The list of Zeeland ships funded by the resolution at the Peace in 1648

You should not assume that they list of Zeeland convoyers includes the actual ships in service in 1648. There is reason to believe that the actual ships funded by the act of the States Generaal changed over time. My list is the list from early December 1652. By the summer of 1653, the ships included in the 40 convoyers of 1648, the 36 cruisers of 1651, the 50 Directors' ships, and the 100 ships of 1652 had changed radically, due to war losses, ships discarded, ships moved between categories, and new ships hired. You only have to study the lists over time to see the changes.

The Zeeland contribution to the 40 convoyers

At the peace treaty with Spain in 1648, the Dutch navy was reduced to 40 convoyers. The actual ships in that category seem likely to have changed over time. As of December 1652, the Zeeland convoyers included the following ships:

Adm    Ship              Gun Commander
Z      Zeeuwsche Leeuw   27  kapitein Cornelis Evertsen de Oude
Z      Westcappel        28  kapitein Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge
Z      Amsterdam         32  kapitein Adriaen Kempen
Z      Middelburg        26  kapitein Claes Jansz Sanger
Z      Sandenburgh       24  kapitein Pieter Gorcum
Z      Wapen van Zeeland 34  kapitein Joris Willemsz Block
Z      Hasewint          28  kapitein Jacob Verhelle (lost)
Z      Jaeger            14  kapitein Adriaen Jansz den Oven

Ships under the command of Egbert Meeussen (Kortenaer)

He wasn't using the name Kortenaer in October 1653, but Egbert Meeussen was recognized as being an outstanding officer. From the Battle of Scheveningen and on the voyage to Norway in October 1653, he was a temporary squadron commander. I have a document that gives guns and crew for the ships in his squadron:

Adm    Ship                Guns Crew Commander
R      Brederode           54   263  kapitein Egbert Meeussen
R      Princesse Louijsse  36   131  kapitein Abel Roelantsz (Verboom)
R      Gelderlandt         24   114  kapitein jonge boer (Aert van Nes)
A      Oosterwijck         55   226  kapitein de Wilde (Gideon de Wildt)
A      Edam                30   122  kapitein Cramer (Barent Cramer)
A      Gouda               30   145  kapitein Jan Egbertsz Ooms
A      Ouden Prins         32   113  kapitein Boermans (Jan Boermans)
  (the Prins Willem)
A      Leijden             30   114  kapitein Croeger (Hendrick Croeger)
A      Groningen           40   198  kapitein Gillis Thijssen Campen
A      Zutphen             30   107  kapitein Ysbrandt de Vries
A      Overijssel          30   132  kapitein Jan van Campen
A      Hollantsen Tuijn    24    87  kapitein Joris Block
N      Tobias              30   122  kapitein Jan Ham
F      Breda               32   124  kapitein Adriaen Bruijnsvelt
Ho-VOC Sint Willeboort     27   123  kapitein Eddick Jacobsz

Dutch ships in August 1652

When we look at Vuce-Admiral Johan Evertsen's list from August 1652, we are immediately confronted by some questions. Is his list accurate and not to be questioned, or is it fairly accurate but with some errors. The latter assessment is easier to deal with than the alternative. Some examples that cause us concern are the name of Albert Claesz de Graeff's ship (the Eendracht) and the name of Jan le Sage's ship (the Middelburg). I have assumed that Albert Claesz de Graeff's ship was the large hired ship Hollandia that carried 30 guns. He commanded the Hollandia in September 1652. Other sources, such as Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, are of no help, as Albert Claesz de Graeff was in Witte de With's squadron and none of those ships have guns or crew listed. We believe that Jan le Sage commanded the Middelburg Directors' ship Gulden Haan (30 guns). The name Middelburg might be an error, but based on Jan le Sage's ship being a Middelburg Directors' ship. At this point, as the rate of research that I can afford is slow enough that I am unlikely to be able to find the answers before the information is published elsewhere.

