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Tuesday, March 21, 2006

The VOC ship Roos, taken by the English

I have previously written about the VOC ship Roos, taken on 13 April 1654 (Old Style) near the Riff. The Roos had been in Norway, and was now headed for the Netherlands. Jeremy Smith described her as being a new ship of 800 tons, never having sailed to the East Indies. We know the English measurements for the ship:
Length on the keel:    114ft
Beam outside planking:  33ft-8in
Depth in hold:          14ft

English Burden:  687 tons
Jeremy Smith described her as carrying but 26 guns. The English eventually put 60 guns into her, as she was as big as a Third Rate. An obvious question to me is to ask what her Dutch dimensions might have been, in Amsterdam feet. These are my estimates:
Length from stem to sternpost:  160ft
Beam inside of the planking:     38ft
Hold at the deck edge:           16ft
I am somewhat surprised by this conclusion, as she would then be the same size as the captured Vogelstruis, which served the English as the hulk Estridge. The Estridge was actually measuredby the English to somewhat larger dimensions: 116ft x 36ft-3in x 17ft. Because of this, I suspect that the hold in the Vogelstruis was 18ft (Amsterdam).

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