Halve Cartouwen

I was curious to see if I might have been able to find a description of 16th and 17th Century guns described as cartouwen and halve cartouwen. I was reading a page that described a cartouwen as firing a 52 pound shot and as having a 8 inch bore. Of course, we don't know the actual weight and inch being used. The Dutch used halve cartouwen, in the First Anglo-Dutch War, firing 24 pound shot. They were usually made of bronze. I have a page that gives the weight of a bronze 24pdr gun as 4806 pounds. They varied, of course. Chambered guns would be lighter.

The Noorderkwartiier ship Peereboom

In June 1653, the Noorderkwartier hired ship Peereboom had a main battery of 6pdr guns. The Peereboom had an armament of 24 guns, with a few 8pdr guns and the remainder were a mix of 5pdr, 4pdr, and 3pdr guns. We actually know the number of cannon shot carried:

 50 8pdr shot
250 6pdr shot
 50 5pdr shot
 50 4pdr shot
 50 3pdr shot

Dutch ships also generally carried "expanding bar shot". there were fewer of these, but they had them for every size gun. The Dutch often were firing at the English masts and rigging, so the bar shot was useful. Remember that Robert Blake, the English commander at the Three Days Battle, was wounded by bar shot. The wound did not heal for the remaining four years of his life.

The Morgen Sterre

In The First Dutch War, Vol.V, there is a damage report for Amsterdam ships from after the Battle of Scheveningen. That list mentions "Captain Quaeff" as the commander of the ship "Morgen Sterre" (or however you would want to spell the ship name). I presume that this was the same as the ship otherwise referred to as either the "Vergulde Star", "Star", or "Sterre". One of the pages the I recently received shows that the captain was Albert Claesz de Graeff, who had commanded the hired ship Hollandia (a large ship) in 1652 and into 1653. Another page calls the ship "Morge Star". Apparently, in late July 1653, the intended crew for the Morgenstar was 120 men, although only 109 were actually on board.

Three binnenjachten in May 1652

This one list of Zeeland ships and captains has three binnenjachten (inland waters yachts) but omits mention of the Dolfijn, which was in service in Brazil in May 1652. Actually, around this time, all the Dutch navy ships returned to the Netherlands. They arrived a few weeks after the opening of hostilities with England on 29 May, and some were lost. The three binnenjachten were:

Orangie         kapitein Frans Mangelaer
Maecht          kapitein Jan Janssen van de Putte
Zeeuwsche Post  kapitein Govaert de Moor

All three were from families that provided Zeeland naval officers.

A binnenjacht, the Maecht

From the Collection Johan de Witt, I had seen a copy of a document of Zeeland ships from early 1652 that mentioned two binnenjachten: yachts for the inland waters of Zeeland. One of these was the Maecht, commanded by Jan Janssen van der Putte. Ron van Maanen has no coverage of such vessels in his papers. I just saw a document, dating from June 1653, following the Battle of the Gabbard or Nieuwpoort, that mentions the binnenjacht Maecht and kapitein van der Putte. The jacht was apparently still in service. That is why I would be very interested to know that specifications of the binnenjachten.

Apparently, the Campen only came into service by September 1652

The list that I received from Jan Glete, last year, shows Joris van der Zaan (or van Zaanen) in command of the new 40-gun ship Campen. The Campen was completed in 1652. Apparently, the Campen still was incomplete in May. I had assumed that Joris van der Zaan had commanded the Campen while convoying ships off the Start, when he and Jacob Huyrluyt encountered Anthony Young, just prior to the Battle of Dover on 29 May 1652, but that seems not to be the case.

Ships building for the admiralty at Harlingen

On 30 January 1653, Witte de With's journal lists three ships building for the admiralty at Harlingen, the Admiralty of Friesland. We actually have a pretty good idea about the identity of these three ships:

A ship with dimensions 140ft x 36ft x 14-1/2ft (the Oostergoo)

A ship with dimensions 134ft x 34ft x 14ft (the Westergoo)

A ship with dimensions 122ft x 28-1/2ft x 12ft (the Zevenwolden)

The 160ft ship dimensions

Herbert Tomesen, of Artitec, had told me that he believed that the ship Vogelstruis was similar to the dimensions for the 160ft ship that I just listed. The Vogelstruis was a ship of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch United East India Company (the VOC). The Vogelstruis was active from the summer of 1652 up to the first day of the Three Days Battle on 28 February 1653, when the ship was captured by the English. These dimensions were 160ft x 36ft x 15ft x 8ft, I believe.

