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Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Dutch Captain: Hendrick Cleuter

For some reason, the only information that I have about Hendrick Cleuter is from the 1629 "Staet van Oorlog te Water", and possibly one other. In 1629, he commanded the Amserdam ship Haerlem, said to be of 225 lasts, a substantial ship. The Haerlem carried about 28 guns: 2-24pdr, 4-18pdr, 16-12pdr, 6-5pdr, and 7-steenstukken with 14 chambers. The 28 guns doesn't count the steenstukken, which Jan Glete says are "swivels". The Haerlem is well-armed, with 22 guns of 12pdr or larger. I have two data items for the Haerlem, and one has her crew as 95 men and the other as 90 men. She was built in 1623. I would expect a ship of 225 lasts to be about 125ft x 29ft x 13ft (Amsterdam feet of 283mm). For some reason, Captain Cleuter doesn't appear in any of the obvious books where he might be expected to be. He also doesn't appear in Mollema's "Honor Roll", such as Dr. Graefe's book, De Kapiteinsjaren van Maerten Harpertszoon Tromp, which definitely covers the 1620's and early 1630's.

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