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Tuesday, November 09, 2004

What happened to the Maecht van Dordrecht?

I have been curious as to the fate of Witte de With's great flagship, the Maecht van Dordrecht. During the campaign that lead to the Battle of the Downs, the Maecht van Dordrecht carried 42 guns and had a crew of 140 men. I am actually surprised at such a small crew, as I believe that the ship's dimensions were 132ft x 32ft (in 308mm Maas feet). If the ship were that size in Amsterdam feet, the crew would make sense. However, thanks to De Jonge, we know that she carried a heavy armament rivaling that carried by Tromp's Aemilia. We also know that Witte de With's flagship from 1645 until he returned from Brazil was the Brederode. By 1645, he no longer used the Maecht van Dordrecht as his flagship. The ship had been built for him and was in service by about 1636. Dr. Elias' book De Vlootbouw in Nederland has the details. An appendix to Vol.I of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, as I have written previously, the armament was 10-24pdr, 14-18pdr, 16-12pdr, and 6-6pdr. She had a complete lower tier of 24pdr and 18pdr guns. For now, her fate is a mystery to me, but I would interested to know what it was.

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