Classic dimensions

Both the English and Dutch navies in the 17th Centuries built ships to "classic dimensions". Admittedly, over time, they altered somewhat. For the Dutch, as the century progressed, the beam of Dutch warships increased. In the 1620's and 1630's, Dutch warships tended to have narrow beams. In the case of the Maecht van Dordrecht, built for the Admiralty of Rotterdam (or, the Maze), I have expected that he dimensions, when converted to Amsterdam feet, would be something like 143ft x 35ft x 14.5ft. The ship was built to Maas feet of 308mm (12 inches per foot), so we can only guess what the actual measurements, as built, were in Amsterdam feet of 283mm (11 inches per foot). The Maecht van Dordrecht fought in the campaign leading up to the Battle of the Downs, in 1639, and was Witte de With's flagship. The Maecht van Dordrecht was the second largest Dutch warship, after Tromp's flagship, the Aemilia, and also carried the second heaviest armament: 10-24pdr, 14-18pdr, 16-12pdr, and 6-6pdr. Sources:

1. Johan E. Elias, De Vlootbouw in Nederland 1596-1655, 1933
2. J. C. De Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, Vol.I, 1858

The Amsterdam Directors' ship Elias

I imagine that the Amsterdam Directors' ship Elias was hired sometime in March 1652, as were the bulk of the Directors' ships. The Elias was quite a large ship, having dimensions of 132.5ft x 30ft x 13ft, with 6.5ft between the main deck and the upper deck. Her armament on 8 November 1652 consisted of 4-brass 24pdr, 14-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 4-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns. Her crew varied from 112 men up to at least 120 men. This is a summary of the Elias's service:

Key
Adm=Admiralty
h=hired
St=status
Note=Note Date
A-Dir=Amsterdam Directors

Adm   Name Guns Crew Date St Note   Commander                 Ship Fate  Captain  Note
A-Dir Elias 34  112  1652 h  5/1652 Jacob Sievertsz Spanheijm                     Battle of Dover
                             8/1652 Jacob Sievertsz Spanheijm                     Voyage to the Shetlands
                            12/1652 Jacob Sievertsz Spanheijm                     in Pieter Florissen's squadron
                            12/1652 Jacob Sievertsz Spanheijm                     Battle of Dungeness
                             2/1653 Jacob Sievertsz Spahheijm                     With the fleet, ship leaky
                             3/1653 Jacob Sievertsz Spanheijm            killed   The Three Days Battle
                             6/1653 Frans Fransz Sluyter       captured  prisoner Battle of the Gabbard

War losses of the Admiralty of the Maze (Rotterdam) as of March 1653

I have made a good deal of progress on my version of De Jonge's list of ships in service in March 1653. For Rotterdam and Amsterdam, he lists war losses, as well. This is my attempt at a list of the Rotterdam war losses up to mid-March 1653:

Rank               Name                             Adm   guns Sailors Soldiers Ship                  Date  Type Sources
kapitein           Willem Joosten van Colster       R      36                   Prinses Roijael Marie 1643  b    vreug, jonge1, 1DW1
kapitein           Jan Evertsz de Liefde            R      26                   Dordrecht                        schet2, 26feb52
kapitein           Jacob van Boshuijsen             R      26                   Wapen van Rotterdam              26feb52, schet2

Sunk

Rank               Name                             Adm   guns Sailors Soldiers Ship                  Date  Type Sources
Kapitein           Dirk Juynbol                     R      30                   Gelderland            1652*  ?   1DW2, schet3
Kapitein           Hendrick Jansz de Munnick        R      26                   Wapen van Rotterdam   1652*  b   1DW3, 26feb52
Kapitein           Paulus van den Kerckhoff         R      26                   Nijmegen              1645   p   schet2, 26feb52

The key for all sources, including many not referenced here:

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

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

I am having trouble accounting for Jan Duijm in early 1653

Jan Duijm appears twice in early 1653. On 15 January 1653, his ship was one of four Zeeland warships convoying some merchantmen and West Indiamen from "the islands". The four ships included the ships of Joannes Michielszoon, Claes Janszoon, Cornelis Mangelaer, and Jan Duijm. At the Three Days Battle (or Battle of Portland), his ship towed Michiel De Ruyter's flagship for the last two days or more of the battle. Jan Duijm reappeared in 1658, at the Battle of the Sound. One possible candidate ship is the Sint Jan (26 guns), commanded by Laurens Pensier in the summer of 1652. Another might be the Wapen van Zwieten, commanded by Jan Sichelszoon in August 1652, as well. Without more information, we are just guessing. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910
2. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol. VI, 1930
3. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.II, 1900

46 guns on the Prinses Louise in late 1652

I have been studying the Van de Velde drawing of the Prinses Louise to see how she might have been upgunned to 46 guns. The ship seems to have had 20 guns on the lower tier (4-24pdr and 16-12pdr), 4-12pdr under the forecastle, and 10-12pdr under the quarterdeck. There were also 4-5pdr on the quarterdeck. I am not sure what size guns were used, but there was room to arm the waist with 6 guns and add 4 guns forward on the quarterdeck. Unless temporary sides were added, they probably were unprotected except for "arming cloths". Sources:

1. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.V, 1928
2. Johan E. Elias, De Vlootbouw in Nederland 1596-1655, 1933
3. Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654, 1654

From analysis of De Jonge's list for March 1653

Based on my analysis of De Jonge's list for March 1653, I would make the following estimates for the Zeeland hired ships in service after the Three Days' Battle (Portland):

rank     commander                 guns crew Ship
kapitein Lambert Bartelszoon       28    85  some ship
kapitein Daniel Cornelisz Brackman 26    85  some ship
kapitein Andries Fortuijn          24    85  Eendracht

The real news is the guns and crew for Daniel Cornelisz Brackman's ship. The question, though, is if the Eendracht was the hired 24-gun ship, of it was Daniel Cornelisz Brackman's ship. If it was, then we would wonder what ship was the hired 26-gun ship. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910
2. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.II, 1900
3. J. C. De Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, Vol.I, 1858
4. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652

6 December 1652

In The First Dutch War, Vol.III, page 227, there is an entry in Jan Evertsen's journal saying that Witte took his sick men to Lijbe. I looked at the handwritten copy of Jan Evertsen's journal and found the entry. The copy of the journal is hard to read, as in the actual journal, the ink from the other side has bled through the page. The place name does actually seem to be Lijbe (the published text says Lybe). I had hoped to find which ship Witte de With used as his flagship on Friday, 6 December 1652. A usually unreliable source, Dr. Ballhausen says it was Jan Evertsz de Liefde's ship, the Jonas (36 guns). We know that cannot be true, as on 7 December 1652, Jan Evertsz de Liefde was Jan Evertsen's Schout-bij-Nacht. Michiel De Ruyter was appointed to command Witte de With's squadron in his absence.

Michiel De Ruyter

I had not realized that in early December 1652, Michiel De Ruyter was Jan Evertsen's vice-admiraal. De Ruyter flew his flag on Jan Thyssen Matheeus's ship, the Vlissingen Directors' ship Witte Lam. I understand that when Witte de With left the fleet, prior to the Battle of Dungness on 10 December, De Ruyter was appointed to command Witte de With's squadron. The fleet was organized into four squadrons at this time. One was commanded by Lt-Admiraal Tromp, another by Jan Evertsen, another by Witte de With, and the fourth squadron by Pieter Florissen Blom. Of the lesser flag officers, De Ruyter was the most trusted of them to lead a squadron in battle.

The First Dutch War, Vol.V: "Jan Eckersen"

On page 135 of The First Dutch War, Vol.V, in the excerpt from Michiel De Ruyter's Journal for 6 June 1653, he mentions sending an advice-yacht to Cape Gris-Nez, "directing" "Jan Eckersen", Lambert Bartelszoon, and Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge "to join the fleet". At first, I could not tell who was meant by "Jan Eckersen", so I searched my comprehensive list. I suspect that "Jan Eckersen" is a reference to Jan Egbertszoon (Egbertssen) Ooms, who commanded the Amsterdam ship Gouda (28 guns). He had previously operated under De Ruyter's command, and was probably was then, as well. Lambert Bartelszoon, from Zeeland, had served with the fleet in since early in the war, and commanded a ship whose name has remained a mystery.

Are Jan Matthijssen and Jan Thyssen the same man?

In De Ruyter's journal, as reproduced in The First Dutch War, Vol.V, De Ruyter writes that captains Jan "Matyssen" (Matthijssen), Dingeman Cats, and Jacob Penssen joined the fleet. I looked at my comprehensive list and see a Jan Matthijszoon who served during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, for the Admiralty of Zeeland. Thyssen or Tijssen could well be a shortened form of Matthijssen or Matthijszoon. If they were not the same, then there would be a "mystery captain" in command of an unknown ship. Jan Thyssen commanded the Vlissingen Directors' ship Witte Lam (40 guns and a crew of 145 men) for most, if not all, the war. He was often De Ruyter's flag captain after late 1652.

An example of the notes I am taking: Cornelis van Velsen and the Gelderland

I am working on a comprehensive document for the First Anglo-Dutch War, that involves taking notes from the various published sources, documents, and input from Carl Stapel. The entry for Cornelis van Velsen, whose ship was the Gelderland, is an example:

Key:

Adm=Admiralty
A=Admiralty of Amsterdam
h=hired
Acq=Acquisition date
Type=hired, purchased, built, captured
Note=Note date

Adm  Ship       Guns Crew Acq Type Note   Commander           Ship    Capt    Note
A    Gelderland   28 100  1652 h   8/1652 Cornelis van Velsen                 at the Wielingen rendezvous
                                   8/1652 Cornelis van Velsen                 De Ruyter's fleet
                                   8/1652 Cornelis van Velsen                 Battle of Plymouth
                                   3/1653 Cornelis van Velsen                 The Three Days Battle
                                   3/1653 Cornelis van Velsen                 Sailed from Amsterdam
                                   4/1653 Cornelis van Velsen                 Lying in the Texel roads
                                   6/1653 Cornelis van Velsen blown up killed Battle of the Gabbard

Jan Duijm in the Three Days Battle (Portland)

I had originally assumed that the Jan Duijm, whose ship towed Michiel De Ruyter's ship for most of the Three Days Battle was actually Jacob Duijm, captain of the Enkhuizen Directors' ship Vergulde Zon. However, I became persuaded that this was really the Zeeland naval officer Jan Duijm, and that he must have commanded some "mystery" Zeeland ship in the battle. After studying the list of 17 Zeeland ships that survived the battle and which sailed to Vlissingen together I think that either my original assumption was, in fact, correct, or that Jan Duijm was lieutenant of a Zeeland ship whose captain was either absent or who had been killed in the battle.

