Towards the end of 1339 a new invasion was planned. The French ships and galleys assembled off the town of Sluys, in Flanders, and their crews solemnly vowed not to return to their own ports till they had taken one hundred English ships and five hundred English towns. In view of this invasion parliament was summoned in January 1340 "to adopt various measures relating to the navy." The sailors of the Cinque Ports undertook to have their ships ready, and in due course a fleet of two hundred vessels was formed, and more soldiers and archers assembled than could be employed. On his arrival on the coast of Flanders, Edward found that the various sections of his fleet had met, and discovered the French fleet of one hundred and ninety ships, manned by thirty-five thousand Normans and Genoese, lying at anchor off Sluys. The French fleet was in four divisions, their ships being fastened to each other by iron chains and cables. To the masts a small boat was suspended, filled with stones, which were to be hurled by the soldiers stationed on the tops. Trumpets and other martial instruments resounded from the French ships. The fight was long and fierce, for "the enemy defended themselves all that day and the night after." In one French ship alone four hundred dead bodies were found, the survivors leaping headlong into the sea. Only twenty-four of the French ships escaped, and no less than twenty-five thousand French and Genoese perished. The English loss was, perhaps, four thousand men, and all writers agree that it was one of the most sanguinary and desperate sea-fights recorded in the pages of history. Edward's modest letter regarding this victory is the earliest naval despatch in existence. Though the annihilation of the French fleet at Sluys did not surpass in importance the victory off Dover in the preceding century, it established the maritime supremacy of England. To supply a covering force for the army which was besieging Calais in 1347 and to guard the Channel, England made a general demand for ships and seamen. The total number of ships mustered was seven hundred and ten; these were equipped with a full complement of fighting men. The "five Cinque Ports and two Ancient Towns," together with Seaford, Faversham, and Margate, contributed one hundred and five ships; London sent twenty-five ships, Fowey forty-seven, and Dunwich six. Three years later on August 29th, 1350, the battle known as "Lespagnols-sur-mer" was fought off Winchelsea, when Edward defeated a Spanish squadron of forty sail which had plundered several English ships, capturing twenty-six large vessels, the crews of which were put to death. This action firmly established the reputation of Edward III. as the King of England, whose name is more identified with the naval glory of England than that of any other sovereign up to the sixteenth century.