Dutch lists from September 1653

The lists that I have seen for the Dutch fleet in September 1653, both from Witte de With's journal and from other documents, are the sort of material that should have been published as part of The First Dutch War volumes. Certainly, the 1914-1918 war intervened and caused the last volume to be published years later. That is the volume, Vol.VI, that would have naturally had that sort of material. There is very limited Dutch material in that volume and the one actual list is actually from August 1652 and was mistakenly thought to be from 1653. That is the list of De Ruyter's fleet that eventually fought Sir George Ayscue in the Battle of Plymouth, in 1652. Anyone with the least amount of knowledge of the subject should have recognized that fact. These latest pages that I have received have some really useful information about Dutch ships, albeit just captains, gun and crew figures, and just a few ship names in some. From this, however, we see that Frans Mangelaer's hired ship Wapen van Ceulen (Cologne) carried 30 guns and Rens Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen's ship, the Mars, carried between 34 and 38 guns. I imagine that towards the end of The First Dutch War project that it was easier to look at English sources rather than Dutch ones, so that is largely what we got.

More about Laurens Degelcamp's ship

I guess that I had not realized just how flimsy the basis for Laurens Degelcamp's ship being named the Gelderland was. The only place that I have where that name is used is on page 157 of The First Dutch War, Vol.VI. The entry says: "Captain Degelcamp, the ship Gelderlant", with 24 guns and 80 men. Carl Stapel says that he name of Captain Jongen Boer's ship, the Gelderland, commanded by Lieutenant Jan van Nes, was mistaken for Laurens Degelcamp's ship. All other sources call Laurens Degelcamp's ship the Groninger Sint Nicolaes.

One outstanding question is the issue about the Friesland ship Gelderland

The First Dutch War mentions a Friesland ship Gelderland, commanded by Laurens Degelcamp. The Gelderland was with Michiel De Ruyter's fleet in the Channel in August and September 1652, and then was probably with Witte de With's fleet at the Battle of the Kentish Knock. One problem is that the documents that I have with Friesland ship data only mention a ship named the Groeningen Nicolaes or Groeninger Sint Nicolaes commanded by Laurens Hermansz Degelcamp. I swear that I saw a page that gave the name Gelderland to a ship with the same specifications as the Groeningen Nicolaes, but I can't find the page to verify that fact. Based on my large but limited set of information, this is still an unresolved problem. Carl Stapel may know the answer, but I do not.

Some different gun figures for Dutch ships in September 1653

I have a page that I received yesterday that has some rather unusual gun numbers for Dutch ships in September 1653:

Adm   Ship      Stated guns Usual guns  Captain
A     Samson    24          26          Hendrick Adriaenszoon
A     Pelicaen  28          24          Jan Overcamp 
                  (the Pelicaen carried 24 guns on 14 July 1653)
A     Brack     20          18          Poppe Binckes
A     Hoop      24          28          Dirck Pater
A-Dir Samson    26          28          Cornelis de Groot

Friesland ships

There is some controversy over the exact owners or hirers of Friesland ships in 1652 and 1653. The Breda, Frisia, and Westergoo were definitely 's Landsschepen. I actually have two sources that say that the Graaf Hendrick (30 guns) was a Directors' ship, and the ship hired by the Groningen Directors. The two Harlingen Directors' ships were the Vergulde Pelicaen (28 guns) and Sint Vincent (28 guns). Hendrick Jansz Camp's ship, the Wapen van Nassau (36 guns), was a ship hired by the Admiralty of Friesland and was gone by mid-March 1653. Confusing the issue are the ships hired by Groningen, versus the ships hired by the Admiraliteit van Friesland. This is what I think to be true:

Friesland 's Landsschepen:

Adm    Ship                          Guns Commander
F      Westergoo                     28   Joris van den Broeck
                                          Tijmen Claeszoon
F      Frisia                        28   Schelte Wiglama
F      Breda                         28   Adriaan Bruijnsvelt
F      Sevenwolden                   38   Frederick Stellingwerff
F      Stad Groeningen en Ommelanden 38   Joost Bulter