A confusing piece of information

In Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen, there is a notation that Joost Bankert's ship was captured after he was killed. In a letter dated 3 March 1653, there is a notation that Joost Bankert was dead, but his ship was with the 17 Zeeland ships, which I believe were heading for Vlissingen after the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland).

Among the mysteries that remain

Several of the mysteries that remain to be resolved are the name of Abraham van der Hulst's ship in the summer of 1652. Given that I have two lists of Amsterdam ships that claim to be comprehensive for 1652 and early 1653, the existence of an unknown mystery ship seems unlikely. Another mystery is why two ships involved in fishery protection, and which were taken by the English on 22 July 1652 are listed, but the Zwaan, listed in the Hollandsche Mercurius and other places is not shown. These other sources call the ship the Zwaan van Amsterdam, and the implication is that the ship was hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam.

A piece of trivia: Cornelis Jansz Brouwer's ship was called Vergulde Valck in a September 1652 manuscript

A handwritten document from September 1652 gives Cornelis Jansz Brouwer's ship's name as the Vergulde Valck. He commanded an Amsterdam Directors' ship that was long and slender: 132.5ft x 26ft-2in x 12.75ft. The ship carried 28 guns and in 1652 had a crew of 105 men. The armament consisted of 12-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns.

My current, best estimate of the 40 ships funded at the Peace in 1648

I am working on a complete listing of Dutch ships in the First Anglo-Dutch War, with the ships divided into categories with respect to how they were funded. I desire to use this in my all-encompassing book project: Dutch Ships in Various Operations in the First Anglo-Dutch War. This is my tentative list, including the 41st convoyer that Dr. Elias says was in service in 1652. It relies heavily upon my previous work and input from Carl Stapel, as well as Vreugdenhil's list:

Forty Ships of 1648 (Convoyers)

Rotterdam (8 ships)

Adm Ship                Guns Crew Date Commander
R   Dordrecht           26    90  ?    Jan de Liefde
R   Rotterdam           26    90  1639 Jan Aertsz Verhaeff
R   Schiedam            26    90  1643 Marinus Juynbol
R   Wapen van Rotterdam 26    90  ?    kapitein Boshuysen
R   Gelderland          20    90  ?    Jan van Nes de Jonge Boer Jaep
R   Utrecht             22    90  1638 Leendert Adriaansz Haexwant
R   Overijssel          22    94  1638 Cornelis Engelen Silvergieter
R   Haai, jacht         10    ?   1648 ?

Amsterdam (16 ships)

Adm Ship                Guns Crew Date Commander
A   Achilles            28   100  1644
A   Bommel              30   100  1645
A   Dolphijn            32   120  1633
A   Edam                28   100  1644 
A   Gouda               28   100  1636 
A   Leiden              28   100  1647 
A   Star                28   100  1644 
A   Utrecht             30   100  1633 
A   Westfriesland       28   100  1648 
A   Zutphen             26   100  1636 
A   Brak                18    70  1649 
A   Windhond            18    70  1649 
A   Overijssel          28   100  1650 
A   Zeelandia           32   120  1643 Jacob Huyrluyt 
A   Fazant              32   120  1646 Jan Jansz de Lapper
A   Engel Gabriel       ?    ?    1636





Zeeland (8 ships)

Adm Ship                  Guns Crew Date Commander
Z   Gecroonde Liefde      24    85  ?    Dingeman Cats
Z   West Cappelle         28   100  1638 Claes Jansz Sanger
Z   some ship             26   100  ?    Adriaan Banckert
Z   Jager                 14    56  ?    Adriaan Jansz den Oven
Z   Neptunus              28   131  ?    Jan Pouweszoon
Z   Hollandia             ?    ?    ?    Filip Joosten
Z   Dordrecht             17    60  ?    Pieter Gorcum
Z   Liefde                26    86  ?    Joost Banckert de Jonge

Noorderkwartier (8 ships)

Adm Ship                  Guns Crew Date Commander
N   Burcht van Alkmaar    24    95  1645 Gerrit Nobel
N   Eenhoorn              28    90  1625 ?
N   Enkhuizen             28    ?   1645 ?
N   Kasteel van Medemblik 26   100  1640 Gabriel Antheunissen
N   Monnikendam           26    95  1640 Arent Dirckszoon
N   Hoorn                 32   100  1636 ?   
N   Hollandsche Tuin      36   130  1636 ?
N   Burcht                24   100  ?    Pieter Aldertszoon


The 41st Convoyer

Adm Ship                  Guns Crew Date Commander
F   Graaf Willem, jacht   12    ?   1644 ?  

Hendrick de Munnick and the 26 February 1652 list

While researching the list of ships returning from Brazil in June 1652, I consulted the list of ships in service for the Admiralty of Rotterdam (the Maze). I was reminded that Hendrick de Munnick's ship Holland (or Wapen van Holland) was a States' ship, not a hired ship, and that we know its dimensions. The Wapen van Holland was apparently built to the 116ft charter, the same as the Gorinchem (or Gorcum) and other ships. Her dimensions in Amsterdam feet were something like 116ft x 27ft x 11ft. The document makes the point that the dimensions were all in Maas feet, divided into 12 inches. The "Holland" is listed as having dimensions of 106ft x 25ft x 10ft. The Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654, compiled in July 1654, gives the dimensions as 106ft x 25ft x 9.5ft for the ships built to this charter. There is no particular reason to think that they are more accurate than the dimensions listed in the 26 February 1652 document. The converted dimensions in my spreadsheet match Dr. Weber's dimensions for the Gorinchem, so they could be better than those in the Staet.

One immediate problem with my list

I realized that I had not considered the Noorderkwartier ships that are known to have been included in the 36 cruisers funded in 1651. They need to be deducted from those that I included for 1648. We are reasonably sure that all forty ships were in service in early 1652, and probably one extra ship, as Dr. Elias mentions 41 ships. There were also the 36 cruisers funded in 1651 and the ten ships sent to Brazil, which returned by June 1652, when some were lost.

What ships might have been among the "Forty Ships" of 1648

The least documented group of ships in the Dutch navy for the First Anglo-Dutch War are the forty ships funded at the peace treaty with Spain in 1648. This is an estimate of which those ships might have been. The only sure ship is probably the Brederode. The ships in service for the Admiralty of Zeeland are the biggest unknown.

Forty ships of 1648

Rotterdam        8 ships
Amsterdam       16 ships
Zeeland          8 ships
Noorderkwartier  8 ships

Total           40 ships

Adm  Ship             Guns  Crew  Date
R    Brederode        54    270   1645
R    Dolphijn         32     ?    1634
R    Gelderland       26     ?    1632
R    Gorinchem        30    131   1639
R    Nijmegen         26     ?    1645
R    Overijssel       22     94   1638
R    Schiedam         26     ?    1642
R    Utrecht          22     90   1638

A    Achilles         28     ?    1644*
A    Bommel           30     ?    1645*
A    Dolfijn          32     ?    1632
A    Edam             28     ?    1644
A    Fazant           32     ?    1646
A    Gouda            28     ?    1636*
A    Leeuwarden       36     ?    1645
A    Leiden           26     ?    1647
A    Nassau           36     ?    1636* Sold in 1652
A    Overijssel       28     ?    ?     Sold in 1652
A    Star             28     ?    1644
A    Utrecht          30     ?    1633
A    Westfriesland    28     ?    1648*
A    Zeelandia        30     ?    1643
A    Zutphen          34     ?    1636*
A    Zutphen          26     ?    1636

N  Burcht van Alkmaar 24     95   1645*
N    Eenhoorn         30     90   1635
N    Enkhuizen        28     ?    1645
N    Jonge Prins      28     90   1634
N Kasteel van Medemblik 28   90   1640
N    Medemblik        28     ?    1640
N    Monnikendam      28     ?    1640
N    Hoorn            30     ?    1636

Z    West Cappelle    28     ?    1638
Z    Zeelandia        32     ?    1642
Z   Wapen van Zeeland             1642
Z   Wapen van Zeeland             1643
Z    Meermin          34          1641
?

This is based in part from Vreugdenhil's list and from information from Carl Stapel.

As I have previously written, many ships were hired by the Directors of the various port cities, starting in January 1653

Some interesting handwritten documents still exist that give information about ships hired by the Directors of the various Dutch port cities. Most of what exists is for the Amsterdam Directors. I only know about these documents because of Jan Glete's book, Navies and Nations. I contacted him and he provided me more information, and Rick van Velden, at the Nationaal Archief was able to find many of the documents, along with a few Jan Glete had not seen. Ron van Maanen had told Jan Glete about them, when Jan was doing research for Navies and Nations (as I understand).

These are ships that are mentioned in the manuscripts that I have, that were mentioned starting in January 1653. Some were not hired then, but just appear in lists:

10 January 1653

Ship          Length Beam    Hold   Height  Guns
                                    Between
                                    Decks
Engel Michiel 120ft  27.75ft 13ft   6.75ft  28 guns: 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 2-3pdr
Sint Pieter   123ft  28ft    12.5ft 6.5ft   28 guns: 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 2-3pdr

27 January 1653

Ship          Length Beam    Hold Height       Guns
                                  Between
                                  Decks
Samson        119ft  28ft    13ft 6.25 or 6.5ft 28 guns: 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 2-3pdr

28 January 1653

Ship                 Length Beam    Hold    Height  Guns
                                            Between
                                            Decks
Hollandsche Tuin     130ft  29ft    13.5ft  6.75ft  32 guns: 4-18pdr, 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 2-3pdr
Moor                 137ft  31ft    13.5ft  7ft     34 guns: 20-12pdr, 12-6pdr, 2-3pddr
Moorin               125ft  29ft    12.75ft 7ft     28 guns: 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 2-3pdr

30 January 1653

Ship          Length Beam    Hold Height  Guns
                                  Between
                                  Decks
Catharina     125ft  28.5ft  13ft 7ft     28 guns: 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 2-3pdr

18 March 1653


Ship            Length Beam    Hold   Height  Guns
                                      Between
                                      Decks
Gulden Pelicaen 126ft  26.75ft 12.5ft 6.25ft  28 guns: 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 2-3pdr

4 April 1653

Ship                 Length Beam    Hold    Height  Guns
                                            Between
                                            Decks
Keurvorst van Keulen 131ft  30ft    13.25ft 7ft     34 guns: 18-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 4-6pdr, 2-2-3pdr
Koning David         124ft  29ft    13ft    7ft     28 guns: 12-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 2-3pdr
Schacht den Harculus 120ft  28.5ft  13ft    7ft     28 guns: 10-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 6-6pdr, 2-3pdr

There are a few other ships that we know about that do not appear in the documents that I have:

Adm    Ship                 Guns Crew
Mi-Dir Bonaventura          ?    ?    ex-English Anthony Bonaventure
Mi-Dir Gekroonde Liefde     34   145
Me-Dir Koning Radboud       28   100
Ho-Dir Purmerland           34
A-Dir  Walvisch             30   110

De Jonge's list for March 1653

I looked again at De Jonge's list (appendix XXII to Vol.I of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen) for March 1653. Despite there being no ship names, there is a wealth of useful information. I have written some about this previously, but I wanted to emphasize a few things, for my current reference. One is that this is the only place that I have seen the crew listed for Witte de With's former flagship, the Rotterdam ship Prinses Louise. Her crew in March 1653 was 124 sailors and 46 soldiers. By this date, her captain was Abel Roelantsz Verboom (usually just called Abel Roelants or "Vader Abel"). The crew sizes in this list are probably nominal numbers, but that is what is typically listed, anyway, except you usually do not see figures for soldiers carried. Another ship, Jan Evertsen's former flagship, the Hollandia (usually given as 38 guns, but 36 guns in this list) is listed as having a crew of 116 men (not the usual figure of 160 men). The Hollandia's captain was Adriaan Banckert.

