Commerce pressure could force the Dutch fleet to sea

The Anglo-Dutch Wars had commercial objectives, but Corbett says British commanders generally treated the enemy battle fleet as their primary target. Under Monck and Rupert they pursued that fleet with a single-mindedness he calls Napoleonic. Once British preponderance grew, the Dutch could frustrate direct pursuit by retreating toward their own coast and emerging only for selected counterstrokes. British forces therefore threatened homeward-bound trade routes, including positions around Dogger Bank, to make continued passivity costly. The Dutch then had to risk their fleet, their commerce, or both, showing economic warfare as a mechanism for creating an opportunity for battle rather than a distraction from it.