Ships hired for the Admiraliteit van Friesland

Adm    Ship                          Guns Commander
F      Wapen van Nassau              36   Hendrick Jansz Camp
F      Schaapharder                  26   Aldert Pietersz Quaboer
F      Groninger Sint Nicolaes       24   Laurens Degelcamp
F      Sint Nicolaes                 24   Andries van den Bouckhorst
F      Postpaert                     30   Isaac Codde
F      Sara                          24   Hans Carelsen Becke
F      Graaf Willem                  24   Jan Coenders

Directors' ships
Ha-Dir Vergulde Pelicaen             28   Ariaan Heeres Kleijntje
Ha-Dir Sint Vincent                  28   Andries Douwesz Pascaert
                                          Ariaan Heeres Kleijntje
Gr-Dir Graaf Hendrick                30   Jan Reijndersz Wagenaer

Zeeland ships in September 1653

The list of ships and captains for Zeeland in September 1653 is rather interesting:

Adm    Ship             Guns Crew Commander
Z      Amsterdam        32   120  kapitein Adriaen Kempen
Z      Wapen van Ceulen 30   120  kapitein Frans Mangelaer
Z      Salamander       34   125  kapitein Pieter Marcuszoon
Z      Goes             25   110  kapitein Cornelis Kuijper
Mi-Dir Gouden Leeuw     34   126  kapitein Adriaen Pensen
Vl-Dir Haes             30   110  kapitein Bastiaen Centsen
Mi-Dir Luipaert         37   130  kapitein Cornelis Tiebij

I found that the Luipaert (or Luipaard) was a Middelburg Directors' ship from Ron van Maanen's comprehensive list.

Wargaming

At this point, I am in a position to do calculations for Privateers Bounty and other game systems for the Dutch fleet in the First Anglo-Dutch War. There are far fewer ships for which I would need to estimate specifications. My downloadable scenarios for Privateers Bounty have not been updated to use the new information. The information has come in a torrent since August 2006, and I have not digested all of it by any means. What is really lacking, right now, is comparable information for the English during 1652 to 1653, particularly. I spoke with Frank Fox, again, and thinks that there is likely comparable information for the English, during the Commonwealth and English Civil War (1642 to 1660), but no one has found it yet. Frank told me that there are more than a 1,000 volumes on information that is uncatalogued and which is yet to be investigated. Right now, there is no one interested to fund the effort, as those with an interest don't have the resources to do fund the work.

Yesterday, I received a photograph of the page that says that the Sint Maria was under repair after the Three Days Battle in 1653

One continuing issue for me is the Amsterdam Directors' ship Sint Maria, commanded by Sipke Fockes up to early 1653. The Hollandsche Mercurius and the Onstelde Zee both say that Sipke Fockes was killed and his ship, the "Grote Sint Lucas" was captured and taken into an English port after the Three Days Battle. I have seen no other reference to a ship "Grote Sint Lucas" that served as an Amsterdam Directors' ship. On the other hand, there is this (and other) pages that show that the Sint Maria remained in Dutch hands after the Three Days Battle and was under repair. The ship was apparently totally dismasted and had other damage, as well. I presume that the decision was made to discard the Sint Maria due to the extent of the damage. The other ships listed all returned to service (the Gidion, Elias, Burgh, and Faam).

The Amsterdam ship Oosterwijk

I had an inquiry about the Amsterdam ship Oosterwijk, built in 1653. I had forgotten that the Oosterwijk was in service by September 1653 and was commandeur Gideon de Wildt's flagship on the voyage to Norway from September to November 1653. Witte de With's journal says that the Oosterwijk carried 55 guns and had a crew of 226 men during that period. He was assigned to Egbert Meessen's (or Meeuwssen)squadron of 16 ships. The other large, new ships on the voyage, under the command of Witte de With, were the Amsterdam (50 guns and a crew of 210 men), commanded by Gideon Verburgh, the Huijs te Cruijningen (48 guns and a crew of 250 men), and Witte de With's flagship, the Huijs te Swieten (56 guns and a crew of 276 men).