Pieter Florissen's squadron in 1652

Pieter Florissen (Floriszoon) was a Schout-bij-Nacht (Rear-Admiral) in May 1652. He was apparently with Tromp's fleet of 42 ships off Dover on 29 May 1652, when an impromptu battle was fought with the English, commanded by Robert Blake. We have Dr. Ballhausen's list in his book. What we really need is the list of signatories to the letter that Tromp wrote after the battle, as that would give us the definitive list. We do have lists for 30 June 1652 and the Battle of Dungeness on 10 December 1652. We do not have fleet organizations for the other lists that exist. This is the list of commanders and ships:

Commander                    Adm Ship                  Guns Crew 29 May 30 Jun 10 Dec
Pieter Aldertszoon        N      Burcht                24   100  X
Gabriel Antheunissen      N      Kasteel van Medemblik 26   100                X
Pieter Adriaansz van Blocker Ho-Dir some ship          28   105                X
Frederick Bogaart         A-Dir  Engel Michiel         28   115         X
Jacob Claesz Boot         Mo-Dir Zwarte Beer           32   115         X      X
commandeur Bourgoigne     N      Enkhuizen             34   120*               X
Hendrick Jansz Camp       F      Groningen             36   110*               X
Jan Warnaertsz Capelman   N      Alkmaar               28    95  X      X
Ariaen Heeres Cleyntien   Ha-Dir Vergulde Pelicaen     28   100         X
Joris de Colerij          A      Hoop                  28   100         X
Jacob Paulusz Cort        A      Star                  28    95         X
Jan Pietersz Deucht       Me-Dir Sint Jeronimus        30   110         X
Arent Dirckszoon          N      Monnikendam           24    95  X      X      X
Gerrit Femssen            N      Wapen van Enkhuizen   30   110  X      X
Pieter Florissen          N      Monnikendam           32   120  X      X      X
Willem Ham                N      Sampson van Hoorn     24    80  X      X
Jan Heck                  N      Eenhoorn              28    90                X
Jacob Pietersz Hoeck      Ho-Dir Sampson               30   110         X      X
Jan Frederiksz Houcboot   Ed-Dir Vergulde Meerman      30   110         X      X
Abraham van der Hulst     A      some ship             26   100         X
Ewout Jeroenszoon         A      Zutphen               28   100                X
Stoffel Juriaenszoon      A-Dir  Sint Francisco        28   105         X
Gijsbert Malcontent       En-Dir some ship             28   110                X
Herman Munnekes           N      some ship             ?    ?                  X
Gerrit Munt               N      Huis van Nassau       24*   80* X
Gerrit Nobel              N      Burcht van Alkmaar    24    95  X
Rombout van der Parre     F      Prinses Albertina     24    70                X
Andries Douwesz Pascaert  Ha-Dir Sint Vincent          28   105                X
Tijs Tijmensz Peereboom   N      Peereboom             24    80  X             X
Lambert Pieterszoon       A-Dir  Nassouw               34   130         X
Cornelis Jansz Poort      A-Dir  Kroon Imperiaal       34   125         X
Pieter Schellinger        N      Stad Medemblick       26   100  X      X
Reynst Cornelisz Sevenhuysen N   Roode Leeuw           24    85  X
Jacob Sijvertsz Spanheijm A-Dir  Elias                 34   120         X      X
Cornelis Pietersz Taenman N      Prins Maurits         28   105  X             X
Teunis Vechterszoon       N      Scheletje             24    70                X

Sources:

1. Dr. Carl Ballhausen, Der Erste Englisch-Hoellandische Seekrieg 1652-1654, 1923
2. James C. Bender, expansion of a list from Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "The Dutch Fleet on 30 June 1652", 2006
3. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2005
4. Dr. S. R. Gardiner, and C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.III, 1906

Ships that joined Witte de With's fleet on 29 September 1652

Outside the Bruges shallows, on 29 September 1652, several ships joined Witte de With's fleet:

Adm    Rank      Commander            Ship           Guns Crew
R      kapitein  Abel Roelants        Brederode      54   250
R-Dir  kapitein  Ruth Jacobsz Buys    a ship         26   105
A-Dir  kapitein  Lambert Pieterszoon  Nassouw        34   130
A-Dir  kapitein  Sipke Fockes         Sint Maria     28   100
A-Dir  luitenant Ulrich de Jaeger     Nieuw Gideon   34   115
N      kapitein  Teunis Vechterszoon  Scheletje      24    70
Me-Dir kapitein  Jan Pietersz Deucht  Sint Jeronimus 30   110

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2005
2. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.II, 1900

English Captain: Elias Drew

Elias Drew served in both the Parliamentarian and Commonwealth navies. From 1645 until 1646, he commanded the Lucy, a hired merchantman. In 1645 he served in the Summer Guard and the Winter Guard. In 1646, he also served in the Summer Guard, and was stationed at Portsmouth or West. In 1650, he commanded the Lucy again, in the naval service. Perhaps he was her master or owner. From 1653 until 1654, he commanded the Lucy, again. The Lucy was apparently a 20-gun vessel of 164 tons. From 1654 until 1655, he commanded the Dutch prize Plover (ex-Dutch Morgenstar). Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964
2. R. C. Anderson, Lists of Men-of-War 1650-1700: Part I English Ships 1649-1702, 1966
3. J. R. Powell, The Navy in the English Civil War, 1962

English Captain: Elias Drew

Elias Drew served in both the Parliamentarian and Commonwealth navies. From 1645 until 1646, he commanded the Lucy, a hired merchantman. In 1645 he served in the Summer Guard and the Winter Guard. In 1646, he also served in the Summer Guard, and was stationed at Portsmouth or West. In 1650, he commanded the Lucy again, in the naval service. Perhaps he was her master or owner. From 1653 until 1654, he commanded the Lucy, again. The Lucy was apparently a 20-gun vessel of 164 tons. From 1654 until 1655, he commanded the Dutch prize Plover (ex-Dutch Morgenstar). Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964
2. R. C. Anderson, Lists of Men-of-War 1650-1700: Part I English Ships 1649-1702, 1966
3. J. R. Powell, The Navy in the English Civil War, 1962

The Dutch warships in reserve prior to 1652

We believe that the 36 ships funded by an act of the States General in 1651 were all purpose-built warships. At least a few were new construction, such as the Admiralty of Amsterdam ships Vrede, Vrijheid, Jaasveld, and Overijssel (presumably). The others that we know of, in service with the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier, were warship that were apparently "in reserve", and could be reactivated. The 36 ships may well have consumed the entire inventory of ships in reserve, as there seem to have been none available to add in 1652. Those were all merchant ships hired by the Directors and the admiralties. The ships in service in early 1652, prior to the hiring of the 50 Directors' ships and the 100 ships to be hired by the admiralties consisted of the following:

41 ships (not 40) ships in service since the peace treaty in 1648
36 "cruisers" funded in 1651
10 ships for a relief squadron sent to Brazil, 
     which had returned by June 1652.

We also know that while all, or almost all of the 50 Directors' ships were immediately hired, only about 38 ships were hired by the admiralties, out of the 100 ships funded. The reason is at least in part that there was a shortage of suitable ships in home waters.

Unlike the Dutch navy in early 1652, we have a good list of the English navy

The First Dutch War, Vol.I, starting on page 64, has the complete list of the ships in service with the English navy in early 1652. You can see the list in the Google Book search. Dr. Elias compares the two fleets in De Vlootbouw in Nederland. This list actually contains 90 ships, although the last ketch in the list had yet to enter service. Dr. Elias credited them with 86 ships. The English, like the Dutch, still had ships in reserve, such as the Resolution (ex-Prince Royal) and the Sovereign, that are not included. The Dutch, at this date, had only one ship that would have counted as a 3rd Rate (the Brederode), while the English had the two 1st Rates in reserve, and the 6 2nd Rates that were in service. They also had 9 3rd Rates, although by the Restoration, many would be downgraded to 4th Rates (such as the Entrance).

The English expedition to the Baltic in late 1652

Andrew Ball commanded a squadron sent to the Baltic in the fall of 1652. They sailed in September with 18 ships. We seem to only have an incomplete list. Andrew Ball used the large, new 3rd Rate Antelope as his flagship. They encountered a storm on the homeward voyage and the Antelope was wrecked on the coast of Jutland, in Denmark. This is the list of ships of which we are reasonably sure, based on R. C. Anderson's article in the 1938 Mariner's Mirror:

Rate Ship                  Date   Guns Crew  Commander
3rd  Antelope              1652   50   350   Andrew Ball
4th  Tiger                 1623   40   350   James Peacock
5th  Recovery                     24    80   Francis Allen
5th  Star                  1643   24    80   Peter Motham
4th  Gillyflower           1651   32   120   John Hayward
5th  Paul (P)              1652   30   120   Thomas Adams
4th  Prosperous (M)               44   180   John Barker
5th  Elizabeth and Ann (M)        30   120*  Richard Langford
5th  Oak (P)               1652   32   120   John Edwin
5th  Greyhound             1636   20    80   Henry Southwood
4th  Hannibal (M)                 44   180   Francis Barham
4th  Thomas and William (M)       36   140   John Jefferson
4th  John (M)                     34   150   John Cole

There were five others whose identity is unknown. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, "English Fleet-Lists in the First Dutch War," The Mariner's Mirror, Vol.XXIV No.4, October 1938
2. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964
3. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910

The English fleet in the Downs on 17 June 1652 (new style)

We do have a list of the English fleet lying in the Downs on 17 June 1652 (new style). The list is sparse, but I can fill in many of the details. The old ships such as Garland and Entrance were classed as small 3rd Rates in the First Anglo-Dutch War, but after the Restoration were classed as 4th Rates.

