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Friday, August 06, 2004

The Battle of the Smyrna Convoy: a good Privateers Bounty scenario

I realized that the Battle of the Smyrna Convoy would make a good Privateers Bounty scenario. The most accessible source to me is R.C. Anderson's book, Journals and Narratives of the Third Dutch War (1946). In the introduction to the book, Anderson describes the battle and gives the OOB. One of the issues that I have with his book is that he tended to omit necessary detail (necessary for wargamers and picky historians, at least).

Anderson gives the date of the battle as March 13, 1672, but I am guessing that is the Old Style (Julian Calendar) date, as that is what the English used. The Dutch dates were always New Style (Gregorian Calendar).

The Dutch were divided into three squadrons, with armed merchantships being included. The first squadron, commanded by Eland du Bois, had his flagship, the Dordrecht (44 guns) and the Delft (38 guns), along with 7 merchantmen armed with between 10 and 36 guns. The second squadron was commanded by Adriaan de Haaze (Zeeland), the convoy commander, with his flag in the Vlissingen (50 guns). There was also the Klein Hollandia (44 guns) and 8 merchantmen armed with between 14 and 28 guns. The third squadron was commanded by Cornelis Evertsen de Jongste (Zeeland), whose flagship was the Utrecht (48 guns). The third squadron had the largest merchantman, armed with 40 guns and 8 with between 10 and 26 guns.

On the first day, Robert Holmes, who led the attack, had the St. Michael (90 guns), the Resolution (70 guns), the Cambridge (70 guns), the York (60 guns), and the Fairfax (60 guns). In the night, three more ships joined his force. They were the Gloucester (62 guns), the Diamond (48 guns), and the 5th Rate Success (32 guns). At the end of the second day, the Dutch were able to proceed without further interferance. They had lost one warship, the Klein Hollandia. The Dutch officer casualties were heavy. They included Jan Jacobszoon van Nes (Rotterdam), who was the Klein Hollandia's captain, and Adriaan de Haaze, the convoy commander. Eland du Bois lost his left hand, but survived.

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