Dutch captain: Gillis Janszoon

Gillis Janszoon lived until June 1659. He was from Veere. He served the Admiralty of Zeeland. He was a captain in 1636 and Schout-bij-Nacht in 1657. In 1639, he fought under Tromp at the Battle of the Downs.

From the beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War, Gillis Janszoon commanded a ship with 28 guns and a crew of 100 men. This was likely the Zeeridder, a 116ft ship. In July and August 1652, he was with Tromp's fleet in the voyage to the Shetlands, where the fleet was battered by a storm. Gillis Janszoon fought under Witte de With at the Battle of the Kentish Knock. At the Battle of Dungeness, he was in Jan Evertsen's squadron. In 1653, he fought at the Battle of Portland, the Battle of the Gabbard, and the Battle of Scheveningen. In July 1654, he was still in command of the Zeeridder.

In 1657, he served under Van Wassenaer on the Portuguese coast. In 1658, he commanded the Windhond (23 guns and a crew of 67 sailors and 25 soldiers) under Van Wassenaer at the Battle of the Sound. He died in 1659, while in the Sound.

Sources:

Mollema's "Honor Roll"

James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Captains".

James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1620-1700"

"Staet van Oorlog te Water" for 1654

G.L. Grove, Journalen van de Admiralen Van Wassenaer-Obdam (1658/59) en De Ruyter (1659/60)

Dr. S.R. Gardiner, The First Dutch War, Vol.II