The list of Dutch casualties after the Zeeslag bij Elba

One of the documents that I received last week was a damage report and list of casualties after the Zeeslag bij Elba (or Battle of Monte Cristo) in the Mediterranean Sea in August 1652. I just updated a Wikipedia page to add names. There are 11 Dutch ships listed:

Commander                   Dead Wounded
admiraal (Johan van Galen)  18   30
vice-admiraal 't Hoen        4   26 (Albert Cornelisz 't Hoen was killed)
Schout-bij-Nacht Blocq       5    8 (Joost Willemsz Blocq was killed)
kapitein Bont               21   30 (David Jansz Bondt was killed)
kapitein Swart               7   31 (Hendrik Claesz Swart was killed)
kapitein Verveen             4   10
kapitein Tromp               5   15 
kapitein Andries de Boer     3    5 or 6
kapitein Jacob de Boer       5    4

Total                       70  162

The East Indiaman Prins Willem

While I was in Amsterdam five weeks ago, Ab Hoving showed me "the famous model" of the East Indiaman Prins Willem. There is a page in English about the model. There are references, used by Herman Ketting in his book, that give the length as 181ft (Amsterdam feet). Ab Hoving's position is that it could not have been that long. That the ship was probably less than 170ft long. Herbert Tomesen's position some years ago was that the Prins Willem and the Oranje were both built to the 170ft charter for retourschepen, and that the Prins Willem must have had dimensions of about 170ft x 38ft x 14ft and had three decks.

Friesland ships with the Dutch fleet in December 1652

One of the documents that I received recently was a list of the captains with the Dutch fleet in early December 1652. This is the list of Friesland captains and ships, as far as possible, using the spelling from the page:

F=Admiralty of Friesland
Ha-Dir=Harlingen Directors
Gr-Dir=Groningen Directors

Adm      Ship                 Guns Crew Captain
F        Wapen van Nassau     36   127  Hendrick Jansz Camp
F        Postpaert            30   106  Isaack Codde
F        Breda                28   110  Adriaen Bruijnsvelt
F        Frisia               28   110  Scheltes Wiglama
Ha-Dir   Sint Vincent         28   110  Andries Douwesz Pascaert
Ha-Dir   Vergulde Pelicaen    28   100  Jacob Cleijntge
Gr-Dir   Graef Hendrick       32   110  Jan Reijndersz Waegenaer       

The list of ships, captains, lieutenants, and writers for Amsterdam Directors' ships in March 1652

Yesterday, I received a copy of the list of ship names, captains, lieutenants, and writers for the Amsterdam Directors' ship hired in March 1652. This is a different version of a the list than I have seen before. There are some unique features. One is that Frederick Bogaert's ship was listed a "de Mars" and then crossed out, with "de Engel Michiel" written in light letters below it. In this list, Ulrich de Jager, lieutenant of the Gidion van Sardam, (who has had his first name spelled in some rather odd ways) is called Ulrich Claesz de Jager, which is what I have been using. I am not sure that I have had his middle name, but I may have started to use it in my writing, already. Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet uses the name Gerrit van Lummen for the captain of the ship Neptunis (34 guns), but this document calls him Gerrit van Limmen, which is apparently correct. The most unique thing in this list the name Mars, which was the name of a ship hired by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier in 1653.

December 1652

The situation with Noorderkwartier ships and captains in December 1652 is rather interesting. This is the list of men and what might be the ships:

Officer                             Ship                   Guns
Schout-bij-Nacht Pieter Florissen   Stad Monnikendam       36
kapitein Cornelis Pietersz Taenman  Prins Maurits          32
kapitein Arent Dirckszoon           Wapen van Monnikendam  24
kapitein Thijs Tijmensz Peereboom   Peereboom              24
commandeur Johannes Bourgougie      Tobias                 30
kapitein Jan Heck                   Eenhoorn               30
kapitein Volckert Schram            Lastdrager             28
kapitein Teunis Vechterszoon        Vergulde Schel         24
kapitein Harman Munnekes            Wapen van Enkhuijsen   32

Jacob Cornelisz Swart

Carl Stapel says that Jacob Cornelisz Swart was captain of the Amsterdam Directors' ship Faem from March 1652. I already knew from Witte de With's journal that Jacob Cornelisz Swart commanded the Faem on the voyage to Norway from September to November 1653. The Faem was a 116ft long ship that carried 28 guns and served through the entire First Anglo-Dutch War, or at least until late 1653. According to David de Wildt's list from 22 February 1652, Cornelis Jansz Poort owned the Faem.

