Charnock's Biographia Navalis

You can now download the PDF file from Google Book Search for John Charnock's book Biographia Navalis. This is the full reference: Charnock, John Biographia Navalis; or Impartial Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of Officers of the Navy of Great Britain from the Year 1660 to the Present Time (6 Vols.). Google is constantly adding material to what can be downloaded, so you need to keep checking. I thought it too bad that they have not added John Thurloe's State Papers, yet. The copy they have seen is under copyright, but the original is from the early 1700's. The James Ford Bell Library, at the University of Minnesota has a very nice copy. I must admit that lower cost electronic version can be purchased from TannerRitchie Publishing. The original copy that is currently available for sale is priced out of reach of most people, above $5,000.

The Amsterdam frigate Beschutter

Ron van Maanen has the details of the Amsterdam frigate Beschutter, built at the naval shipyard in Amsterdam in 1692 by Hendrik Cardinaal. The Beschutter was broken up for parts in 1717. These is the information from Ron:

The frigate Beschutter

Dimensions:
best figures seem to be: 125ft x 32-1/2ft x 13ft
alternate figures: 115ft x 32ft x 13ft

34-38 Guns:
16-8pdr, 16-6pdr, and 6-3pdr guns

Crew: 150 to 195 men

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated but circa 1992

An early 1700's Dutch ship Huis te Warmelo

I am not very familiar with Dutch warships in the period 1700 to 1740. In looking for the Huis te Neck, I saw the Noorderkwartier ship Huis te Warmel. Ron van Maanen has some of the details about the ship, which was built at Medemblick in 1708. The Huis te Warmel was wrecked in 1715. This is the information that I have:

The frigate Huis te Warmel
  built by Cornelis Willemsz Blaauwvlag
    at Medemblick in 1708, on contract

Dimensions: 125ft x 35-1/4ft x 15-1/4ft

40 to 44 guns

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated but circa 1992

The Dutch fleet at the Battle of Nieuwpoort (the Gabbard)

I can quite easily give the outline of the numbers of Dutch ships that fought in the Battle of the Nieuwpoort (the Gabbard), although I would guess that there are a few mistakes in the list:

Ships of the Admiralty of Amsterdam:  25 ships
Ships of the Amsterdam Directors:  18 ships
Ships of the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC: 3 ships
Ships of the Admiralty of Rotterdam: 9 ships
Ships of the Rotterdam Directors: 4 ships
Ships of the Rotterdam Chamber of the VOC: 1 warship 
                  one advijsjacht, and two fireships
Ships of the Edam Directors: 1 ship
Ships of the Admiralty fo the Noorderkwartier: 10 ships
Ships of the Monnikendam Directors: 2 ships
Ships of the Hoorn Chamber of the VOC: 1 ship
Ships of the Admiralty of Zeeland: 12 ships
Ships of the Admiralty of Friesland: 4 ships
Ships of the Harlingen Directors: 1 ship

A valiant attempt, but with errors

The Dutch Wikipedia page for the Two Days' Battle of Nieuwpoort, called the Battle of the Gabbard by the English, is a valiant attempt at a Dutch order of battle. Sadly, there are some significant errors. Some of the list is obviously derived from some of my previous writings, some of which were in error. For example, the Vergulde Meerman is actually derived from my misreading of the Vergulde Maen, also called the Vergulde Halve Maen. I have since corrected that, but the Wikipedia page still has the error. In fact, they have essentially listed the ship twice, with two different captains. The Vergulde Halve Maen was, in fact, a ship of the Edam Directors, despite some references that say Monnikendam Directors. Another error, that I don't know the source, is to say that Andries Douwesz Pascaert was in the battle, which he was not, and that he commanded the ship Groningen. That is incorrect. He had commanded the ship Sint Vincent, but at the Battle of Nieuwpoort, the Sint Vincent was commanded by Adriaen Heeres Kleijntje. Spellings of captains' names are difficult, as different sources give different spellings. I am not in a position to correct the list, as I lack the diffinitive references. I probably can come close to a correct list, mostly due to Witte de With's journal and his letters. Carl Stapel has a list, but I do not have the sources he used, yet. I would start with the outline list of ships at Vlissingen in early July 1653, and start filling in captains and ships into the outline.

