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Saturday, February 28, 2009

Gunports on Dutch warships

From the Van de Velde drawings, we know something about gunports on Dutch ships in the period of 1639 to 1654. The Gorinchem is from a drawing of the ship in 1665. I would welcome corrections, as I am particularly uncertain about the Brederode. The picture of the Rotterdam is in Dr. M.G.de Boer's book, Tromp en de Duinkerkers, opposite page 49. The picture is so indistinct that I can't count ports.
Adm  Ship            Built Gunports
R    Aemilia         1632  13 on lower tier, 12 on upper tier, 6 on quarterdeck
A    Star            1644  10 on lower tier, 4 on quarterdeck
A    Vrijheid        1651  12 on lower tier, 9 on upper tier, 4 on quarterdeck
R    Prinses Louijse 1646  10 on lower tier, 6 on upper tier, 4 on quarterdeck
R    Gorinchem       1639  9 on lower tier, 8 on upper tier, 4 on quarterdeck
A    Fazant          1646  9 on lower tier, 6 on upper tier (2+4), 4 on quarterdeck
A    Leiden          1647  9 on lower tier, 5 on upper tier at rear, 2 on quarterdeck
A    Vrede           1650  12 on lower tier, 10 on upper tier, 3 on quarterdeck
R    Brederode       1645  12 on lower tier, 10 on upper tier, 5 on quarterdeckj
F    Groningen       1653  10 on lower tier, 10 on upper tier, 4 on quarterdeck
A    Edam            1644  10 on lower tier, 7 on upper tier (2+5)
R    Rotterdam       1639  10 on lower tier, unk on upper tier, 3 on quarterdeck

Monday, February 16, 2009

When did the Dutch fire on Deal?

The Dutch seemed to have fired on Deal, sometime during the period of 1639 to 1667. As far as I can tell, there were opportunities during the Battle of the Downs, in 1639, during the fight on 29 May 1652 (new style date) and on 3 July 1652 (old style date). There may have been other possible occasions, but I am not sure about them. Does anyone know?

Sunday, February 08, 2009

The Friesland ship Groningen

I was just looking at the page from April 1653 (apparently) that mentions the ship Groningen, of the Admiralty of Friesland, at Sardam, presumably under construction, that would replace the Graaf Willem and Waterhond. The dimensions given, 132ft x 31ft x 14ft x 7ft, are those given in Van Foreest and Weber's book.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Jan van Campen in 1652 and 1653

In 9 June 1652, Jan van Campen was listed as being off Cape St. Vincent in command of the three-masted jacht Windhond. After returning home, he seems to have been responsible for fitting out the new ship Campen (40 guns). By September, he was appointed to command the ship Overijssel (26 guns) that had been commanded by Abraham van der Hulst. Ships and captains were shuffled in August and September 1652. Jan van Campen commanded the Overijssel through the rest of 1652 and 1653.

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