The ship Stad Groningen en Ommelanden

I have an older page showing information about the Friesland ship Stad Groningen en Ommelanden that gives the armament as only 28 guns and the crew as 110 men. The ship was still commanded by Joost Bulter and has the same dimensions as later. Later in 1653, the ship carried 38 guns and was sunk by gunfire at the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort). Perhaps the ship in its earlier guise was with the fleet at the Battle of the Kentish Knock, where one list gives the captain as being named "Belevelt" in Witte de With's journal.

The Noorderkwartier ships that were convoyers funded in 1648

The list of ships that were funded at the peace in 1648 for the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier surprised me. I had always assumed that Cornelis Pietersz Taenman's ship, the Prins Maurits, was one of the 100 ships hired in 1652. According to this one list, the accuracy of which could be disputed, says that the Prins Maurits was one of the convoyers funded at the peace with Spain in 1648. The Dutch rebellion against Spain ended concurrently with the end of the Thirty Years War. The list of Noorderkwartier ships that were in this category might be of interest:

Adm   Ship                   Guns  Commander
N     Hoorn                  32    Pieter Allertszoon
N     Prins Maurits          28    Cornelis Pietersz Taenman
N     Wapen van Monnikendam  24    Arent Dirckszoon
N     Casteel van Medemblick 26    Gabriel Theuniszoon
N     Wapen van Alkmaar      28    Gerrit Nobel
N     Sampson                26    Willem Ham

Familiar ship names

The list of ships employed by the Admiralty of Rotterdam, dated 7 March 1652, still interests me. The portion of the list that includes fluits and pinnaces is particularly fascinating. I am not sure if the ships named are those of which I have heard, but maybe some are:

The fluit ship, the Coninck Davidt
Dimensions in Maas feet:       90ft x     21ft x      9-1/2ft x  4ft  18 guns
Dimensions in Amsterdam feet:  98ft-2in x 22ft-10in x 10ft-4in x 4ft-4in

The fluit ship St. Jacob
Dimensions in Maas feet:       92ft x     20ft x      8ft x      3-1/2ft  16 guns
Dimensions in Amsterdam feet: 100ft-4in x 21ft-9in x  8ft-8in x  3ft-9in

The fluit ship Graaf Sonderlandt
Dimensions in Maas feet:       96-1/2ft x 20-1/2ft x  10-1/4ft x 4ft      20 guns
Dimensions in Amsterdam feet: 105ft-3in x 22ft-4in x  11ft-2in x 4ft-4in

Captain "Belevelt" revisited

The only place that I have seen the name of a Friesland captain named "Belevelt" is in Witte de With's lists from September 1652. In this one list, from 25 September, which has the section labeled "Admiralty Ships of Friesland", there are the following entries:

                          Crew   Guns Weeks of Victuals
Capn. Belevelt
Capn. Wickelma             108   29   13
Capn. Degelcam              77   28   11
Capn. Adriaen Bruijnsvelt  103   28   13

Our working hypothesis is that "Belevelt" is a corruption of Bulter, Joost Bulter's last name. I find that explanation pretty unsatisfying, however.

The Jonas

The ship Jonas, hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam in 1653 was quite unusual, in may ways. The ship had length and width of about 136ft x 27ft. The crew on board in late June 1653 was 106 men. The Jonas carried just 26 guns: 3-12pdr, 4-8pdr, 11-6pdr, 6-5pdr, and 2-3pdr guns. There was 4000 lbs of gunpowder. On the list of 22 June 1653, the captain's name was spelled "Joris Coleri" (Joris de Caullerij).

The listing for Johannes Michielszoon's ship always seemed strange to me

In the list of ships, which just has captains' names, guns and crew figures, published in The First Dutch War, Vol.I, the listing for Johannes Michielszoon shows a Zeeland ship with 20 guns and a crew of 100 men. There are no names for ships except for some fireships. The list is almost identical to the list published in Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet that listed the fleet that went to the Shetlands in July and August 1652. I had long wondered at the name of the ship, described in one place as "a fast-sailing storeship". I know now that his ship was the fluit Haes, hired by the Admiralty of Zeeland, but I had wondered if this was the ship captured by the English and which served as a storeship for a while under the name St. Augustine. I had not read The First Dutch War, Vol.IV carefully enough, since the ship survived the Three Days Battle, despite Johannes Michielszoon being killed. His ship continued in service with Jan van Hoessen as captain, with 20 guns and a crew of 90 men.

Jonas en de Walvisch

Dr. Ballhausen had parroted the ship name "Jonas en de Walvisch" (Jonas and the Whale) from the Oud-Holland Vol.17 article about Willem van de Velde de Oude in the First Anglo-Dutch War. There is apparently a notation to that effect on a van de Velde drawing. The note has to refer to two ships: the Jonas (26 guns and a crew of 110 men), a ship hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam, and the Walvisch (30 guns and a crew of 104 men), a ship hired by the Amsterdam Directors. These figures are from Witte de With's journal from late May 1653.