Navy Ships

Rate Ship                 Date   Guns Crew  Commander
2nd  James                1634   60   350   William Penn
2nd  Triumph              1623   62   350   Benjamin Blake
2nd  Andrew               1622        350   Nehemiah Bourne
2nd  Victory              1620   52   300   Lionel Lane
3rd  Speaker              1650   52   280   John Gilson
3rd  Fairfax              1650        280   John Lawson
3rd  Garland              1620   44   200   John Gibbs
3rd  Entrance             1619        200   
3rd  Convertine           1650        200   
3rd  Worcester            1651   44   200   
4th  Laurel               1651   48   200   
4th  Centurion            1650   40   180   
4th  Adventure            1646   40   160   
4th  Nonsuch              1646   38   160   
4th  Dragon               1647   38   160   
4th  Assurance            1646   32   160   
4th  Diamond              1651   40   180  
4th  Ruby                 1651   42   180   
4th  President            1650   42   180   
4th  Foresight            1650   40   180   
4th  Sapphire             1651   38   160   
4th  Portsmouth           1650   36   170   
4th  Advice               1650        170   
4th  Tiger                1647   40   160   James Peacock
5th  Greyhound            1636         80   
5th  Mermaid              1651   24    90   
5th  Nightingale          1651         90   
5th  Swan                 1645         80   
5th  Old Warwick          1643         80   
5th  Cygnet               1643   22    80   
5th  Star                 1643   24    80   Peter Motham
4th  Gillyflower          1651   32   120   John Hayward
     Fortune                           70   
6th  Paradox                     14    60   
6th  Drake                       12    50   
6th  Martin                      12    50   
5th  Recovery                    24    80   Francis Allen
6th  Weymouth pink               18    60   
     Lady pinnace                      24   
FS   George                      
FS   Mousenest                   
     Horsely Down shallop 1652         50
     Deptford shallop     1652         50

Hired Merchant Ships

Rate Ship                 Date   Guns Crew  Commander
4th  Prosperous                  44   180   John Barker
     Hannibal                    44   180   Francis Barham
5th  Seven Brothers              26         Robert Land
     Richard and Benjamin        26         
     Hercules                    34         
     John                        34   150   
     Reformation                 40   160   
     Sandwich pink
     Mary ketch
     Richard and Martha          46   170   
     Loyalty                     34   150   
     Thomas and William          36   140   
     Love
     Giles                       30   100   
     Katherine                        
     Robert and Richard          46   170   
     Mary                        18    70
     Magdalen                          75

Hired Dutch ships in 1652 (UPDATED)

This is an attempt to collect the Dutch ships hired in 1652. Some of them paid off by late in the year. I am assuming that most of the fishery protection squadron were part of the 100 ships. This list is probably still incomplete, sadly:

Rank      Name                  Admiralty guns Sailors Soldiers Ship
kapitein  Jeroen Adelaar          A       30   100              Middelburg
kapitein  Hendrik Adriaanszoon    A       26    90     20       Sampson              
kapitein  Sijmon van der Aeck     A       30   100     20       Amsterdam            
kapitein  Lucas Albertssen        A       36   130     20       Drie Coningen
kapitein  Claes Aldertszoon       N       ?    ?                Nieuw Kasteel
kapitein  Pieter Aldertszoon      N       24    80              Burcht
kapitein  Evert Anthonissen       A       32   130     20       Hollandia
kapitein  Lambert Bartelszoon     Z       28   100              a ship
kapitein  Hans Carelsz Becke      F       24    85              Sarah
kapitein  Ernest de Bertrij       R       26*   80     20       Hollandia
kapitein  Jan Boermans            A       28   100     20       Prins Willem         
kapitein  Captain Bouckhorst      F       23    80              Sint Nikolaas
kapitein  Daniel Cornelisz Brackman Z     ?    ?                a ship
kapitein  Wolphert van Brederode  A       24    80     20       Hoop                 
kapitein  Gillis Thyssen Campen   A       24    80     20       Goude Leeuw          
kapitein  Isaak Codde             F       24    90              Postpaert
kapitein  Joris de Colerij        A       28   100     20       Hoop                 
kapitein  Barent Dorrevelt        A       30   100              Amsterdam
kapitein  Corstiaen Eldertszoon   R       26    85     20       Roskam
kapitein  Albert Claesz de Graeff A       32   100     20       Hollandia            
kapitein  Jan de Haes             R       24    80              Gulden Beer
kapitein  Willem Claesz Ham       N       26    90              Tobias (his 2nd ship)
kapitein  Abraham van der Hulst   A       26   100              some ship
kapitein  Hillebrant Jeroenszoon  A       24    80     20       Hollandsche Tuin     
kapitein  Filip Joosten           Z       26   100              Hollandia
kapitein  Quirijn van den Kerckhoff R     26    90     20       Maria       
kapitein  Adriaan van Loenen      A       24    80     20       Patientia            
kapitein  Johannes Michieslzoon   Z       20   100     a fast storeship (Sint Augustijn?)
kapitein  Gerrit Munth            N       ?     ?               Huis van Nassau
kapitein  Willem van Nieuhoff     A       40   130     20       Aertsengel Michiel
kapitein  Cornelis Oosteroon      F       12    ?               Waterhond, jacht
kapitein  Tijs Tijmensz Peereboom N       24    80              Peereboom
kapitein  Aldert Pietersz Quaboer F       28    80              Schaapherder
kapitein  Claes Sael              A       30   100              Maria
kapitein  Maarten Schaeff         A       28   100     20       Engel                
kapitein  Reinier Sekema          F       24    70              Hector van Troijen
kapitein  Reynst Sevenhuysen      N       24    80              Roode Leeuw
kapitein  Jan Sichelszoon         Z       28    95              Wapen van Zweden
kapitein  Jan ter Stegen          A       24    80     20       Keyser               
kapitein  Isaak Sweers            A       36   130     20       Engel Gabriel
kapitein  Cornelis Taenman        N       32   110              Prins Maurits
kapitein  Jacob Troncquois        A       30   100     20       Omlandia     
kapitein  Teunis Vechterszoon     N       24    70              Scheletje
kapitein  Cornelis van Velsen     A       28   100     20       Gelderland           
kapitein  Willem van der Zaan     A       28   100     20       Prinses Aemilia      

In the Mediterranean Sea late 1652 to 1653

kapitein  Pieter Tuenisz Bontebotter A    28   100     20       Zwarten Arend        
kapitein  Pieter van Breen        A       28   100     20       Sint Pieter          
kapitein  Hendrick Govertszoon    A       28   100     20       Star                 
kapitein  Cornelis Janszoon       A       28   100     20       Jupiter              
kapitein  Sijbrant Jansz Mol      A       28   100     20       Witte Olifant        
kapitein  Meijndert Theunisz OosterwoutA  28   100     20       Salomons Ordeel      
kapitein  Adriaan Rodenhaes       A       28   100     20       Rodenhaes            
kapitein  Jacob Janssen Roocher   A       28   100     20       Julius Caesar        
kapitein  Jacob Schellinger       A       28   100     20       Venetia              
kapitein  Harman Sonne            A       28   100     20       Madonna della Vigna 
kapitein  Pieter Jansz de Vries   A       28   100     20       Suzanna              

The Fishery Protection Squadron

kapitein  Dirk Bogaart            A       24    80              Juffrouw Catharina
kapitein  Dirk Claesz van Dongen  R       24    80              Paulus
kapitein  Willem Claesz Ham       N       24    80              Sampson van Hoorn
kapitein  Jan Heck                N       24    80              Adam en Eva
kapitein  Hendrik Kroeger         A       24    80              Marcus Curtius
kapitein  Herman Munnekes         N       30   100              Wapen van Holland
kapitein  Jan Noblet              N       24    80              Land van Beloften
kapitein  Reynout Sevenhuysen     R       24    80              Waterhond
kapitein  Dirk Vijch              R       22    80              Kalmar Sleutel
?         ?                       A       28   100              Zwaan
?         ?                       A       24    80              Arke Noachs
?         ?                       N       28   100              Sampson van Enkhuizen
?         ?                       ?       22    80              Sint Jan Baptista

(Carl Stapel kindly pointed out some ships that I missed)

Some of the Hundred Ships (to be hired in 1652)

This is a partial list of the ships hired to fulfill the need to for the Dutch Admiralties to hire 100 ships in 1652. In fact, only about 38 ships were actually hired in 1652. In all probability, there were never 100 ships hired. This is the list:

Adm Captain                   Ship              Guns Crew
R   Corstiaen Eldertszoon     Roskam            26   105
R   Quirijn van den Kerckhoff Maria             26   110
A   Joris de Caulerij         Hoop              28   100
A   Jan ter Stege (Verstege)  Keyser            26   100
N   Rens Sevenhuysen          Roode Leeuw       24    80
N   Gerrit Nobel              Burgh van Alkmaar 24    80
N   Gerrit Munth              Huis van Nassau   ?    ?
N   Allert Tamessen           Wapen van Hoorn   30   115
N   Willem Ham                Tobias            26    90
N   Cornelis Taenman          Prins Maurits     32   110
N   Claes Aldertszoon         Nieuwcasteel      ?    ?
N   Jan Noblet                Land van Beloften ?    ?
N   Herman Munnekes           Wapen van Holland 30   110
N   Jan Heck                  Adam en Eva       24    80
Z   Lambert Bartelszoon       a ship            28   100
Z   Johannes Michielszoon     a fast storeship  20   100
Z   Daniel Cornelisz Brackman a ship            ?    ?

The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, among other places, lists some ship which are stated to be among the Hundred, but we know that they were, in fact, States' ships, built for naval service. There are other ships that are likely to be among the Hundred, but the re is no hard evidence of that.

Shortly before the Battle of Plymouth

On 13 August 1652, Michiel De Ruyter's fleet was lying "under" Cape Gris Nez, apparently sheltering there. This was 13 days before the Battle of Plymouth. There is a good set of maps (an overview, a diagrammatic map, and a map that shows the terrain. This is at Surf-forecast.com. I would imagine that they were lying in the shallow bay on the north side of Cape Gris Nez. His small fleet, engaged in protecting convoys, was organized into three squadrons, each of which was organized into three divisions. The squadrons had fireships attached:

• De Ruyter's squadron: fireship Sint Maria, commanded by Jan Claesz Corff
• Joris Pietersz van der Broeck's (acting Vice-Admiral) squadron: fireship Hoop, commanded by Thomas Jansz Dyck and the fireship Amsterdam, commanded by Jan Overbeecke
• Jan Arentsz Verhaeff's (acting SbN) squadron: fireship Gecroonde Liefde, commanded by Jacob Herman Visser and the fireship Orangieboom, commanded by Leendert Arentsz de Jager

Joris Pietersz van der Broeck died late in the day on 27 August 1652, apparently not from injuries. He was replaced by the acting Schout-bij-Nacht (Rear-Admiral), Jan Arentsz Verhaeff and Jan Gideonsz Verburgh was appointed as acting Schout-bij-Nacht in his place. Sources:

1. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.II, 1900

I had intended the drawings that I posted last for Iain Stanford's General-at-Sea rules

The small drawings that I posted last were intended for use with Iain Stanford's General-at-Sea rules, published by the Pike and Shot Society. Iain's rules are simplified so that they can be used with large fleets. I am tempted to get back into the 17th Century ship wargame piece "business" (in the sense of spending some time making them, again). My wargaming has been confined to a bit of Privateers Bounty with my Anglo-Dutch Wars scenarios (see them at AngloDutchWarsBlog.com). I have a few sheets of ship pieces and my Privateers Bounty scenarios available for download. For the sheets, you probably have to save the page image. You can also do "Save Link As" over the page link, and you will be able to select where to save the page.

