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Thursday, October 21, 2004

Dutch Captain: Paulus Egbertszoon Sonck

Captain Paulus Egbertszoon Sonck (it is spelled Souck in The First Dutch War) commanded a ship named Amsterdam at the Battle of Scheveningen. The Amsterdam had 10 killed and 18 wounded in the battle. The ship had her mainmast, foremast and fore yard shattered, along withe the topmasts. She had taken 14 shot on or below the waterline. She had taken a great deal of damage above the waterline. She had started the battle with 5,000 lbs. of gunpowder and had 1,900 lbs. remaining at the end.

There is a passage from Dr. Elias' book Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen, Vol. V, page 179, which I have translated: "He [Witte de With] now had hope, as weather and wind cooperated, that this ship [the Huis te Zwieten] and the new one, built in the States shipyard in Amstelstad, armed with 50 guns, the warship Amsterdam (under the command of Captain Sonck), that had arrived in the Texel on the 2nd [of August 1653] and should be ready for sea "inside a few days".

This leads me to believe that my previous estimate was incorrect: that Captain Souck (or Sonck) commanded the Amsterdam that had previously been commanded by Simon van der Aeck. Instead, he seems to have commanded the newly built Amsterdam, a much larger ship, at Scheveningen. The other two new ships, the Huis te Zwieten (Witte de With's new ship) and the Huis te Kruiningen (Michiel de Ruyter's new ship), were not able to be ready by the date of the battle.

Captain Sonck commanded the Duivenvoorde (40 guns) at the Battle of the Sound in 1658, under the command of Lt-Admiral van Wassenaer. Captain Sonck's leg was shot off in the battle and he died as a consequence of his injury.

References:

  • Dr. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van Ons Zeewezen, Vol.V
  • C.T. Atkinson, The First Dutch War, Vol.V
  • G.L. Grove, Journalen van de Admiralen Van Wassenaer-Obdam (1658-59) en De Ruyter (1659/60)
  • Carl Ballhausen, Der Erste Englisch-Holländische Seekrieg 1652-1654 Sowie der Schwedisch-Holländsichse Seekrieg 1658-1659
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