There is this fascinating list dating from 21 January 1653

I was looking at Witte de With's journal for January 1653 and there is this fascinating list of ships, with dimensions. There are no ship names, as far as I can tell:

140ft x 34ft x 14ft

130ft x 32ft x 14ft

East India Company
160ft x 36ft x 15ft x 8ft

118ft x 28ft x 13ft x 6ft

146ft x 36ft x 14ft (the dimensions of the Huis te Zwieten)

136ft x 30ft x 13-1/2ft x 7ft

137ft x 31ft x 13ft x 7ft

126ft x 27ft x 12-1/2ft

140ft x 34ft x 13-1/3ft x 7ft

136ft x 34ft x 13-1/2ft

137ft x 31-1/2ft x 13-1/3ft

130ft x 30ft x 12ft

120ft x 27ft x 12ft

130ft x 30ft x 13-1/2ft x 6-3/4ft

These seem to be ships under construction that might be purchased for use as warships.

I really like this English ship wargame piece page

I have this English ship wargame piece page that I did some time ago. I am gearing up to do more, and I had not remembered just how nice this page is.

One hole in my knowledge is a list of the Dutch fleet in the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland)

One thing that I really need is a list of the Dutch ships and fleet organization for the Three Days Battle. I assume that Dr. Ballhausen's list has little relation to what was actually used. I hope that I have information about most of the ships, and just need the actual fleet list. I can guess at some of the list. There was a substantial Zeeland presence. There were something like 17 ships that survived, while one, the Faam, commanded by Swart Pieter (the luitenant of Cornelis Loncke), was sunk.

Noorderkwartier ships in July 1653, according to Witte de With

Since the list of ships for 14 July 1653 seems to have errors, I thought that I would like see what Witte de With said about Noorderkwartier ships for approximately that date (8 July 1653):

Adm    Ship                Guns Crew Commander
N      Harder              30   108  kapitein Backer
N      Lastdrager          28   103  kapitein Gerrit Munt
N      Eenhoorn            26    94  kapitein Jan Heck
En-Dir Harderin            30   120  kapitein Gerrit Pomp
Me-Dir Coninck Radbout     32   110  kapitein Jan Rootjes

There were more ships than this. These are just the ones listed on this date in Witte de With's journal.

More thoughts on the storm in the Shetlands in early August 1652

I have thought, several times, that I had finally understood the extent of damage to the Dutch fleet from the storm in the Shetlands in early August 1653. Then, I have found new information that indicated that the impact was greater than I had thought. Published sources that I have seen only mention the loss of two warships: the Sint Pieter, commanded by Isaac de Jongh, and the Amsterdam, commanded by Barent Pietersz Dorrevelt. I suspected that more ships had been lost, as there were ships and captains not mentioned again after August. I really had no idea about the extent of damage to ships, as the published sources only spoke in generalities. We found that at least four large Amsterdam Directors' ships capsized in the storm and were lost. I had known that the fleet was scattered, but it turns out that many hired ships were damaged and were discarded rather than be repaired. I still do not have a definitive list of damaged ships, because there are still one or two "mystery ships", yet to be identified. The problem is greater because many captains were shuttled between ships, very few months. You cannot make any assumptions on captains and ships. You need to find the exact names for a given date. The lists are largely there, thankfully.

I had assumed that the small ship commanded by Claes Cornelisz Hen was the Schel

Certainly by August 1653, Claes Cornelisz Hen (later called Claes Valehen) commanded a small, 24 gun ship with a crew of 110 men. I had assumed that this was the ship Schel, which he commanded on the voyage to Norway in September to November 1653. But, no, this was the small ship Harderin, instead. The Harderin was a 24-gun ship hired by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier that had a very light armament. The largest guns were a half-dozen 8pdr guns. The rest were smaller, some much smaller (2 and 3pdr).