Ship drawing advice

If you are interested in building fleets of paper ships, but are not confident in your drawing, I would offer some advice. The less confident you are, the larger I would draw your ships. I would restrict them to an 8-1/2in x 11in page, however. When you draw large, draw with a pencil and do a quick sketch. Start with the hull, and measure so that you are drawing to a consistent scale. Next, after doing a loose sketch (I wouldn't bother with a ruler, just make it look more or less like you want). Then, after putting the paper on top of some newspaper or something that you can make marks on without a problem, use a fat marker and go over the lines. When the ink dries, preferably use a kneaded erasure to get rid of the pencil lines. Then, you have a choice. If you do not have a scanner, go somewhere where you can use a reducing copier. You may have to do several reductions. I would also recommend doing some calculations to try and get an acceptable scale. For a large fleet, I would recommend 1in = 100ft. Otherwise, 1in = 60ft is a nice scale. If you can, copy on index stock. Otherwise, you will need to mount your drawings on card stock. You will assemble a sheet of drawings, using a glue stick to mount them on an 8-1/2in x 11in page. Make copies, color and cut out the ships. Fold in half to make a tent. I have examples at AngloDutchWarsBlog.com.

Alternatively, if you have a scanner, scan the large drawing. You can then reduce it and even just using paint, you can size the image and copy and paste, multiple times. I like fancy text, so I do screen captures of text in a Word document. I copy and paste that onto the wargame piece. If the image is clean enough, you should be able to use the paint can to color the spaces between the lines. After you are done, you can print with a color inkjet printer on index (card stock). Then, all you have to do is to cut the ships out and fold them in half. The image shows what the pieces look like on a sheet.

Low-end wargaming pieces

All that is necessary to quickly build up a fleet of sailing warships is a white sheet of paper (preferably Index), a pencil, a ballpoint pen, a ruler, access to a copier, scissors and colored pencils. When I was in full production, ten years ago or so, I would drawn either a 1/4in or 1/2in margin around the page, and then do some quick pencil sketches (freehand, if you can) at 1in = 100ft scale. I would ink after drawing in pencil, and then after the ink dries, erase the pencil. I would rule lines across the page for the size that I would fold over to make a tent. When the page was full, I would make copies. I would color the copies, cut them out, and fold them in half. I would typically customize the drawing with a ship name, and possibly, the captain's name. That all takes time, but the process is much faster than drawing each ship by hand.

At this date, I would involve a scanner and paint program, so that copying the drawing is simple graphic editing. You may be able to color areas with a tool as simple as MS Paint. This is an example of the hand drawn ship:

Dutch Naval Officer: Cornelis Claeszoon

Cornelis Claeszoon was a Zeeland naval officer. He lived from 1543 until he died at Vlissingen on 15 December 1611. He started in the Zeeland Sea Beggars, fighting Spain. In 1572, he fought in the capture of Den Briel and afterwards on the Scheldt, where he burnt four Spanish ships at Sluys. In 1573, he served under Vice-Admiral De Moor. In 1574, he distinguished himself under Boisot in the Battle of Reimerswaal, in the relief of Leiden, and in a battle with the Antwerp fleet. In 1588, he was a Vice-Admiral of Zeeland. Also, in 1588, he was with the fleet blockading Parma during the Armada campaign. In 1594, he commanded squadron on the Flemish coast. Luc Eekhout says that Cornelis Claeszoon left the service on 1 October 1586, although he concedes that he was a Vice-Admiral in 1588. In 1602, he was in charge of personnel for the Admiralty of Zeeland. In 1608, he was on the council for the Admiralty of the Maze. Sources:

1. Luc Eekhout, Het Admiralenboek: De Vlagofficieren van de Nederlandse marine 1382-1991, 1992
2. J. C. Mollema, De Eere Rol, from Geschiedenis van Nederland ter Zee, Vol.II, 1940

Notes

Probably, only a handfull of people know about this or even fewer, care about these sort of things. They are all pieces of trivia about Dutch ships and captains in the First Anglo-Dutch War:

The source for the identification of Corstiaen Corstiaenszoon's ship as the Prins te Paard is Michael Robinson's book, The Paintings of the Willem van de Veldes, Vol.I, page 8. In the description of the grisaille of the Battle of Dungeness, Michael Robinson mentions the Prins te Paard as being the ship of "Korstiaen Korstiaenszoon". He has other things in the description that are incorrect, as he gives too much credence to an account in England about the Battle of Dungeness that has totally erroneous information about ship losses in the battle for both sides.

From an English letter in The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, we learn that Witte de With had taken a squadron of 18 ships across to Scarborough, fired off about 20 shots, held a council of war, and then withdrew. There is a letter from the Dutch side that supplies some of the captains' names, that I have mentioned in a recent blog post at Anglo-Dutch Wars about Cornelis de Groot. For whatever reason, Cornelis Cornelisz de Groot is largely unmentioned in the published literature, except in The First Dutch War, Vol.IV. I also have some handwritten manuscripts dating from early 1653 that give his ship's specifications.

The Friesland ship Graaf Hendrick, commanded by Jan Reyndersz Wagenaar, according to Vreugdenhil, was a ship belonging to the Friesland (presumably Harlingen) Directors. Vreugdenhil is the only source that I have seen for that piece of information. The only thing I would say about that is that if it is true, this is another ship that was a Directors' ship that is not included in the "Fifty ships" funded in early 1652. The others that Vreugdenhil lists are:

En-Dir   Sampson van Enkhuizen
Ho-Dir   Sampson van Hoorn
Me-Dir?  Scheletje, ship of Teunis Vechterszoon

The last ship is listed in Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet and The First Dutch War, vol.I, as being "of Medemblick".

Ships in Witte de With's fleet in September to November 1653

With the resources available to me, I can only construct a partial list of the ships in Witte de With's fleet that went to Norway and convoyed a merchant fleet back to the Netherlands from September to November 1653. Witte de With had cautioned against the operation that late in the year, but the rulers decided that it was critical to the nation. This very incomplete list is presented so that what I do know is captured for further use:

Key:
1DW6      = C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol. VI, 1930
schetsen6 = Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.VI, 1930

Commander                  Adm    Ship             Guns Crew Reference
Jan Admirael               A      Windhond           18  70  1DW6, p.149
Claes Aldertszoon          N      Wapen van Hoorn ?  30 120  1DW6, p.140
Jan Jansz Boermans         N      Prins Willem       28 100  schetsen6, p.121
Fredrick Bogaart           A-Dir  Engel Michiel      28 110  1DW6, p.149
Pieter van Brakel          A      Bommel             30 100  1DW6, p.118
Adriaan Bruynsvelt         F      Breda              28 ?    1DW6, p.160
Ruth Jacobsz Buys          R-Dir  ?                  26 105  1DW6, p.163
Jacob Cleijdijck           R-Dir  Prins te Paard     38 110  1DW6, p.118, p.149
Adriaan Heeres Cleyntien   Ha-Dir Sint Vincent       28 100  schetsen6, p.121
Gerard Demmer ?            ?      ?                  ?  ?    1DW6, p.118
Corstiaen Eldertszoon      R      Roskam             26 105  schetsen6, p.110
Gerrit Femssen             N     Wapen van Enkhuizen 30 110  1DW6. [/159
Pieter Florissen           N      Monnikendam        36 138  1DW6, p.29
Markus Hartman             Mi-Dir Gekroonde Liefde   36 145  schetsen6, p.121
Abraham van der Hulst      A      Vrijheid           46 170  1DW6, p.118
Cornelis Cornelisz Jol     A-Dir  Moorin             28 ?    schetsen6, p.121
Jacob Junius ?             ?      ?                  ?  ?    1DW6, p.118
Adriaan Nicolaesz Kempen   Z      Amsterdam          30 120  schetsen6, p.121, 1DW6, p.118
Egbert Meeuwssen Kortenaer R      Brederode          54 250  1DW6, p.118
Cornelis Kuijper (Huyser)  Z      Goes               26 109  schetsen6, Note 1 p.122, p.160
Frans Crijnsz Mangelaer    Z      Liefde             30 110  1DW6, p.118
Pieter Marcuszoon          Mi-VOC Louise Hendrika    45 ?    1DW6, p.118
Jan Egbertsz Ooms          A      Gouda              28 100  1DW6, p.160
Jacob Adriaansz Penssen    Mi-Dir Gouden Leeuw       30 110  schetsen6, Note 1 p.122, 1DW6, p.118
Hendrick de Raedt          A-Dir  Swarte Leeuw       28 110  1DW6, p.159
Jan Rootiers (Rootjes?)    Me-Dir Koning Radbout     ?  ?    schetsen6, p.121, 1DW6, p.160
Michiel De Ruyter          A      Huis te Kruiningen 54 ?    schetsen6, p.118
Pieter Salomonszoon        A-VOC  Vrede              40 200  1DW6, p.160
Commandeur Schooneveld     A      Gouden Reael       28 110  1DW6, p.160
Andries Sijbrantszoon      A-Dir  Purmerlant         ?  ?    1DW6, p.159
Evert Pietersz Swart       A-VOC  Gerechtigheid      ?  ?    schetsen6, p.122
Jacob Cornelisz Swart      A-Dir  Faam?              28 110  1DW6, p.118, p.149
Cornelis Tiebij            Z-Dir  Luipaard           ?  ?    schetsen6, p.121
Jan Gideonsz Verburgh      A      Graaf Willem       40 140  1DW6, p.118
Dirck Hendricksz Vogelsang A-Dir  Koning David       28 ?    schetsen6, p.121
Jan Reyndersz Wagenaar     F      Graaf Hendrick     30 ?    schetsen6, p.121
Jan Adriaansz van den Werff R-VOC David en Goliat    ?  ?    schetsen6, p.118
Witte de With              A      Huis te Zwieten    60 ?    schetsen6, p.118, 1DW6, 
p.29
Willem van der Zaan        A      Campen             40 140  1DW6, p.118

