Dutch Captain: Jan de Groot

Jan de Groot served the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier. He commanded the ship Alkmaar at the Battle of the Sound in 1658. The Alkmaar was probably the ship built in 1654 that was 134ft x 34ft x 12ft. He seems to have been assigned to Pieter Florissen's squadron in the battle. His leading and assistant quartermasters only had merchant experience. The ship's upper stern displayed the arms of the city of Alkmaar. Perhaps someone can make a better translation from the German (from a note on page 716 of Dr. Ballhausen's book):

"Er war ganz unerfahren, befand sich auf seinem ersten Seezuge, sein Ober- und Unterseuermann haten seither nur auf Handelsfahrzeugen gedient. Aug dem Hintersteven befand sich das Wappen der Stadt Alkmaar."

Dr. Ballhausen's book is essentially divided into two volumes in one book. The first is about the First Anglo-Dutch War and the second is the war between the Netherlands and Sweden from 1658 to 1659. Sources:

1. Dr. Carl Ballhausen, Sowie der Schwedisch-Höllandische Seekrieg 1658-1659, 1923.

2. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Captains", 2004.

3. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2005.

4. J. Watts de Peyster, The Battle of the Sound or Baltic, 1858.