined attack against Nevis and were further strengthened by 600 volunteers raised on Martinique plus another 500 picked up two days later at Guadeloupe. On 18 May the combined force headed toward Nevis. [3]
Action
On 20 May in the early morning rounding the southern points of Nevis, the Franco-Dutch fleet was sighted by English reconnaissance boats, who carried a warning into Charlestown. By 8 a.m. Captain Berry immediately prepared for action knowing that he was outnumbered and then waited for the attack with ten large men of war headed by Coronation of 50 guns, two frigates and 2 fireships. [4] Meanwhile, the militia on Nevis itself lined the defenses in case the French and Dutch managed to get through; they also supported the fleet with a number of cannons. [3]
The French and Dutch fleet closed in on the English line and soon the battle commenced. The French line disintegrated into confusion while preparing to engage so De la Barre brought his flagship Lys Couronne of 38 guns into action with the Coronation but soon found himself surrounded by the English. [3] After being badly mauled he and his ship barely managed to escape but the Dutch seeing the French collapse immediately tried to help. They came in and gave Coronation a severe pounding but they too were forced to withdraw in threat of English fireships. [3]
In the thick of the battle an English man of war took a hit in her powder magazine and blew up and sank with most of her crew, and a 30-gun French man of war and a smaller flyboat were destroyed by fireships. The French and the Dutch seeing that they could not get through realized the battle had been lost. The battle then ended with a desultory long-range exchange between both fleets, with the English fleet still holding its line, de La Barre with increasing casualties and his ship severely damaged then decided to withdraw off towards Saint Kitts by 2 p.m. compelling the Dutch under an angry Crijnssen to follow. [3]
Saint Kitts and Nevis have one of the longest written histories in the Caribbean, both islands being among Spain's and England's first colonies in the archipelago. Despite being only two miles apart and quite diminutive in size, Saint Kitts and Nevis were widely recognized as being separate entities with distinct identities until they were forcibly united in the late 19th century.
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In a three-day battle, Brézé defeated the Spanish fleet, which was attempting to relieve some Spanish garrisons isolated along the Catalan coast, and forced the Duke of Ciudad Real to retreat to Majorca for repairs. As usual in most of the battles involving Maillé-Brézé, the French fleet made an extensive use of her fireships. This time, however, a large French vice-flagship, the Galion de Guise, fell victim to one of his own fireships and went down enveloped in flames. The victory, in any case, was for the French fleet, and its main long-term effect was the fall of Perpignan into the hands of the Franco-Catalan army.
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Dutch Republic 
France 
England