Dutch Captain: Evert Anthonissen (Anthoniszoon)

Evert Anthonissen (or Anthoniszoon) served the Admiralty of Amstedam. He lived from about 1600 until 1660. In 1626, he captured a Dunkirker. In 1627, he served under Van Dorp in the blockade of Dunkirk. In 1627 and 1628, he commanded the ship Sphera Mundi (24 guns), a vessel of 100 lasts with a crew of 70 men. The Sphera Mundi carried the following guns: 2-10pdr, 2-8pdr, 10-5pdr, 4-4pdr, and 6-steenstukken. In 1629 and 1639, he served under Tromp and fought against the Dunkirkers and at the Downs. In 1643, he served under Tromp in the blockade of Dunkirk. In 1652, he served under Tromp and was involved in the incident with Blake off Dover. In 1653, he was a convoy commander, taking ships to and from France. He fought in the Battles of Nieuwpoort (the Gabbard) and Terheide (Scheveningen). His ship, the Hollandia (32 guns and a crew of 120 men), was lost at Terheide. In July 1654, he commanded the new ship Stavoren (32 guns). In 1656, he took part in the expedition to Danzig, under the command of Lt-Admiral van Wassenaer. He was still in command of the Stavoren, which now carried 42 guns. In 1658, he commanded the Landman (40 guns and a crew of 136 men) in the Battle of the Sound. Sources:

1. Gerard Brandt, Het Leven en Bedrijif van den Heere Michiel de Ruiter, 1687
2. G. L. Grove, Journalen van de Admiralen Van Wassenaer-Obdam (1658/59) en De Ruyter (1659/60), 1907
3. list of ships with van Wassenaer's fleet in August 1658, from the Nationaal Archief , 1658
4. J. C. Mollema, De Eere Rol, from Geschiedenis van Nederland ter Zee, Vol.II, 1940
5. Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1628, 1628
6. Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654, 1654

Blogger has been having severe problems this week

Writing has been greatly reduced in the last few days, and even for much of the week, due to some severe Blogger outages, practically every day. I will try to blog as I can, when they are up, such as now.

There is a new 3D tool out that looks interesting and is free: Blender

I saw the Blender 3D tool today, and it looks extremely interesting. It claims to be able to Nurbs modeling, which would be really good for ships. Blender is an open source tool, and you can get the source code. Any artwork or models that you make with it belong to you.

My guess at the ships of the Admiralty of Zeeland in July 1653

Carl Stapel gave me a copy of his list of ships at the port of Vlissingen in July 1653, based on a document that I provided him. I have edited that list to correct and fill in missing entries. There is a certain amount of guesswork involved, sadly. I already see problems with what I wrote, as there were duplicate entries for Andries Fortuijn. I increasingly believe that the evidence suggests that Jacob Wolfertszoon commanded the ship Meermin. The Meermin has been missing from mention, even though the ship was known to have been in service. I have some doubt about the Vlissingen. Certainly, by July, the new ship, perhaps purchased from the VOC, was being readied for Jan Evertsen's use. In early July, the Vlissingen mentioned might have been the Vlissingen Directors' ship.

Adm Built/hired Ship           Guns Commander
Z               Hollandia        38 capitein Adriaen Bankert
Z   1643        Amsterdam        30 capitein Adriaen Nicolaesz Kempen
Z   1652        Eendracht        24 capitein Andries Fortuin
Z   1652        Gekroonde Liefde 23 capitein Dingeman Cats
Z   1652        Liefde II        30 capitein Frans Crijnsz Mangelaar
Z   1652        Neptunus         28 capitein Adriaen Jansz den Oven 
Z   1652        Liefde           26 formerly commanded by Joost Bankert
Z   1638        West Capelle     26 capitein Claes Jansz Sanger
Z               Zeeridder        28 capitein Gilles Janszoon 
Z   1652        Zeeuwsche Leeuw  30 capitein Cornelis Eversten de Oude
           (or Wapen van Zeeland)
Z   1641        Meermin          34 capitein Jacob Wolfertszoon
Z   1653        Vlissingen       40 capitein Jan Pouwelszoon

Carl Stapel has added some new information about what we know about the Dutch fleet in June 1653

Carl Stapel has added some information about what we know about the Dutch fleet at the Battle of the Gabbard. From the list of ships at Vlissingen in July 1653, we knew about a ship named the David en Goliad, belonging to the Rotterdam Chamber of the VOC. Carl found from Vreugdenhil's notes that the David en Goliad carried 42 guns. He also found from the Notaries that the small Rotterdam ships Overijssel (22 guns) and Utrecht (22 guns) were present at the battle. He does have reason to doubt that the Rozenkrans (ex-English Garland) and the Roskam (ship of Corstiaen Eldertszoon) were present.

Dutch ship armaments in 1628 and 1629

There are a quite a few ships for which we know their armaments in 1628 and 1629, mostly from the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the years 1628 and 1629. This is a very partial list:

Key:
ss=steenstukken
Ad = Admiralty
pr=pounder
Ch.=Chambered gun

1628
Ad Ship            Captain               Guns Crew Lasts Gun List
A  Sphera Mundi       Evert Anthonisz      24   70  100  2-10pr,2-8pr,10-5pr,4-4pr,6-ss
A  Orangieboom        Dirk Jansz Bijnacht  22   75  120  2-Ch.guns,14-guns,6-ss
A  Sint Clara      Cornelis Jacobsz Bors   26   80  100  4-12pr,6-8pr,6-8pr,10-5pr,6-ss
A  Gouden Leeuw    Hans Bournon            30   85  150  6-12pr,12-8pr,4-5pr,8-ss
A  Meerminne       Floris Jansz Cats       22   70  100  2-12pr,4-8pr,8-5pr,2-4pr,6-ss

1629
Ad Ship            Captain               Guns Crew Lasts Gun List
R  a jacht         Aert Aertsz             10   16   20  4-4pr,2-3pr,4-ss+8 chambers
R  Leeuw           Pieter van Allebounden  16   30   36  8-4pr,8-ss+16 chambers
R  Eendracht       Captain Blom            22   85  170  2-18pr,4-12pr,10-8pr,4-5pr, 2-4pr
R  Mars            Jan Matthijsz Brouwer   18   30   36  6-guns,12-ss

The most heavily armed Dutch ship in 1616 in De Jonge's list

De Jonge, in an appendix, has a table of ships in service with the various admiralties in 1616. He omits the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier, however. The most heavily armed ship he lists is a 36-gun ship in the service of the Admiralty of Amsterdam. Perhaps that ship is the Gouden Arent, also of 220 lasts and a crew of 90 men. The Gouden Arent, in 1617, was commanded by Quirijn Brack, according to what Carl Stapel found. The Gouden Arent went to the Mediterranean Sea in 1617 in the fleet commanded by Hillebrant Quast. De Jonge also has a table listing armaments, although without ship names. The armament is listed for the 36-gun ship, perhaps the Gouden Arent:

Lower deck:

2-brass 24pdr
4-brass 18pdr
12-iron 12pdr culverins

Upper Deck:

2-brass 6pdr
2-iron  5pdr sakers
8-3pdr steenstukken

Sources:

1. J. C. De Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, Vol.I, 1858
2. Carl Stapel, personal communication "Moy Lambert 1616 en Hillebrant Quast 1618", 2005

A little Privateers Bounty advice

I have found that assembling Privateers Bounty scenarios to be very satisfying. It is also very time-consuming, so it has been over a year since I did scenario building. Especially since I was using Dutch ships, I built a spreadsheet for doing calculations needed for Privateers Bounty. I needed to compute their English dimensions, with "length on the keel", "beam outside of the planking", and the "depth in hold" meatured at the center. The last requires estimating deck camber.

Privateers Bounty stores ship information in a text file that is formatted for easy parsing by their program. That means curly brackets and plenty of commas, with quotes, as I recall. The file that comes with Privateers Bounty should be backed up so that it can be restored. A feature of Privateers Bounty is that the real data is captured in the binary scenario file, and just a little of the database file is read, if at all, when running the game.

Ideally, you would add all your ships in a single scenario, even though they will not be used in the scenario. This simplifies adding further scenarios. Ships are assigned IDs and this is a potential source of problems as you add scenarios with more ships. I stress the importance of keeping a copy of your ship database so that you can restore it when something goes contrary to your expectations.

If you want to edit an old scenario and change the ships, the best way is to remove all the ships from the scenario, and then add them back, adding any new ships at that time. I generally try to fix the area size, land, and fortifications prior to adding ships. I am not really sure what all the effects are.If anyone is more current on the process than I am, I would welcome advice about how to improve or correct what I have written.

The Admiralty of Zeeland ships in July 1653

There were twelve Admiralty of Zeeland ships lying at Vlissingen in early July 1653. These are numbered 79 to 90 in the list. I will make another attempt at this list. They are listed as follows:

79  Good. Very not approached. Pressed to help.
80  Unready. 
81  Ready. (I can't read the rest of the note)
82  Unready.
83  Ready. (somthing about being old, and I cann't read the rest)
84  Unready. A hired ship.
85  Ready. Very small and old.
86  Ready.
87  Captured (probably the Neptunis, commanded by Adriaan Jansz den Oven)
88  Ready. Very small.
89  Unready. Poor sailer and old.
90  Ready. Vice-Admiral Jan Evertsen

I do not believe that we can list the ships in detail, but we should be able to list candidate ships for the twelve:

 
Neptunis          28 guns Adriaan Jansz de Oven
Gekroonde Liefde  23 guns Dingeman Cats
Hollandia         38 guns Jan Eversten, Adriaan Banckert flag captain
Amsterdam         30 guns Adriaan Kempen
Wapen van Zeeland 30 guns Cornelis Evertsen de Oude
Zeeridder         28 guns Gillis Janszoon
West Cappel       26 guns Claes Jansz Sanger
Eendracht         24 guns Andries Fortuijn
Liefde            30 guns Frans Mangelaer
10                ?       Jacob Wolfertszoon
11                ?       ?
12                ?       ?

This list is hard to complete. That is also the main reason I have not been able to complete the March 1653 list. I cannot fill in the names for Zeeland. We believe that there should be the Meerin (34 guns) and the Liefde (26 guns). The latter had been Joost Bankert's ship. I am apparently going to need help to finish the list, if it can be filled in completely.