Odd armaments for Dutch warships in May to July 1653

From Witte de With's journal during May to July 1653, I had seen some odd armaments for ships such as the Bommel. The Bommel, then commanded by Pieter van Braeckel, was listed as carrying 34 guns. Jan van Campen's ship, the Overijssel, was listed as carrying 30 guns. The best list from published sources is that in The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, starting on page 308. That list, dating from about March 1653 gives the Bommel as carrying 30 guns and having a crew of 100 men. The Overissel is listed as having 28 guns and a crew of 100 men. This list from 14 July 1653 lists the guns for the Bommel with 34 guns and the Overijssel with 30 guns, so those are good figures. By the way, the Overijssel, like the lost Gelderland, had a main battery of 10pdr guns, at this date. The Gelderland, lost at the Battle of the Gabbard, or Nieuwpoort, was commanded by Cornelis van Velsen.

The "Coninck Radbout"

The Medemblick Directors' ship Koning Radboud (or Coninck Radbout) was very lightly armed for having 32 guns in July 1653. The ship also had an odd collection of guns: 12pdr, 10pdr, 8pdr, 6pdr, 4pdr, and 3pdr. The Koning Radboud had only six guns larger than 8pdr. The crew size was nominally 110 men, and that entire number were apparently present on 14 July 1653.

The Brederode in June 1653

I was interested to see that the Brederode, the Dutch fleet flagship, had her armament "improved" by June 1653. The lower tier, instead of being a mix of 18pdr, 24pdr, and 36pdr, now just had a set of 24pdr guns, supplemented by the four chambered 36pdr pieces. The upper tier was all 12pdr guns, with the quarterdeck still armed with 6pdr guns. Except for the 36pdr guns, this was a more modern armament. The Brederode was about the size of a small English 3rd Rate. Remember that the Maas foot and the English foot were very similar in size. The Brederode was 132ft x 32ft x 13-1/2ft in Maas feet of 308mm. Of course, the Dutch measured from stem to sternpost, inside the planking for the beam, and at the deck edge for the hold depth.

The ship Rotterdam in June 1653

I have always thought that the armament listed for the ship Rotterdam in the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654 was very odd, indeed. The lower tier was said to be all 18pdr guns, and this on a ship that was 116ft x 27ft x 11ft. The latest information that I have received indicates that in June 1653, the Rotterdam, a ship of the Admiralty of Rotterdam commanded by kapitein Verhaeff's son, Lt-Commandeur Pieter Verhaven, was armed more sensibly, mostly with 12pdr and 4pdr guns.

The hired ship Jonas in June 1653

The ship Jonas, commanded by Joris de Caullerij, had been hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam for service with the fleet. The Jonas carried 30 guns, and had a length to breadth ratio of about 5:1. The Jonas was very long and narrow, as the Jonas about the length of many of the 54 to 60 gun ships in service during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. There is a very fine portrait of Joris de Caullerij by Rembrandt van Rijn that has almost a photographic quality to it. We know a bit more, now, about the Jonas, as there is an inventory from about 21 June 1653 that includes the weights of the individual guns. This inventory shows that the weight of a piece is relatively independent of the shot weight! Six or eight pounder guns might weigh as much or more than a short 12 pounder.

I would like to make some new Dutch wargame piece sheets

Now that I know a great deal more (but not all there is to know) about Dutch ships that participated in the First Anglo-Dutch War, I would like to make some new sheets of wargame pieces. I know the names of almost all the Dutch ships involved and also know the list of guns for most ships. There are still a sizable number of ships for which I have not yet seen dimensions. These include the Rotterdam hired ships and the ships hired by the Rotterdam Directors. There are some more ships besides those, but not that many.

The small Zeeland ship, the Liefde

The small Zeeland ship, the Liefde, was apparently the same ship as that had been commanded by Joost Banckert in the Three Days Battle and before. Jan Matthijssen commanded the Liefde in the Battle of the Gabbard. The Liefde carried almost exclusively 6pdr guns. There were also two larger and four smaller guns. The ship had a crew of 85 sailors, with some soldiers.

The Friesland ship Wapen van Nassau

I have a page dating from May 1653 that says that Hendrick Jansz Camp's ship, the Wapen van Nassau (36 guns) was very disabled, and must have been discarded. I believe that Hendrick Jansz Camp was killed in the Three Days Battle (or Battle of Portland). I had not seen the Wapen van Nassau mentioned from May 1653 and beyond, except in this one page. This was a substantial ship that was 132ft long. The Wapen van Nassau had been hired by the Admiralty of Friesland in 1652 and had fought in the Battle of Dungeness and the Three Days Battle.