Noorderkwartier ships in the Mediterranean Sea in 1652

The Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier contributed three ships to the fleet sent to the Mediterranean Sea in 1652. The original purpose was to protect Dutch shipping against the North African pirates. Very quickly, at the outbreak of the First Anglo-Dutch War, the primary purpose became fleet action against the English squadron. The Dutch very much believe in Mahan's principles: that defeating the enemy's fleet was the primary goal naval operations. Once you did that, you simplified the process of protecting your merchant shipping. The three Noorderkwartier ships are well known: the Prinses Roijaal (36 guns), the Eendracht (41 guns), and the Jong Prins (28 guns). The Battle of Monte Christo was fought on 27/08/1652. Captain Albert Cornelisz 't Hoen, captain of the Prinses Roijaal, was killed in the fight. Cornelis Barentsz Slordt, captain of the Jonge Prins, survived both the Battle of Monte Christo and the Battle of Livorno, on 14 March 1653. This a large van de Velde drawing of the Battle of Livorno from the Rijksmuseum.

Cornelis Loncke's ship the Faam

Cornelis Loncke commanded a ship hired by the Admiralty of Zeeland in 1652 and up to the Three Days Battle in 1653. The Faam was a 115ft-long ship that seems to have been extremely lightly armed. While the Faam carried 30 guns, only four were 12pdr. The rest were 6pdr, 4pdr, and a pair of 3pdr guns. The Faam was with Michiel De Ruyter's fleet from July 1652 up to September. They were assigned to convoy ships up and down the Channel. In August, they fought a battle with Sir George Ayscue's fleet which was intended for both commerce protection and to attack Dutch shipping. The Faam is one of a group of Zeeland ships that had a main battery of 6pdr guns. While many published sources credit Dutch ships with a lower tier, or main battery, of 12pdr guns, that was not uniformly the case with hired ships. The 12pdr guns were mentioned as not comparing well with the widespread use of culverins (18pdr) by the English.

Witte de With's squadron in 1652

I really wish that I could fill in more detail about Witte de With's squadron in 1652. Admittedly, I have a good bit of information, but I have very little about the Rotterdam ship Hollandia and the Noorderkwartier ship Vergulde Schel, in particular. I do not have much about their operations prior to August 1652:

The Squadron of Vice-Admiral de With 

of Rotterdam

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                Sources
Vice-Admiral       Witte Cornelisz de With          R        36   150  Prinses Louise      raedt, 1DW2
kapitein           Jan de Haes                      R        24    91  Gulden Beer         raedt, vloot

of Amsterdam

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                Sources
commandeur         Auke Balck                       A        46   150  Vrijheid            raedt, 1DW2, 1DW4
kapitein           Jan Jansz Boermans               A        28   100  Prins Willem        raedt, 1DW1, 1DW4
kapitein           Albert de Graeff                 A        32   110  Hollandia           raedt, 1DW1, 1DW2, 1DW4
kapitein           Gillis Matthijsz Campen          A        24    80  Goude Leeuw         raedt, 1DW1, 1DW4
kapitein           Barent Cramer                    A        28   100  Edam                raedt, 1DW1, 1DW2, 1DW4

of Zeeland

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                Sources
kapitein           Pieter Gorcum                    Z        24    85  Sandenburgh         raedt, cs, jonge1, staet54

others

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                Sources
kapitein           Teunis Vechterszoon              NQ       24    80  Vergulde Schel      raedt, 1DW4. ball
kapitein           Hendrik Ernestus de Bertrij      R        24    97  Hollandia           raedt, vloot, schet2, schet4

This is the key to my notes:

Key:

Sources:

1DW1 = The First Dutch War, Vol.I
1DW2 = The First Dutch War, Vol.II
1DW3 = The First Dutch War, Vol.III
1DW4 = The First Dutch War, Vol.IV
1DW5 = The First Dutch War, Vol.V
1DW6 = The First Dutch War, Vol.VI
ball    = Dr. Ballhausen’s book
rdhb  = Rotterdamsche Historiebladen
schet2 = Schetsen uit de Geschiedens van ons Zeewezen, Vol.II
schet3 = Schetsen uit de Geschiedens van ons Zeewezen, Vol.III
schet4 = Schetsen uit de Geschiedens van ons Zeewezen, Vol.IV
schet5 = Schetsen uit de Geschiedens van ons Zeewezen, Vol.V
schet6 = Schetsen uit de Geschiedens van ons Zeewezen, Vol.VI
vloot = De Vlootbouw in Nederland
vreug = A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702
glete = Jan Glete’s notes on Directors’ ships 
dir    = Director’s ship documents from the Nationaal Archief from 1652 and 1653
     1-undated but from March 1652 or later with a table
     2-12 March 1652
     3-27 March 1652
     4-30 March 1652
     5-8 November 1652
     6-10 January 1653
     7-27 January 1653
     8-28 January 1653
     9-30 January 1653
     10-8 February 1653
     11-18 March 1653
     12-undated but from early 1653
     13-4 April 1653
 
