Dutch Captain: Dingeman Cats

Dingeman Cats served the Admiralty of Zeeland during the First Anglo-Dutch War. "Dingeman" almost comes across as a title, not a first name: "Thing Man". In any case, he was from Middelburg. Captain Cats commanded the small, 23-gun Zeeland ship, Gecroonde Liefde. She was only 112ft long. His ship was said to be one of the 100 ships hired in 1652. In July and August 1652, he was with Tromp's fleet on the voyage to the Shetlands. His ship survived the storm. He and his ship seem to have not been at the Battle of the Kentish Knock. In November and December, he was with the fleet at the Battle of Dungeness. He was assigned to Jan Evertsen's squadron. He took part in the Battle of Portland, and his ship was one of a group of 17 Zeeland ships that set sail, after the battle, for Zeeland. They arrived in the Scheldt on March 5, 1653. In June 1653, he fought in the Battle of the Gabbard (Nieuwpoort or the Two Days Battle). He was in Michiel De Ruyter's squadron at the Battle of Scheveningen. We can verify that because there are orders to Dingeman Cats from De Ruyter, telling him that his primary duty in the battle was to rescue crews from Dutch ships sunk in the battle. He was still to fight, but that was not his primary duty. He and his ship were still listed in the "Staet van Oorlog te water" for 1654, and his ship appears as well in the list from 1655 summarized in Dr. Elias' book, De Vlootbouw in Nederland.