After having served as a squadron commander from 5 September till the middle of October 1666, as part of the national fleet trying to prevent a possible blockade of the Dutch trade lanes, Van Ghent was dispatched as a flotilla commander in April 1667 to block a Scottish fleet presumably aiming to intercept the first convoy to set out from the Texel. Van Ghent set out on his flagship Hollandia (with flag captain Thomas Tobias), commanding a force of 24 ships, to cruise the northern North Sea. In fact no naval action followed, although the entire Scottish militia was mobilised to repel a dreaded Dutch landing.
