ABSTRACT
It is known that he was knighted by Charles I, though not why. By 1646, he was captain of the Expedition, 30. In the first phase of the English Civil Wars, the fleet very largely stood aloof, but in 1648, with the king imprisoned, neutral ity was impossible. Many ships, under BATTEN, defected to the king in Holland, but Ayscue’s influence kept the rest for Parliament. He was rewarded by a command in the Irish Sea, and earned the thanks of Parliament. He was second-in-command to BLAKE in the taking of the Scilly Isles in 1651, and then led his squadron to the West Indies, where he took a number of islands (and the Commonwealth of Virginia) from the Royalists. In 1652, his squadron, operating out of Plymouth, fought the first engagement of the First Dutch War against DE RUYTER, who was escorting a convoy, and they met again, unencumbered by convoys, four months later, in an indeterminate fight. Ayscue was relieved of his command, but given a pension, and from 1658 to 1660, he was employed as naval advisor to the Swedes, at Cromwell’s instigation.