The Gouden Leeuw was apparently back in service in June 1653

The ship that had been commanded by Gillis Thijssen Campen in 1652 was apparently back in service in June 1653 and had fought in the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort). You may recall that this was a 113ft ship that was very lightly armed. The largest guns were 6-8pdr and the rest were smaller. This must be the ship listed as number 22 in the list of ships following the Battle of the Gabbard. The ship is shown to have 24 guns and a crew of 75 men. The name is somewhat different, the Vergulde Leeuken.

The Amsterdam ship Westfriesland in June 1653

From a photograph that I took a month ago, I can see that in the list from about 23 June 1653, the ship Westfriesland, of the Admiralty of Amsterdam, is listed as having a length of 122ft. I would take the dimensions in this list very tentatively, as they tend to vary from the usual dimensions. Still, the information is very good for understanding how ships were armed and manned after the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort). The Westfriesland was another ship with a main battery of 8pdr guns, supplemented by a few 12pdrs and some smaller. The crew size was mandated as 110 men, but only 103 were on board when this list was compiled. One bit of trivia is that the ship had 1200 lbs of gunpowder on board and had six weeks of victuals.

The crew of the Sint Pieter, Gerrit Schuijt's ship in November 1653

Gerrit Schuijt's inventory for the Amsterdam Directors' ship Sint Pieter, dating from early November 1653, gives the breakdown of the crew:

Officers and seamen:  68 men
Ship's soldiers:      29 men
Land soldiers:         5 men
Boys:                  6 boys

Total:               108 men and boys

I was surprised at the large numbers of "ship's soldiers" (Marines). I had expected that they all would be land soldiers.

The ship Faam on 3 November 1653

I can definitively say that the Amsterdam Directors' ship Faam was commanded by commandeur (probably luitenant-commandeur) Jacob Cornelisz Swart on 3 November 1653. The ships in Witte de With's fleet apparently prepared documents documenting their supply position, prior to arriving back off the Texel in early November. We know from The First Dutch War that the ships in the fleet were extremely short of food and had to cut back on how much they fed their men.

Some Dutch guns

I took some photographs of documents, when I visited the Nationaal Archief The Hague. One page has some gun weights and also numbers of shot on hand for a particular Dutch warship, the hired ship for the Admiralty of Amsterdam, the Jonas. These are some representative weights:

Gun        Weight of piece
12pdr      3015 lbs
12pdr      2930 lbs
8pdr       2320 lbs
8pdr       2210 lbs
6pdr       2560 lbs
6pdr       2400 lbs
5pdr       1420 lbs
5pdr       1410 lbs
5pdr       1395 lbs
5pdr       1365 lbs
3pdr        730 lbs
3pdr        720 lbs

I would really like to know more about the Nooderkwartier ship, the Mars

Right now, the main thing that I know about the Noorderkwartier ship Mars was that Rens Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen was the captain. He took his crew from the Profeet Samuel and moved to the hired ship Mars, I believe, in July 1653. I do know that in late October, the Mars had a crew of 130 men. The Mars was on the voyage to Norway with Witte de With's fleet. I think that information exists. I just don't have the original documents. Carl Stapel had indicated that the Mars carried 38 guns, but I have not been able to confirm that, myself.

