Willem Joseph, baron van Ghent was a Dutch admiral and the first colonel of the Mariniers, who in 1668 commanded a squadron that intercepted the English warship Merlin near the Dutch coast. The incident, in which van Ghent refused to salute the English vessel, became a casus belli that heightened Anglo‑Dutch tensions during the lead‑up to the Disaster Year 1672.
Connection to Aceh
The heightened naval rivalry between England and the United Provinces (Dutch Republic) strained the VOC’s ability to protect its merchant fleet travelling to the Sultanate of Aceh, illustrating how European conflicts reverberated in Southeast Asian trade.
See Also
Source
20260707_232246_DLP-55-De_geschiedenis_van_het_Nederlandsche_Korps_Mariniers_van_1665_1945_OCR.txt, pp. 198‑199.