One mystery

I find the persistence of the Dutch in building relatively small ships for so long a mystery. I suppose that part of the explanation is that, as Carl Stapel has said, Amsterdam opposed the maintenance of a standing battlefleet. They only wanted the navy to consist of convoyers. The phenomenon was magnified for the casual observer, in that Vreugdenhil's list gave the dimensions in Maas feet of 308mm for the ships built by the Admiralty of the Maze (Rotterdam). Maas feet are approximately 1/12 larger than Amsterdam feet of 283mm. Hence, the dimensions for ships such as the Prinses Louise, Witte de With's flagship at the onset of the First Anglo-Dutch War. Vreugdenhil's dimensions for the Prinses Louise are a small 110ft x 26.5ft x 11.5ft. Dr. Weber, in his book about the Four Days' Battle, listed the correct dimensions in Amsterdam feet: 120ft x 28ft-4in x 12ft-6in. These dimensions are in Amsterdam feet of 11 inches, not the 12 inches per foot of Maas feet. These dimensions indicate that the Prinses Louise was a decent-sized ship for the period, although not of the size of the Brederode (144ft x 35ft x 14.75ft) and Aemilia (144ft x 34ft x 14.3ft). There were also a good number of 40-gun ships built to a larger charter, 128ft or 128.5ft long and about 250 lasts. The Prinses Louise was about 180 lasts. She was eventually overarmed in late 1652 with 46 guns. He sailing and seakeeping must have suffered greatly with that many guns. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2005
2. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen, Vol.III, 1925
3. Johan E. Elias, De Vlootbouw in Nederland 1596-1655, 1933
4. H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984
5. A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938