Witte de With apparently was keeping useful journals for a long time

I realized that Witte de With was keeping a journal with ship names, guns, crew, and captains for longer than just 1652 to 1653. The basis for the list in the book, De Sleutels van de Sont was Witte de With's journal from 1645. This same list appeared, in a less useful form, in R. C. Anderson's book Naval Wars in the Baltic. He had commanded the fleet convoying a large number of merchant ships into the Sound, past the Danes, who normally collected tolls. If the Danish fleet had contested operation, they would have been defeated, in all likelihood, but the strong Dutch fleet. One of the ships of the New Directors of Amsterdam, the Abrahams Offerande, commanded by kapitein Reyndert Claesz., had listing of guns or crew. There was a footnote indicating that these were "not filled in, in the journal of De With". Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, Naval Wars in the Baltic, 1910
2. G. W. Kernkamp, De Sleutels van de Sont, 1890

Dutch frigates built in 1653 and 1654

They were not included as part of the two 30-ship building programs, but the Dutch completed a number of frigates in 1653 and 1654, presumably to replace warlosses. The ships included:

Adm   Ship         Guns Crew Dimensions
A     Harder       28   140  114ft x 28ft x 11-1/4ft
A     Harderin     34   148  118ft x 29ft x 12ft
F     Klein Frisia 34   135  120ft x ?    x 11-1/4ft
R     Vrede        30   125  111ft x 27ft-3in x 12ft x 6ft-6in
Z     Zeeridder    28        116ft x 28ft x 11-1/2ft x 6-1/2ft

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

Jan Jansz Lapper's ship Phesant

Jan Jansz Lapper, sometimes called Jan de Lapper, commanded the ship Phesant (or Fazant or Vogel Phesant). The Phesant had rather modest dimensions: 120ft x 29ft x 12ft, with a height between decks of 6-3/4ft. The Phesant was built in 1646 and was charted to Denmark from 1666 to 1667. We know the guns carried by the Phesant at various dates:

16 Nov   1652:  18-12pdr and 10-6pdr
1 April 1653:  18-12pdr and 14-6pdr
  April 1655:  18-12pdr, 12-6pdr, and 2-drakes
1  April 1665:  18-12pdr, 16-6pdr, and 4-3pdr

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

Dutch warships on 29 April 1653

Witte de With's journal has the following information, dated 29 April 1653. I have annotated it with ship names:

Adm    Ship             Guns Crew Commander
Vl-Dir Haes             30   120  kapitein Bastiaen Centsen
Z      Westcappel       28    95  kapitein Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge
Z      Eendracht        18    90  kapitein Lambert Bartelszoon
Z      Haze             20    90  kapitein Jan van Hoesen
Mi-Dir Gecroonde Liefde 36   142  commandeur Michiel de Ruijter
                                  vlag-kapitein Marcus Hartman

Sources:

1. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Admiralty of Friesland ships in the 28 November 1652 list

The 28 November 1652 list says that there were two Friesland convoyers and two cruisers in the 1651 group. They are not listed explicitly, however. The rest of the ships are part of the 100 ships of 1652, hired by the admiralties. There is one mystery 36-gun ship that is unnamed, without the captain listed, either. There is just a dotted line and 36, for the number of guns. I suppose that might be one of the 36 ships. Perhaps the Westergoo (28 guns) and the Frisia (28 guns) are the two convoyers. Then the Breda (28 guns) and the unnamed 36 gun ship would be of the 36 ships. The rest would be funded as part of the 100 ships. Hendrick Jansz Camp's ship, the Wapen van Nassauw (36 ships), is apparently one of the 100 ships, and is different from the other 36 gun ship. Sources:

1. lijst van schepen in dienst van de Staet der Vereenigde Nederlanden, 28 November 1652

The 28 November 1652 list on the Zeeland contingent of the 36 ships

The 28 November 1652 list from the Collection Johan de Witt is really useful. Most of the questions about the 40 convoyers of 1648, the 36 ships of 1651, and the 100 ships of 1652 are answered there. They have the list of Zeeland ships that are part of the 36 ships:

Adm  Ship               Guns  Commander
Z    Hollandia          36    vice-admiraal Johan Evertsen
                              vlag-kapitein Adriaan Bankert
Z    Zeelandia          32    kapitein Andries Pietersz den Boer
Z    Zeelandia          32    kapitein Johan Naelhout
Z    Zeeridder          28    kapitein Gillis Jansz
Z    Neptunis           25    kapitein Jan Pauwelsz
Z    Vlissingen         32    kapitein Cornelis Mangelaer

The other ship previously listed was one of the 40 convoyers of 1648

Z    Wapen van Zeeland  34    kapitein Joost Willemsz Block
                        

Sources:

1. lijst van schepen in dienst van de Staet der Vereenigde Nederlanden, 28 November 1652

Some of the Zeeland ships in the First Anglo-Dutch Wars

After seeing a lot of the other sources for Zeeland ships in 1652 to 1654, the Staet van Oorlog te Water makes much more sense. The Staet helps to match ships against captains mentioned in other lists:

Adm  Ship              Guns Captain              Length
Z    Wapen van Zeeland 32   Joost Willemsz Block 118ft
Z    Zeelandia         32   Jan Naelhout         118ft
Z    Zeelandia         32   Adriaan den Boer     122ft

This was still difficult to match to ships, as there are three
complete sets of dimenisions, two of which are 116ft long, not 118ft:

Adm  Ship              Guns Dimensions
Z    Wapen van Zeeland 27   116ft x 29ft x 10-1/2ft
Z    Zeelandia         32   118ft x 28ft x 11-1/2ft
Z    Zeelandia         32   116ft x 28-1/2ft x 11-1/2ft

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654, 1654
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Staet van de monture van de schepen anno april 1655", from Nationaal Archief, Staten Generaal, Lias Admiraliteiten 1.01.04 inventaris 5563 (April 1655)

The Hazewind is probably the jacht also called Windhond

I wasn't thinking clearly. Carl Stapel reminded me, after I had also realized that the Hazewind jacht was probably the jacht also called Windhond. I have seen several sets of dimensions for the Windhond. They all differ on the hold depth:

The jacht Windhond (or Hasewindt)

Dimensions (Amsterdam feet):
115ft x 23ft x 10-1/2ft
              10-1/3ft
           or 10-3/4ft
or even larger at 116ft x 24ft

18 guns:
March 1653: 4-8pdr, 12-4pdr, and 2-3pdr
April 1655: 4-8pdr, 12-4pdr, and two drakes (probably 3pdr)

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

Isaac Sweers in the Mediterranean Sea in June 1651

Isaac Sweers, later an admiral, was on board the ship Gelderlandt in June 1651. He was Cornelis van Velsen's lieutenant. The Gelderlandt was in Gidion deWildt's squadron. I received a copy of his journal from this period from Rick van Velden, back in early 2003. There were four ships and a jacht in the squadron:

Adm   Ship        Brass Guns  Iron Guns  Crew
A     Vrede       14          26         130
A     Morgenstar  12          16         100
A     Gelderlandt 10          16          90
A     Leeuwarden  14          20         115
A     Hasewindt    8          10          80

Sources:

1. Isaac Sweers, journal kept by Isaac Sweers, initially on the warship Gelderland, starting in June 1651 and continuing until 1653, Nationaal Archief, Admiralty Collection Sweers 1.01.47.16, Inv. No. 2

I am curious as to how all these fluits were employed

This document that I have, from the Admiralty of Rotterdam, dated 7 March 1652, has the list of warships in service, with dimension, guns, and captain listed, the fishery protection ships, not listed by name or captain, but with dimensions and number of guns, and then a long list of fluits, with captain, dimensions, and numbers of guns. One of the ships listed was the Blompot, the ammunition fluit commanded by schipper Coolbrandt. There are many others in the list, such as the Wassende Maen. All dimensions are in Maas feet, rather than Amsterdam feet. Many have the ship name listed, but they often do not. The Wassende Maen was large enough, and well-armed enough to be suitable as a warship, although the deck height was rather low:

The fluit ship Wassende Maen, of Claes Fuddinckburgh
Dimensions:
Maas feet:  112-1/2ft x 22-1/2ft x 9-1/2ft x 4-1/2ft
Amsterdam feet: 122ft-8in x 24ft-6in x 10ft-4in x 4ft-10in

26 guns

Sources:

1. lijst van oorlogh schepen der Admiraliteit te Rotterdam, 7 March 1652

Jan le Sage's ship, the Gulden Haan

Jan le Sage commanded a Middelburg Directors' ship from about March 1652 up to the Three Days Battle, when his ship was captured. His ship was named Gulden Haan (or Vergulde Haan). The Gulden Haan served in the English navy as the Golden Cock. Ron van Maanen has the detailed information about the ship:

The ship Gulden Haan, kapitein Jan le Sage

Length from stem to sternpost: 124ft
Beam:                           29ft
Hold:                            ?
Height between decks:            6-3/4ft

36 guns:
8-18pdr, 4-12pdr, 18-8pdr, 6-6pdr

Crew: 121 men

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated but circa 1992

Zeeland ships part of the "100 Ships" of 1652

The list of 28 November 1652 has a great deal of new information. One of the things in the list are the Zeeland ships hired, as part of the 100 ships of the Extraordinary Equipage in 1652:

Adm Ship               Guns Captain
Z   Dordrecht          17   kapitein Cornelis Cruiningen
Z   Liefde             26   kapitein Joost Banckert
Z   Vlissingen         26   discarded by November 1652
Z   Eendracht          18   kapitein Lambert Bartelszoon
Z   Haze               22   kapitein Johannes Michielszoon
Z   Lieffde            30   discarded
Z   Sint Jan           26   discarded
Z   Offerande Abrahams 24   wrecked
Z   Wapen van Sweden   24   discarded
Z   Dolphijn           24   discarded
Z   Lieffde            23   kapitein Dingeman Cats
Z   Haes in 't Velt    30   discarded
Z   Faam (Fama)        30   kapitein Cornelis Loncke
Z   Sint Joris         24   kapitein Jacob Wolfertszoon
Z   Goes               26   kapitein Cornelis Cuijper
Z   Eendracht          24   kapitein Andries Fortuijn

English captain: Simon Bailey

Simon Bailey served in the Commonwealth navy. He commanded the hired ship Lisbon Merchant from 1652 until 1653. He fought in the Battle of the Kentish Knock in October 1652. The Lisbon Merchant carried 34 guns in 1652 and 38 guns in 1653. He may have fought in the Battle of Dungeness, although there is some uncertainty about that. The Lisbon Merchant definitely took part in the battle. Simon Bailey also fought in the Battle of Portland (the Three Days Battle). He sailed from Portsmouth on 30 March 1653 (old style) with William Penn's squadron. The Lisbon Merchant seems to have carried 4o guns and had a crew of 160 men at that date. At the Battle of the Gabbard, he was assigned to Lionel Lane's division in the White Squadron. He probably took part in the Battle of Scheveningen, in August 1653. Sadly, we have very few substantive information about Simon Bailey. We only know about what amounts to his resume. 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

A summary of the Dutch navy on 9 June 1652

There is a summary of the Dutch navy dated 9 June 1652:

Of 186 ships

Rotterdam (21 ships)

5 convoyers
2 ships in the Mediterranean Sea
4 ships in the North Sea
2 ships in Brazil
8 ships of the 16-1/2 ships of the 100 ships

Amsterdam (47 ships)

18 convoyers
 7 ships in the Mediterranean Sea
 5 ships on the Spanish coast, near Cape St. Vincent
 2 ships in the North Sea
 4 ships in Brazil
11 of 33 ships of the 100 ships

Zeeland (24 ships)

9 convoyers
3 ships in the Mediterranean Sea
4 ships in the North Sea
1 ship in Brazil
7 of the 16-1/2 ships of the 100 ships

Noorderkwartier (22 ships)

7 convoyers
3 ships in the Mediterranean Sea
4 ships in the North Sea
1 ship in Brazil
7 of the 16-1/2 ships of the 100 ships

Friesland (11 ships)