Sources (Continued):

ont = Onstelde-Zee
raedt = Pamphlet of Hendrik de Raedt (about the voyage to the Shetlands)
26Feb52 = Admiralty of Rotterdam, 26 February 1652
zdir = Zeeland Directors ships pages from the Zeeuws Archief
fleet1 = list of the fleet 15/24 July 1652 from the Nationaal Archief
fleet2 = list of the fleet 19/20 September 1652 from the Nationaal Archief
staet54 = Staet van Oorlog te Water for 1654
paintings = Michael Robinson, Van de Velde Paintings
cs = communication from Carl Stapel
salt = Francis Vere, Salt in their Blood: The Lives of the Famous Dutch Admirals, 1955.
jonge1 = J. C. De Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, Vol.I

Admiralty/Directors:

A         = Admiralty of Amsterdam
A-Dir   =  Amsterdam Directors
Ed-Dir =  Edam Directors
En-Dir  = Enkhuizen Directors
F          = Admiralty of Friesland
HA-Dir = Harlingen Directors
Ho-Dir  = Hoorn Directors
Mi-Dir  = Middelburg Directors
Mo-Dir = Monnikendam Directors
NQ   = Noorderkwartier (Noorder-Quartier)
R      = Admiralty of the Maze (or Rotterdam)
R-Dir = Rotterdam Directors (includes Delfshaven)
Ve-Dir  = Veere Directors
Vli-Dir  = Vlissingen Directors
Z          = Admiralty of Zeeland
Zi-Dir  = Zierikzee Directors

Hendrick Jansz Camp's ship

At De Sneuper, the author listed Hendrick Jansz Camp's ship, in 1652 and into 1653 as the Groningen. That seemed very plausible to me. Sadly, as we collected more information from the Nationaal Archief in The Hague, we found out that Hendrick Jansz Camp commanded a 36 gun hired ship named Wapen van Nassau. The Wapen van Nassau was 130ft long. The Wapen van Nassau seems to have been discarded sometime after the Three Days Battle in 1653, where Hendrick Jansz Camp was apparently killed. The Wapen van Nassau seems to have had a lower tier of 12pdr guns and an upper tier of 8pdr guns. The quarterdeck was probably armed with 6pdr guns and there were also 2-3pdr guns for sniping.

The Brederode in the Battle of Dungeness

I continue to be interested in the story of the Brederode (54 guns) and the Battle of Dungeness. In the initial contact, Tromp had made for Blake's ship, the 2nd Rate Triumph and board, but was intercepted by the 3rd Rate Garland (this type was reduced to a 4th Rate by the 1660's) (44 guns). The Garland had a lower tier of culverins (18pdr guns). We don't know her exact armament, but we believe that the upper tier was armed with 9pdr demi-culverins and her upperworks had either demi-culverins, or more likely, 5-1/4pdr sakers. Tromp went alongside the Garland and started fighting. When the 36-gun Anthony Bonaventure came along and grappled the other side of the Brederode, Tromp was in trouble. This fight took place southeast of Dungeness Point, with the wind blowing from the west-northwest. The English were winning the fight until Johan Evertsen brought his ship, the Hollandia (38 guns) alongside the Anthony Bonaventure and boarded. The Dutch were able to capture the Anthony Bonaventure and then combined against the Garland, and took her, as well. In the fight, the Garland lost her rudder, which complicated taking her back to the Netherlands. The English ships and the Brederode suffered a great deal of damage. Both English captains were killed in the process. The Brederode was a heavily armed ship, almost a small 2nd Rate. She may have had almost a complete lower tier of 24pdr guns by this date. The upper tier was 12pdr guns, with 10-6pdr guns on the quarterdeck. The Hollandia had a very mixed armament. By June 1653, she had 2-36pdr guns, along with some 24pdr, 18pdr, and 14-12pdr guns. The guns in 1652 included 24pdr, 18pdr, 15pdr, 12pdr, 10pdr, and 6pdr guns. This was probably due to the shortage of guns available to the Admiralty of Zeeland. We can only speculate about the armament of the Anthony Bonaventure. I would hazard a guess the armament had a mixed lower tier of 18pdr and 9pdr guns, an upper tier, with an unarmed waist of 9pdr, and sakers on the quarterdeck. But that is just an estimate.

