 In 1628 Piet Hein moored his silver fleet at Delfzijl.The first sea battle in the Eighty Years' War was fought nearby in 1658 in the Eems estuary between Dutch forces under Jan Abels and Spanish forces under François van Boshuizen.A fleet of Dutch ships from the West Indies landed here in 1665 under command of admiral Michiel de Ruyter, avoiding the English fleet that was blockading the Dutch coast.