Rupert was far more engaged with his smouldering wrath against the Commissioners of the Navy, than in considering what the gazette did, or did not say of himself. A month earlier he had written to the King that "unless some course" were taken with the victualler--viz. Pepys--the whole fleet would be ruined.[40] Now, when the fleet came in to refit, the first thing he did on meeting the King, was to reiterate his complaints. "Which," wrote Pepys, "I am troubled at, and do fear may in violence break out upon this office some time or other, and we shall {315} not be able to carry on the business."[41] But Rupert's time on shore was short, and the storm was deferred. By July 22 the fleet was again at sea. Severely as it had suffered, the refitting had been conducted with remarkable celerity, and the King and the Duke of York themselves showed such an active interest in the preparations, that Rupert swore that they were the best officers in the navy. The fleet went out "in very good heart," Rupert's ship boasting "a dancing-master and two men who feign themselves mad and make very good sport to a bag-pipe."[42] Unluckily, the very day after putting to sea, came a violent thunderstorm, which damaged the ships so severely that the Prince declared himself more afraid of the weather than of the enemy. On July 25 they fell in with the Dutch fleet, commanded by Tromp and De Ruyter, off the North Foreland. The Dutch line was uneven, the van and centre crowded; the English line presented a remarkable regularity. The fight began at 10 a.m., and Tromp immediately engaged the English rear, carried it away with him, out of sight, and was eventually shattered by it. This independent action on the part of his subordinate, greatly embarrassed De Ruyter. His van was speedily over-matched, and at 4 p.m. his centre gave way. At night the English renewed the attack in a desultory fashion, and Rupert appears to have run some danger, for he afterwards promoted a gunner who had saved his life at the risk of his own.[43] On the day following, the Prince added insult to injury by sending his little yacht "Fan-Fan," which had been built the week before, to attack De Ruyter. Rowing under the great ship, the little vessel plied her valiantly with her two small guns. This game continued for an hour, to the intense amusement of the English, and the indignation of {316} the Dutch, who could not bring their guns to bear on the yacht, by reason of her nearness to them. At last they contrived to hit her, and she was forced to retreat to the protection of her own fleet.[44] De Ruyter then effected a masterly retreat, his enemies fearing to follow on account of his proximity to his own shores.