Dutch Captain: Dirck Janszoon Bijnacht

Dirck Janszoon Bijnacht served the Admiralty of Amsterdam. We know that in 1621, he commanded the ship Leiden (Leyden), a vessel of 150 lasts that carried 30 guns and had a crew of 90 men. It seems likely that Dirck Janszoon and Dirck Janszoon Bijnacht are the same man. We know that Dirck Janszoon Bijnacht commanded the Orangieboom in 1628. I looked again at my notes from the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1628, and that seems to be confirmed. That Staet gives the captain of the Orangieboom as Dirck Janszoon in March 1627. The Orangieboom was a vessel of 120 lasts that carried 22 guns and had a crew of 75 men. The guns were 2-chambered guns and 14 ordinary guns with 6-steenstukken. We also know that he was still in command of the Orangieboom in 1629, when the ship's crew was now 80 men. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2005.
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Schepen en kapiteins in 1621", 2005.
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Schepen en kapiteins in 1629", 2005.