One mystery

I find the persistence of the Dutch in building relatively small ships for so long a mystery. I suppose that part of the explanation is that, as Carl Stapel has said, Amsterdam opposed the maintenance of a standing battlefleet. They only wanted the navy to consist of convoyers. The phenomenon was magnified for the casual observer, in that Vreugdenhil's list gave the dimensions in Maas feet of 308mm for the ships built by the Admiralty of the Maze (Rotterdam). Maas feet are approximately 1/12 larger than Amsterdam feet of 283mm. Hence, the dimensions for ships such as the Prinses Louise, Witte de With's flagship at the onset of the First Anglo-Dutch War. Vreugdenhil's dimensions for the Prinses Louise are a small 110ft x 26.5ft x 11.5ft. Dr. Weber, in his book about the Four Days' Battle, listed the correct dimensions in Amsterdam feet: 120ft x 28ft-4in x 12ft-6in. These dimensions are in Amsterdam feet of 11 inches, not the 12 inches per foot of Maas feet. These dimensions indicate that the Prinses Louise was a decent-sized ship for the period, although not of the size of the Brederode (144ft x 35ft x 14.75ft) and Aemilia (144ft x 34ft x 14.3ft). There were also a good number of 40-gun ships built to a larger charter, 128ft or 128.5ft long and about 250 lasts. The Prinses Louise was about 180 lasts. She was eventually overarmed in late 1652 with 46 guns. He sailing and seakeeping must have suffered greatly with that many guns. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2005
2. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen, Vol.III, 1925
3. Johan E. Elias, De Vlootbouw in Nederland 1596-1655, 1933
4. H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984
5. A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938

We have been discussing Amsterdam's reduction to the First Anglo-Dutch War building program

In November 1652, shortly before the Battle of Dungeness, Lt-Admiral Tromp had proposed building 30 pretty large ships. Dr. Elias had the following table:

Admiralty   150ftx38ftx15ft  140ftx36ftx14.5ft  134ftx34ftx14ft

Rotterdam       1                2                  2
Amsterdam       2                4                  4
Zeeland         1                2                  2
Noorderkwartier 1                2                  2
Friesland       1                2                  2

This was quashed, mainly by the Amsterdam Board. The reasons are rather complex, but at least in part, they had a concern about being able to get large ships over the Pampus bar, at the entry to Amsterdam. The North Sea, and the coastal waters are shallow, and that might have also been a factor (by 1664, all those concerns were ignored). Carl Stapel suggested that another factor was that there was sufficient dislike of Tromp, that the immediate reaction would be to reject any suggestion that Tromp made. Carl also says that Amsterdam opposed a standing fleet and wanted only convoyers built. The senior naval officers, fortunately, embraced a battlefleet policy, such as that advocated by Mahan. There was also a continuing attachment to the frigate type that they admiralties had been building. There was a great deal of resistence to building English-style capital ships, such as the Vrijheid (which carried a lower tier of 18pdr guns, instead of 12pdrs). I have also wondered if Amsterdam was reluctant to spend money, and that might have been another factor. In the event, considerably smaller ships were included in the two 30-ship programs, at least nominally. In reality, there were a few larger ships built than had been originally authorized. Dr. Elias gave a final table, divided into four phases:

Admiralty       150ft  146ft  140ft  136ft  134ft  131.5ft  130ft

Phase I         

Rotterdam                                            1
Amsterdam                                     1      1
Zeeland                                               
Noorderkwartier                                      1
Friesland                                            1

Phase II

Admiralty       150ft  146ft  140ft  136ft  134ft  131.5ft  130ft       
                                        
Amsterdam                1      1                     
Zeeland                                       1               1

Phase III

Admiralty       150ft  146ft  140ft  136ft  134ft  131.5ft  130ft        

Rotterdam         1                           2               1
Amsterdam                       2      2                      6
Zeeland                                1                      4
Noorderkwartier                        2                      3
Friesland                              2                      3                                       

Phase III

Admiralty       150ft  146ft  140ft  136ft  134ft  131.5ft  130ft        

Rotterdam         1                                           4
Amsterdam                              4                      6
Noorderkwartier                        2                      3
Friesland                              2                      3                                       

Total             2      1      3     15      4       4      35

As you can see, a great many smaller ships and only a relatively few larger ships were built. The largest group other than the smaller, 130ft ships were those of 136ft in length. That was a newer, intermediate type. Sources:

1. Johan E. Elias, De Vlootbouw in Nederland 1596-1655, 1933

Large Dutch ships in 1652

The impression is often given that the Dutch only had small ships at the beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War. Admittedly, most purpose-built warships were under 130ft (Amsterdam feet of 283mm), but there were many large hired ships. The largest were East Indiamen, of course, and we cannot be absolutely sure of there size, but Herbert Tomesen, from Artitec, is reasonably sure of some of their dimensions:

Adm    Name                     Guns Crew Length  Beam    Hold
M      Brederode                54   270  144ft   35ft    14.75ft
A      Vrede                    42   160  131.5ft 32.5ft  13.5ft
A      Vrijheid                 46   150  134ft   34ft    13.25ft
N      Eendracht                40   140  130ft   32ft    12ft
A-VOC  Vogelstruis              40   200  160ft   38ft    18ft
Mi-VOC Prins Willem             40   200  170ft   38ft    18ft
A-Dir  Alexander                28    95  131.5ft 27.75ft 13ft
A-Dir  David en Goliad          34   107  130ft   32ft    12ft
A-Dir  Elias                    34   112  132.5ft 30ft    13ft
A-Dir  Groote Vergulde Fortuijn 35   135  141ft   31ft    14.5ft
A-Dir  Gideon van Sardam        34   115  132ft   29.5ft  13.5ft
A-Dir  Kroon Imperiaal          34   125  130ft   30ft    12.5ft
A-Dir  Groote Liefde            38   114  132ft   29ft    13.5ft
A-Dir  Nassouw                  34   112  130ft   32ft    12ft
A-Dir  Neptunis                 36   125  138ft   32ft    13ft
A-Dir  Prins Maurits            34   116  130ft   30ft    13ft
A-Dir  Sint Francisco           28   100  133ft   28.25ft 13.25ft
A-Dir  Sint Matheeus            34   114  140ft   34ft    15ft
A-Dir  Sint Salvador            34   125  130ft   30ft    13.5ft
A-Dir  Valck                    28    95  132.5ft 26.17ft 12.75ft
A-Dir  Zwarte Leeuw             28   110  130ft   28ft    13.5ft
Ed-Dir Halve Maen               30*  110* 130ft*  28ft*   12ft*

There was also the Jaarsveld built for the Admiralty of Amsterdam in 1651. The Jaarsveld carried 44 guns, but we do not know her dimensions. Of course, in 1653, many more large ships entered service.

Documents from 1653

In one document dated 20 January 1653, a Directors' ship named St. Pieter is mentioned. The ship has specifications as follows:

St. Pieter

Length: 123ft
Beam:    28ft
Hold:    12.5ft
Height between decks: 6.5ft

Guns:

10-12pdr
 8-8pdr
 8-6pdr
 2-3pdr

28 guns

Is this the Rotterdam Directors' ship or a previously unknown Amsterdam ship? I would now guess that it is the Rotterdam Directors' ship, although we cannot be sure.

In a document dated 27 January 1653, a ship named Sampson is mentioned. This is also a Directors' ship, but we cannot be sure by which Directors the ship was hired. We do have the following specifications:

Sampson

Length: 119ft
Beam:    28ft
Hold:    13ft
Height between decks: 6.25 or 6.5ft

Guns:

10-12pdr
 8-8pdr
 8-6pdr
 2-3pdr

28 guns

I would have said that there were all Amsterdam ships, but we do not recognize them as such.

Dr. Elias on the 12 ships from the fishery protection squadron in July 1652

In Vol.II of Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Dr. Elias mentions that the Hollandsche Mercurius for 1652 gives the armaments for 12 ships on pages 71 and 81 in that section. He says that the 12 ships consisted of 1-30 guns, 2-28 guns, 7-24 guns, 1-22 guns, and 1-20 guns. Page 71 in the Hollandsche Mercurius indicates that Willem Ham's ship, the Sampson van Hoorn carried 24 guns. I have at times credited the Sampson with 26 guns, as in the English service, she carried 26 guns and had a crew of 90 men. We only know that Willem Ham's ship was the Sampson from The First Dutch War. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910
2. Pieter Casteleyn, Hollandsche Mercurius, 1650-1691
3. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.II, 1923
4. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.I, 1898

We only know the dimensions of two ships hired by the Directors of the cities in the Noorderkwartier

There are only two ships in the service of the Noorderkwartier Directors for which we know dimensions. These are the Sint Jeronimus, hired by the Medemblick Directors, and the Halve Maen, hired by the Edam Directors. We know the dimensions for the Sint Jeronimus from Jan Glete's notes from his research in the Nationaal Archief in The Hague, when he was doing research for Navies and Nations. We have only an approximate idea of the dimensions of the Halve Maen in Amsterdam feet. We have the English measurements made after she was captured at the Battle of the Gabbard, and we have used our system for estimating the Dutch dimensions. This is what we know about the two ships:

Ship name          Directors  Captain                        Guns Crew Length  Beam  Hold
Sint Jeronimus  Me-Dir     Jan Pietersz Deught   30     110    116ft      28ft    11ft
Halve Maen       Ed-Dir      Hendrick Pieterszoon 30*  110*   130ft*   28ft*  12ft*

Sadly, too much of what we have listed about the Halve Maen are estimates, although the number of guns is based on an early list after she was captured by the English. Typically, upon first entering service, prizes retained their Dutch guns. The crew estimate is based on similar ships, such as the Vergulde Meerman (30 guns and a crew of 110 men), Jan Fredricksz Houcboot's ship, also hired by the Edam Directors. When first hired, Jan Pietersz Eenarm commanded the Sint Jeronimus, but he died suddenly in April 1652 and was succeeded in command by Jan Pietersz Deught, who had a similar enough name that he was not mentioned in any document or in the published literature that I have seen. We only know of the switch due to Carl Stapel's research in the "resoluties van de Staten van Holland van 1650 till 1659".

English Captain: Thomas Bedall

Thomas Bedall served in the Parliamentarian navy. In 1644, he commanded the hired merchant ship Hector (22 guns, a crew of 80 men, and 300 tons). He served in the Summer Guard for 1644. In 1645, he commanded the hired merchantship Hunter, according to Anderson. Powell still puts him in the Hector for the Summer Guard for 1645. From 1646 until 1648, he commanded the new frigate Adventure. In 1647, he was in the Western Guard. He was in the Winter Guard, as well, for 1647. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964
2. J. R. Powell, The Navy in the English Civil War, 1962

The July 1653 list of ships at Vlissingen: the Neptunis

There are a few ships that we can name, such as number 87 from the Admiralty of Zeeland. They had 11 ships at the Battle of the Gabbard, and one was captured by the English. Number 87 is apparently the one. This was the Neptunis, commanded by Adriaan Jansz den Oven. This was apparently the ship that had been Michiel De Ruyter's flagship in July and August 1652.