The Wapen van Rotterdam became the English Falmouth

The Wapen van Rotterdam was the ship commanded by Jacob van Boshuijsen. The Wapen van Rotterdam was taken in an English port at the start of the First Anglo-Dutch War and was put into English service as the Falmouth. The Wapen van Rotterdam was one of the ships built to the dimensions that were approximately 116ft x 27ft x 11ft in Amsterdam feet. The Wapen van Rotterdam carried 26 guns: 2-bronze 24pdr, 1-bronze 12pdr, 3-iron 12pdr, 12-iron 8pdr, 4-bronze 6pdr, and 4-iron 6pdr guns. In the Dutch service, the Wapen van Rotterdam had a crew of 70 sailors and 20 soldiers.

The little frigate Gelderland

From Vreugdenhil's list, you would think that Aert van Nes's ship, the frigate Gelderland, was a 116ft ship. This Gelderland must be the ship at number 23 in the list. That entry gives the dimensions as 106ft x 25ft x 9-1/2ft. The list treats those as if they were in Amsterdam feet, but they are Maas feet. This is the information from the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654, but that seems to be wrong. As far back as the list of 26 February 1652, the Gelderland is stated to have dimensions of 100ft x 23ft x 8ft and to carry 20 guns. This is the same general sort of ship as the Utrecht and Overissel, entries 60 and 49 in Vreugdenhil's list. From what I have seen from the Nationaal Archief, dating from 1652 and 1653, the 100ft size seems to be correct, as that is always given as the length of Aert van Nes's ship. That corresponds to dimensions in Amsterdam feet of 109ft-1in x 25ft-1in x 8ft-8in. The Gelderland carried 24 guns, consisting of 4-bronze chambered 12pdr, 2-bronze 8pdr, 8-iron 8pdr, 6-iron 6-pdr, and 4-iron 4pdr guns in 1652 and 1653. The Gelderland was actively employed through the First Anglo-Dutch War, and still showed up in a list dated April 1655. The Gelderland had been one of the forty convoyers funded at the peace with Spain in 1648.

Henry Cruzado's page with the list of galleys at Lepanto

I had not thought that such a thing would exist, but Henry Cruzado contacted me today and pointed out his list of galleys at the Battle of Lepanto, the great victory of the Christian Europeans against Turkey in 1571. I would think that would be extremely useful for anyone wanting to study the battle and, perhaps, do some wargaming.

The list of ships of the Admiralty of Rotterdam, dated 13 June 1652

I have this list of ships belonging to the Admiralty of Rotterdam that is dated 28 July 1652. The list includes both landsschepen and hired ships. The list says that the kapitein Ernestus de Bertrij's ship Hollandia (24 or 26 guns, according to the list) and the Beer (commanded by Jan de Haes) were destined for a convoy of East Indiamen. The ship Sphera Mundi, commanded by kapitein Veenhuijsen (written very hastily, and with large curls) was by the fishery fleet. This captain's name is usually written Venhuijsen, as it might be a shortened form of Sevenhuijsen.

Joris Caulerij's ship the Hoop was very lightly armed

For a 28-gun ship, Joris Caulerij's hired Amsterdam ship Hoop, was very lightly armed. The Hoop had a crew of 90 men and carried 4-10pdr, 4-8pdr, 12-6pdr, 6-3pdr, and 2-2pdr guns. The largest guns were not even 12pdr, but the non-standard 10pdr. The standard guns followed the grouping of 36pdr, 24pdr, 18pdr, 12pdr, 8pdr, 6-pdr, 4-pdr and 3pdr guns. There was one alternate series that included 20pdr, 15pdr, 10pdr, and 5pdr guns. There were also stray 16pdr, 14pdr, 9pdr, 7pdr, and 2pdr guns in use. The 7pdr may have been a Spanish caliber.

Dirck Scheij's ship the Achilles

I have a page that actually spells the name of Dirck Scheij's ship as Achilles, not Achillis. The page says that the ship carried 28 guns and had a crew of 102 men, sometime in later 1652. The armament is listed as 4-12pdr, 12-8pdr, 10-4pdr, and 2-2pdr guns. The Achilles was hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam. This may have been a case of a ship that was sold in 1648, at the peace treaty with Spain and then rehired by the admiralty. Some of these ships were eventually repurchased, it seems.

The Bronze 18pdr from 1632

Several years ago, Nico Brinck, the Dutch 17th Century gun expert and marine archaeologist (and sea captain) sent me several of his drawings. One drawing shows a bronze 18pdr manufactured in 1632 for the "Admiraliteit van West-Frislant", as the inscription says. The gun has a weight marking of 3480 lbs. The inside bore measures 13.8cm (5.433 inches). The gun has a length of 265cm from the ring at the rear of the barrel (with a 23cm part extending back) to the muzzle. That makes the gun 104-1/3 inches or 8ft-8-1/3in in English feet. The length in Amsterdam feet is 9ft-4in.