Musketeers

One document that I received several days ago lists musketeers assigned to ships in Witte de With's fleet that had sailed to Norway and would return to the Texel by early November 1653. Here are some representative numbers:

Adm   Ship            Musketeers
M     Brederode       73
M     Prinses Louise  61
M     Gelderland      23
A     Oosterwijk      71
A     Edam            42
A     Gouda           25
A     Prins Willem    18

I keep hoping that I will find information about the ship Mars in later 1653

Reijnst Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen commanded three ships that I know of during the First Anglo-Dutch War. They all were employed by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier. His first ship was the Roode Leeuw (24 guns), a hired ship. The second was also a hired ship, the Profeet Samuel (30 guns). The third was the Mars, also a hired ship. I do not even have the number of guns or the crew size for the Mars in any document that I possess. I have what I believe to be the dimensions for the Roode Leeuw, although that is uncertain. I do have the gun list for the Profeet Samuel, a ship paid off after the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort (the Battle of the Gabbard). I have nothing about the Mars. I know that the Mars was with Witte de With's fleet on the voyage to Norway in later 1653, but that is all. I suspect that the Mars fought in the Battle of Scheveningen, but can't prove that.

The Westergoo

The Friesland ship Westergoo was captured by the English at the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 June 1653. This was a 114ft ship with a main battery of 8pdr guns. The Westergoo also had some 12pdr, 6pdr, 4pdr, and 3pdr guns, totalling 28 guns. The crew was nominally 110 men. Her luitenant, Tijmen Claeszoon, commanded the ship after the original captain died in 1652. The Westergoo had fought in the Battle of Plymouth in August 1652.

More Dutch gun weights from 1653

One of the best things about the last month has been the discovery of quite a few Dutch gun inventories, showing gun weights. I believe that all these date from 1653. Here are some more representative examples:

Material  shot weight    weight of piece  Special
Bronze    24 lbs         4806 lbs
Iron      18 lbs         3500 lbs
                         3590 lbs
Bronze    12 lbs         1556 lbs         klokwijs
                         1592 lbs         klokwijs
Iron      12 lbs         3225 lbs
                         3150 lbs
                         3300 lbs
                         3015 lbs
                         2930 lbs
Iron       8 lbs         2320 lbs
                         2210 lbs
                         2150 lbs
                         2075 lbs
Iron       6 lbs         2560 lbs
                         2520 lbs
                         2400 lbs
                         2240 lbs
                         2000 lbs
                         1900 lbs
                         1825 lbs
Iron       5 lbs         1420 lbs
                         1365 lbs
Iron       3 lbs          980 lbs
                          730 lbs

Allert Jansz Tamessen

I do not know too much about Allert Jansz Tamessen. I just learned more about him from Carl Stapel, as the Hoorn that he commanded was the ship built in 1625, also called the Eenhoorn or Witte Eenhoorn. Apparently, Allert Jansz Tamessen commanded the Eenhoorn from 1650 to 1652, and had been in Brazil until arriving back in later July 1652. I have seen a note that he was present at a council of war on the Brederode on "26 July 1652" (presumably an "Old Style" date, since this was from The First Dutch War). The Eenhoorn was a 125ft ship of 220 lasts. Jan Heck was appointed captain of the Eenhoorn from September 1652 and commanded the ship through the rest of the war.

The loss of the Jaarsveld off of Livorno in January 1653

Yesterday, I received a photograph of details of the Amsterdam ship Jaarsveld, which was wrecked on an uncharted rock off of Livorno (Leghorn) in January 1653. The Jaarsveld was the flagship of the Dutch Mediterranean fleet up to this time. The Jaarsveld had been built in 1651 and was larger than the normal 40 gun ships. The Jaarsveld was not huge, but was 130ft long. The Jaarsveld had a lower tier of 12pdr guns and an upper tier of 8pdr guns, with a few smaller, probably on the quarterdeck or poop. Also, in the archaic style, the Jaarsveld carried a few larger guns, as well. The style, in the latter 16th Century, would have ships armed with 4 to 6 larger guns, a lower tier of the current heavy gun (the English used 18pdr culverins) and an upper tier of the current ligher gun (for the English, this was the 9pdr demi-culverin). The Dutch still mostly armed their ships this way during the First Anglo-Dutch War, although they already had many Amsterdam ships that had armaments that were more uniform.