Small Dutch 38-gun ships in the First Anglo-Dutch War

The Dutch had a number of small 38-gun ships in the First Anglo-Dutch War. Almost predictably, most were lost. These were the ships that come immediately to mind:

Adm    Ship                 Captain
Z      Hollandia            Philips Joosten & Adriaan Bankert - Lost at Scheveningen
Ve-Dir Wapen van der Veere  Jan Olivierszoon                  - Survived the war
F      Stad Groningen en Ommelanden Joost Bulter              - Lost at the Gabbard
F      Zevenwolden          Frederik Stellingwerff            - Lost at Scheveningen

The armaments of these ships varied from 34 to 38 guns at different dates. Their lengths varied from 120ft to 123ft, so they were quite small. The smaller Dutch 40-gun ships were 125ft and most were 128ft. Of course, the small Rotterdam ship Vrede carried 40 guns at the Battle of Lowestoft, and she was approximately 112ft long in Amsterdam feet (the actual size different from that, since the ship was designed in Maas feet). These lengths are all in Amsterdam feet.

Ron van Maanen

I would like to see Ron van Maanen publish a book, in English, something like Colledge's Ships of the Royal Navy, but for Dutch ships. Even if he published a book that only covered the sailing warships from the late 16th Century to the end of the Dutch Republic, that would be of interest to a great many readers. Ron has information that covers a wider range than what I have. I am limited to 1613 to 1784 or so, with the 18th Century being fairly sparse. I will continue to supply him with my latest set of information so that he could fill in any gaps that he has. He has been working in this arena much longer than I have and I am very appreciative of how generous he has been in sharing information.

3-1/2pdr guns in 1629

An interesting feature of the guns carried by the Rotterdam ship Postpaert in 1629 is that the ship carried two "Spanish" guns firing 3-1/2 pound shot. These would be roughly equivalent to English falcons. The Dutch also used guns firing 2-1/2 pound shot in the early 17th Century. These were similar to the English falconets in shot size.

22 pounder guns?

I have never seen a 22pdr gun before, but supposedly, Hillebrant Quast's ship, the Hollandsche Tuin, carried two of them in 1631. For a ship of 180 lasts, the Hollandsche Tuin was heavily armed, as it also carried 6-18pdr guns. The 22 pounders were bronze chambered guns, while the 18 pounders were bronze guns. A ship of 180 lasts might have dimensions of 120ft x 28ft x 11ft.

The crew of the ship Sint Pieter in 28 October 1653

The ship Sint Pieter was hired by the Directors of Amsterdam in 1653. On 28 October 1653, the crew consisted of 68 officers and sailors, 29 ship's soldiers (marines), 5 land soldiers, and 6 boys. This is from a report signed by Captain Gerrit Schuijt.

A Dutch ship in 1616

There are gun lists for some ships in service in 1616 on page 750 of Vol.I of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, now available from Google Books. My identification of the 36-gun ship at the upper left of the page is the Amsterdam ship Gulden Arend. This was a ship of 220 lasts armed with 2-24pdr, 4-18pdr, 2-12pdr, 12-8pdr, 2-6pdr, 6-5pdr, and 8-steenstukken shooting a three pound shot. The crew in 1616 was 90 men.

I would like to find a college or university in the United States where there was interest in studying 17th Century Dutch naval history and warships. There is no one in my family who would be interested in continuing my work. I hope to have a good bit of time left, but I would like to find a home for what I have found by the time I am done with it.

22pdr guns?

The Noorderkwartier ship Hollandsche Tuin, in the Staat van Oorlog te Water for the year 1633, is listed as carrying two chambered bronze 22pdr guns. The 22pdr is a very odd size. Most Dutch guns close in size to this fired a 24 pound shot. A very few fired a 20 pound shot. I had assumed that when I first saw this size mentioned that it was a mistake, but now I think it is correct. One of the old Rotterdam ships was listed as carrying 22pdr guns, and I had thought that it must be wrong, but it was probably correct.