The July 1653 list of ships at Vlissingen: the Neptunis

There are a few ships that we can name, such as number 87 from the Admiralty of Zeeland. They had 11 ships at the Battle of the Gabbard, and one was captured by the English. Number 87 is apparently the one. This was the Neptunis, commanded by Adriaan Jansz den Oven. This was apparently the ship that had been Michiel De Ruyter's flagship in July and August 1652.

Amsterdam ships after the Battle of the Gabbard in July 1653

There is a document of ships at Vlissingen, Goeree, and the Texel in early July 1653. The list actually is an outline which is numbered and divided by admiralty, Directors, and Chambers of the VOC. There are notations to the side, and the list notes the ships captured or sunk at the Battle of the Gabbard. The list contains 105 entries and includes some fireships and at least one advijsjacht. I have written about this list before, but it is useful to look at it in more detail. There are 25 ships listed for the Admiralty of Amsterdam. Four are in the Texel (roads). One is at Goeree. One of the ships in the Texel is called "a small frigate", and is listed as being ready. One of the others is apparently a jacht and is listed as being ready (and in the Texel). The other two are also listed as being ready. The ship at Goeree (presumably, lying in the Goeree Gat) is listed as being ready, as well. A few ships have names attached. One is called the Leeuw, but I would suspect that it is the Leeuwarden, commanded by Govert Reael. Another is Jan Jansz de Lapper's ship, the Fazant (called here, the Phesant). Next is Gerbrand Schatter's ship, the Dolphijn (built in 1633). The next is called the "Oude Prins", and I believe that is Jan Jansz Boerman's ship, the Prins Willem. Then there is the Omlandia, which was commanded by Jacob Tronquoij (or Troncquois). Finally, there is Hendrik Kroeger's ship, the Leiden. One ship is listed as having exploded, and that was Cornelis van Velsen's ship, the Gelderland. One is listed as a fluit, lying at Vlissingen, that was unready for sea. That is a quick summary of the Amsterdam ships.

Marinus Claesz Juynbol commanded his father's ship in 1633

Claes Juynbol had commanded the Rotterdam ship Neptunis in the attack on the Spanish Silverfleet, and was killed in the fight. In 1633, Marinus Claeszoon Juynbol commanded the same ship, Neptunis, which had been built in 1623 and which had a size of 170 lasts. In 1633, the Neptunis had a crew of 85 men and carried 26 guns:

2 brass half-cartouwen 24pdr
2 brass half-cartouwen 18pdr
2 brass 12pdr
14 iron 18pdr
6  iron 6pdr

The Neptunis was stationed off the coast of Flanders when the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1633 was compiled (which is the source of this data).

The problemmatic nature of much of the information that we have from the First Anglo-Dutch War

When I first obtained volumes of The First Dutch War, from the Navy Records Society, I treated the information as being correct, as written. There were some causes for concern, such as as Allert Janszoon commanding a ship named Wapen van Hoorn, lying in the roads off Hoorn. C. T. Atkinson assumed, apparently, that Allert Janszoon was the Zeeland captain, so I dutifully included a ship named Wapen van Hoorn or Hoorn with the Admiralty of Zeeland. I am embarrassed to say that as recently as two years ago, I had one document where I had not recognized the answer. The answer is that there was a Zeeland captain named Allert Janszoon and a Noorderkwartier captain named Allert Janszoon Tamessen. Allert Janszoon Tamessen commanded the Wapen van Hoorn (30 guns and a crew of 115 men), one of the "100 ships of 1652" funded right before the war started in 1652. Allert Janszoon, the Zeeland captain, commanded the Vlissingen Directors' ship Dubbele Arend (28 guns and a crew of 110 men). I only recently acknowledged that he served the Vlissingen Directors, because I had previously assumed that since he commanded a ship named Dubbele Arend, that ship had been built for the Admiralty of Zeeland. In fact, Vreugdenhil says that it was hired by Directors from Zeeland. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910
2. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.I, 1898
3. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
4. A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938

The Friesland States' ships in March 1653

I believe that we can safely say that we have a fairly good knowledge of the States' ships in the service of the Admiralty of Friesland in March 1653. I hope that this is not too bad of a duplication of what I might have already written. There were just four listed in the list in the appendix to Vol.I of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen:

Ship name       Guns Crew  Commander               Length Beam   Hold
Groningen       38   110   Hendrick Janszoon Camp  132ft  31ft   14.5ft
Zevenwolden     38   140   Frederick Stellingwerff
Breda           28   110   Adriaan Bruynsvelt      120ft  29ft
Omlandia        28   110                           122ft  26.5ft 13ft

One ship missing from the list of States' ships is the jacht Graaf Willem (12 guns), commanded by Jan Coenders. This was built for the Admiralty of Friesland in 1644 and her dimensions were 74ft x 18.5ft x 7ft. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol. VI, 1930
2. J. C. De Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, Vol.I, 1858
3. A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938

New construction in Friesland between 1652 and July 1654

Friesland had five new ships on strength, after war losses, in July 1654, that had been added since 1652. There is a list in the appendix of De Jonge's Geschiedinis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen. We are able to "cheat" and consult the Staet van Oorlogh te Water for the year 1654 to aid us in filling in the ship names:

Ship name            Guns Crew Length Beam Hold Captain
Oostergo               52  95  140    36   14.5 Rombout van der Parre
Westergo               44  95  134    34   14
Stad en Lande          44  95  134    34   14
Groningen              44  90  132    31   13
Prinses Albertina      44  90  130    32   13.5 Adriaan Bruynsvelt

In addition, two new ships were lost in 1653. The Kameel (42 guns) seems to have been in the service of the Groningen Directors, and was sunk at the Battle of the Gabbard, in June 1653. The Zevenwolden (38 guns and a crew of, another new ship, was in the service of the Admiralty of Friesland. The Zevenwolden was taken and sunk at the Battle of Scheveningen in August 1653. Another ship is mentioned in Vreugdenhil and in the Staet named the Groenewald. It was purchased in 1652, as part of the new construction program. As the Groenewald is not mentioned during the war, or anywhere other than the Staet, I suspect that it was renamed. There is disagreement on this point, but her dimensions are virtually identical to those of the Groningen in Dr. Weber's book about the Four Days' Battle. Sources:

1. Liewe van Aitzema, Saken van Staet in Oorlogh in ende omtrent de Vereenigte Nederlanden (7 vols. 1655-1671)
2. Dr. Carl Ballhausen, Der Erste Englisch-Höllandische Seekrieg 1652-1654, 1923
3. H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984
4. J. C. De Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, Vol.I, 1858
5. Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654, 1654
6. A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938

English Captain: George Acklam

George Acklam served in the Commonwealth navy. From 1653 to 1654, he commanded the Guinea frigate. It would seem that George Acklam commanded some ship as early as 9 June 1653 (new style), as there is a letter from that date from Robert Overton to the Admiralty Council saying that he had put sailors on board Captain Acklam's ship. On 27 December 1653 (new style), the Guinea (34 guns) was lying at Portsmouth. Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964
2. C.T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.V, 1912
3. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol. VI, 1930

The July 1654 list in De Jonge's book in Vol.I

I can imagine that there are a number of people outside the Netherlands who are familiar with the July 1654 list of Dutch ships in an appendix to Vol.I of J. C. De Jonge's book, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen. There are fewer, still, even in the Netherlands, who have seen and are familiar with the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654. The new construction ships in this list were either purchases of newly built ships, or ships constructed as part of the first phase of the war building program (30 ships). The list is somewhat misleading, as De Jonge used the dimensions for older Rotterdam ships (the Admiralty of the Maze) in Maas feet (308mm) rather than in Amsterdam feet (283mm). Vreugdenhil's list has the same issue. I only understood what was happening after seeing the dimensions for the Aemilia in Ab Hoving's book about Nicolaes Witsen, and then seeing the 26 February 1652 list of Rotterdam ships. Both Ab Hoving and Jan Glete were aware of this issue, but in the published literature, I have not seen it noted. An odd feature of the Dutch navy in July 1654 is that some of the new, 130ft ships were armed with only 32 guns. Some of the older 128ft ships also received the same armament. I can only imagine that the reason was that either there was a shortage of guns, or that the ships were intended for overseas service, and were thus more seaworthy. Sources:

1. Albert J. Hoving, Nicolaes Witsens Scheeps-Bouw-Konst open gestelt, 1994
2. J. C. De Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, Vol.I, 1858
3. list of ships of the Admiralty of Rotterdam dated 26 February 1652, 1652
4. Staet van Oorlogh te Water for the year 1654, 1654
5. A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938

The Directors' ships from the cities of the Noorderkwartier

The list of ships hired by the Directors from the cities in the Noorderkwartier brings up some issue. There were seven ships hired. From the list from about June 1652 in the Hollandsche Mercurius (reprinted in The First Dutch War, Vol.I) and Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, we seem to have a complete listing:

Rank     Commander                    Adm    Ship name      Guns Crew
kapitein Jacob Pietersz Houck         Ho-Dir Sampson          30 110
kapitein Pieter Adriaensz van Blocker Ho-Dir ?                28 105
kapitein Gijsbert Malcontent          En-Dir ?                28 110The
kapitein Jacob Claesz Duijm           En-Dir Vergulde Zon     28 108
kapitein Jan Pietersz Deught          Me-Dir Sint Jeronimus   30 110
kapitein Jan Fredricksz Houcboot      Ed-Dir Vergulde Meerman 30 110
kapitein Jacob Claesz Boot (or Boet)  Mo-Dir Zwarte Beer      32 115

The only problem is that we have other information from Vreugdenhil. He assigns the Sampson van Hoorn (24 guns) to the Hoorn Directors and the Sampson van Enkhuizen (28 guns) to the Enkhuizen Directors. He would also assign Teunis Vechterszoon's ship, the Scheletje (24 guns and a crew of 70 men) to the Enkhuizen Directors. Of course, Hendrick de Raedt's list and the list from the Hollandsche Mercurius indicate that he was associated with Medemblick. In any case, the 50 Directors ship plan only allocated 7 ships to the cities of the Noorderkwartier, and these seem to be those that I list above. So why does Vreugdenhil assign the other ships to these same Directors, as well? This same list from June 1652 leaves open the possibility that Teunis Vechterszoon also commanded a Directors' ship, as Vreugdenhil indicated (just one from Medemblick, not Enkhuizen). All indications, other than Vreugdenhil, indicate that Willem Ham's ship, the Sampson van Hoorn, was a ship hired by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier (in fact, one of the 100 ships of 1652). There is no evidence in The First Dutch War, or any other published source, other than Vreugdenhil, regarding the Sampson van Enkhuizen. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910
2. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.I, 1898
3. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
4. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Schepen voor aanvang van Eerste Engelse Oorlog", 2006
5. A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938