Dutch Captain: Evert Pieterszoon Swart

Evert Pieterszoon Swart served the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC (the East Indian Company). He commanded the VOC warship Gerechtigheid, which we estimate to have carried about 36 guns. If, in fact, the Gerechtigheid was built to the same charter as the Mercurius, the ship may have carried as many as 40 guns. We now know that the Mercurius was a ship of dimensions 123ft x 30ft x 12ft. On 23 April 1653, he put to sea in the Gerechtigheid to join Witte de With at the rendezvous. On that basis, we can be reasonably assured that he fought in the Battle of the Gabbard in June. From the list of ships at Vlissingen in July 1653, we see that there were three ships belonging to the Amstedam Chamber of the VOC which fought in the Battle of the Gabbard. Evert Pieterszoon Swart definitely fought in the Battle of Scheveningen, where he was in De Ruyter's squadron. Within the squadron, he was assigned to Frans Mangelaer's small unit. On 12 August, the Gerechtigheid was lying at anchor, two miles to sea from Scheveningen. He was with Witte de With's fleet on the voyage to Norway in September to November 1653, and died with the majority of his crew, when the Gerechtigheid foundered in the storm. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910.
2. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.V, 1912.
3. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.V, 1928.
4. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.VI, 1930.
5. Carl Stapel, personal communication "a grisaille by Willem van de Velde of the VOC ship Mercurius", 2005.
6. Staten Generaal 1.01.04 Inv. Nr. 5556, "List of ships at Vlissingen on 2 July 1653", 1653.