Jan Corneliszoon Keert de Koe served the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier. In 1636, he commanded the ship Witte Eenhoorn, a ship of 150 lasts. The Witte Eenhoorn carried 32 guns and had a crew of 90 sailors and 20 soldiers. He served with Tromp's fleet from the beginning of the campaign of 1639. He repeatedly fulfilled important assignments. On 29 April 1639, his ship lay before the Maas, in the company of Witte de With and 6 other ships. On 16 May, his ship was with Tromp and Witte de With, passing Alderney and Portland. On 22 June, the fleet was off Portland, and Captain Keert de Koe was present. On July 10, he was still with the main body of the fleet. On 27 July, he was back off of Portland under Witte de With. On about 12 August, Captain Keert de Koe left for the Seine with Cornelis Evertsen to act as a convoy to the supply fleet. On 25 August, several of Captain Keert De Koes' sailors were punished. On 27 August, Captain Keert de Koe, along with Barent Pieterszoon Dorrevelt's row-yacht chased several enemy frigates, firing at them. While off Dunkirk on 4 September, his ship lost her main topmast. When that happened, Barent Pieterszoon Dorrevelt set sail to rejoin the fleet. On 19 September, Captain Keert de Koe rejoined the fleet, coming from the North Sea. He took no part in the final battle, as he died, and his crew reported on 16 October that their captain had died. Later, a Captain Keert de Koe fought in the battle for Malacca, but this must have been a different man. References:
- Dr. M. G. De Boer, Tromp en de Armada van 1639, Amsterdam, 1941
- C. R. Boxer, The Journal of Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp Anno 1639, Cambridge, 1930
- Dr. F. Graefe, De Kapiteinsjaren van Maerten Harpertszoon Tromp, Amsterdam, 1938
No comments:
Post a Comment