Context: The town's first significant defences were likely erected due to commercial interests, following the temporary seizure of St. John's by the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter in June 1665. The inhabitants were able to fend off a second Dutch attack in 1673, when this time it was defended by Christopher Martin, an English merchant captain. Martin landed six cannons from his vessel, the Elias Andrews, and constructed an earthen breastwork and battery near chain Rock commanding the Narrows leading into the harbour. With only twenty-three men, the valiant Martin beat off an attack by three Dutch warships. The English government planned to expand these fortifications (Fort William) in around 1689, but actual construction didn't begin until after the French admiral Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville captured and destroyed the town in the Avalon Peninsula Campaign (1696). When 1500 English reinforcements arrived in late 1697 they found nothing but rubble where the town and fortifications had stood.

Question: Who briefly seized St. John's in 1665?
Answer: Michiel de Ruyter

Question: In what year did the dutch attack St. John for a second time?
Answer: 1673

Question: How many men defended the attack from the Dutch in 1673?
Answer: twenty-three

Question: Who destroyed Fort William in 1696?
Answer: Pierre Le Moyne

Question: How many Dutch warships were fended of by Christopher Martin in 1673?
Answer: three

Question: What admiral seized St. Johns in the 16th century?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: Who defended St. Johns from a second dutch attack in the 16th century?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: How many men were with Martin when he defeated the Dutch merchant ships?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: When did the Dutch plan to expand St. Johns fortifications?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: Who reduced St. Johns to rubble in the 16th century?
Answer: Unanswerable