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Sunday, September 09, 2007

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.

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