Noorderkwartier ships and captains on 14 July 1653

I recently got a copy of a list from 14 July 1653. The list corrected some misapprehensions on my part about which captains commanded the Noorderkwartier ships:

Adm   Ship            Guns Crew Captain
N     Herder          30   108  Jan Backer
N     Lastdrager      28   103  Gerrit Munt
N     Witte Eenhoorn  30    94  Jan Heck
N     Harderin        24    90  Claes Cornelisz Hen (Vale Hen)
                          (actually, only 38 on board)

Tromp's fleet on 31 May 1652

One recent acquisition was a list of captains in Tromp's fleet on 31 May 1652, two days after the Battle off Dover. Jan Thijssen commanded the van, with mostly Zeeland Directors' ships. Pieter Florissen commanded the rear with Noorderkwartier and Directors' ship from the north holland port cities. Tromp commanded the main body, mostly with Amsterdam Directors' ships.

Cornelis Taenman's ship Prins Maurits

One of our recent finds was the dimensions and gun list for Cornelis Taenman's ship Prins Maurits (32 guns). The ship was just 116ft long, but was wide, perhaps with a 30ft beam. I don't have the image immediately to hand, but I believe that the gun list included some 24pdr guns. The Prins Maurits was in the rear guard after the Battle of Scheveningen (Ter Heide) and was sunk off the Maas Mouth. The water was shallow, so the mast heads were above water when the ship was resting on the bottom. The gun expert, Nico Brinck (from Terschelling) was involved with raising some guns. They didn't realize the identity of the ship, but it was obvious to me which ship it was, from the report of the ship's loss.

Ships mentioned in early May 1653

I recently received some pages that mention some Dutch ships, in early May 1653, that include some guns and crew figures. I have supplied some missing information:

Adm    Ship                   Guns Crew Commander
A-Dir  Gulden Pelikaan        28   110  kapitein Bartel Tijmensz Soudaen
A-Dir  Walvisch               30   110  kapitein Abraham Verlet
A-Dir  Burch                  34   125  lt-commandeur Hendrick Arensz Glas
Ho-Dir Sampson                30   110  kapitein Jacob Houck
F      Stad Groeningen en
            Ommelanden        38   120  kapitein Joost Hendricksz Bulter
Ho-VOC Sint Willeboort        27   120  kapitein Edick Jacobszoon

Witte de With after the Three Days Battle

One striking feature of the correspondence from March 1653 to May 1653, is that Vice-Admiraal Witte de With was actively involved in planning and operations within a few weeks after the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland). The worst aspect of his absense from the fleet from December to March 1653 was that we lack the detailed fleet lists that he would have recorded. From April to November 1653, there are many good fleet lists, a few with ship names, even. The earliest such list that I had seen was in September 1652, after he had taken command of the fleet, when Tromp had been sacked for leading the fleet into the storm in the Shetlands. By April 1653, Witte de With commanded a raiding squadron, with his flag on the Amsterdam ship Leeuwarden (36 guns). That grew into a small fleet with three squadrons. Jan Jansz Lapper, in the Phesant (32 guns), commanded the van of 9 ships, Witte de With commanded the center with 13 ships, and Leendert Haexwant commanded the rear with 10 ships. This included some newly commissioned ships, such as Pieter de Bitter's ship Mercurius.

The Maagd van Enkhuizen

The ship Maagd van Enkhuizen (or Maeght van Enkhuijsen) was apparently rearmed before her loss in the Three Days Battle (probably on 28 February 1653). This was the Enkhuizen Directors' ship commanded by Gijsbert Malcontent. Marco Schuffelen told me that his name sounded French. Anyway, I have page that lists a radically different gun list than I had seen in late 1652. The ship now had a lower tier of 12pdr guns, supplemented by 8pdrs and a smaller number of 4pdr guns. The ship had been armed with 4-18pdr, with the rest of the lower tier being 9pdr guns. I had heard that many ships had been rearmed, but I had not seen the new gun lists, prior to this.

More about Adriaan Banckert's ship Hollandia, in March 1653

I have been studying this one list of Zeeland ships that has detailed gun information, dating from about March 1653. Adriaan Banckert commanded the Hollandia, which Jan Evertsen had previously used as his flagship. I am not sure if he used the Hollandia in the Three Days Battle (or the Battle of Portland) or not, but I suspect that he did. I was interest to see some more details of the guns carried. For example, the four 24pdr guns were described as German half-cartouwen. They were about 4250 lbs each. The four 18pdr guns were French half-cartouwen. If the figures are correct, they were only about 2400 lbs each.