The Battle of Margate took place during the Caroline War, which was also nicknamed the 100-year war - due to it starting in 1337 and ending in 1453, lasting 116 years.
On the 24th of March, 1387, Arundel's fleet sighted a French fleet of around 250-350 vessels. The commander of this enemy fleet was Sir Jean De Bucq. This fleet contained both Flemish (carrying soldiers from the country of Flanders) and Castilian (carrying soldiers from the country of Spain) vessels and a large amount of wine.
The fleet lead by De Bucq was significantly larger than Arundel's, although it lacked man power.
Once the British began to attack several Flemish ships deserted to the English. This is when the Battle of Margate began. This battle took place between the coasts of Margate and Flanders. The majority of the battle was fought in the Southern North Sea. Even after many of the Flemish and Castilian ships were sunk or captured the English continued to chase them back down to Sluis which is in the West of Zeelandic Flanders. From here the English burned and sank as many of the remaining vessels as they could.
On the 14th of April, 21 days after the start of the battle the English fleet returned to England due to their supplies running low. Soon after their return, the commander of the enemy fleet, De Bucq was captured and sent to the Tower of London.
The English fleet had taken minimal casualties during the battle. In total the Castilian and Flanders fleet had over 12 of their ships sunk, over 50 of their ships captured and over 9000 tons of their wine captured and resold for a tiny percentage of the original price back in England.
Arundel had won a major victory for the English and had ended the threat of a Castilian and Flanders invasion for the next decade as their naval strength had been damaged so much.
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