The Achilles

In the fall of 2006, Prof. Jan Glete had sent me a copy of a document from the Riksarkivet that listed all the ship hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam in 1652. When I examined the list, I immediately saw that the the ship Achilles that Dirk Scheij commanded was the 131ft ship and that the ship carried but 28 guns. As we accumulated more information about the First Anglo-Dutch War, from the Nationaal Archief, I noticed that the Achilles was not mentioned after the Battle of Portland. Yes, the Staat van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654 and a list from 1655 mentioned the Achilles, but the ship seems to have not been employed after the Battle of Portland. The last mention is the list that is reproduced in Vol.IV of The First Dutch War that lists all Amsterdam ships. (NOTE: I just looked at J.C. De Jonge's notes for 1654, and he credits the Achilles with 32 guns at that date, which explains Vreugdenhil).