2 convoyers
2 ships in the North Sea
2 ships in Brazil
5 ships of the 17-1/2 ships of the 100 ships

 41 convoyers funded at the peace in 1648

 36 cruisers funded in 1651:

  5 cruisers on the Spanish coast
 16 cruisers in the North Sea
 15 ships in the Mediterranean Sea

 10 ships in Brazil
 38 ships of the 100 ships in the Extraordinary Equipage
 50 ships of the Directors
  6 ships of the VOC (East India Company)

Noorderkwartier ships with Tromp's fleet in December 1652

We have multiple lists of captains in Tromp's fleet, dating from late November to early December 1652. Some of the latest I have seen are quite interesting. I wondered if we might be able to figure out some mysteries by comparing lists:

Noorderkwartier captains

                          Johan Evertsen's  List dated       Ship
                                 journal    6 December 1652

Schout-bij-nacht Pieter Florissen     X        X             Monnikendam
kapitein Cornelis Pietersz Taenman    X        X             Prins Maurits
kapitein Arent Dirckszoon             X        X             Wapen van Monnikendam
kapitein Thijs Tijmensz Peereboom     X        X             Peereboom
commandeur Johannes Bourgoigne        X        X             Tobias
kapitein Jan Heck                     X        X             Eenhoorn
kapitein Volckert Schram                       X
kapitein Teunis Vechterszoon          X        X             Vergulde Schel
kaptein Gabriel Theuniszoon           X        X             Kasteel van Medemblick
kapitein Herman Munnekes              X        X

The most obvious missing ship names are the Stad Medemblick (kapitein Pieter Schellinger), the Hoorn (kapitein Pieter Aldertszoon), and the Wapen van Enkhuizen (kapitein Gerrit Femssen). I don't think that we have any way, for now, to figure out which ships were those commanded by Volckert Schram and Herman Munnekes.

Rotterdam ships from about March 1652

One document that I have, possibly dated 8 March 1652 (I am having trouble reading the inscription completely), is from about the same time as the 7 March 1652 list. The document has the following information, which I have augmented:

a fishery ship
Dimensions:
Maas feet:  106ft x 25ft x 9ft-9in, deck height=6ft
Amsterdam feet:  115ft-7in x 27ft-3in x 10ft-7in, deck height=6ft-6in
with 30 or 34 guns

a fishery ship
Dimensions:
Maas feet:  100ft x 24ft x 9ft, deck height=6ft
Amsterdam feet:  109ft-1in x 26ft-2in x 9ft-9in, deck height=6ft-6in
with 28 guns

the ship of Jan Hels
Dimensions:
Maas feet: 103ft-8in x 22-1/2ft x 10ft-10in, deck height=5ft-5in
Amsterdam feet: 113ft-1in x 24ft-6in x 11ft-9in, deck height=5ft-10in
with 28 guns

the pinnace of Jan Aerensz
Dimensions:
Maas feet: 92ft x 22ft x 10ft-7in, deck height=5ft-2in
Amsterdam feet: 100ft-4in x 24ft x 11ft-6in, deck height=5ft-7in
with 24 guns

the frigate Overijssel
Dimensions:
Maas feet: 100ft x 23ft x 8ft, deck height=5-1/2ft
Amsterdam feet: 109ft-1in x 25ft-1in x 8ft-8in, deck height=6ft
with 20 or 22 guns

the frigate Utrecht
Dimensions:
Maas feet: 100ft x 23ft x 8ft, deck height=5-1/2ft
Amsterdam feet: 109ft-1in x 25ft-1in x 8ft-8in, deck height=6ft
with 22 guns

The Gulden Beer

I wonder if the Vergulden Beer, in David de Wildt's list, is the same ship commanded by Jan de Haes (the Gulden Beer) from 1652 until about April 1653. The dimensions given are 120ft x 25-1/2ft x 11-1/2ft, with a height between decks of 6ft. The Gulden Beer, in service with the Admiralty of Rotterdam (or the Maze) had an armament of 6-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 4-4pdr, and 6-3pdr guns. Her crew varied between 80 and 100 men. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated
2. David de Wildt, Notitie van de schepen die tegen wordich in lant sijn, 22 February 1652

Jacob Verhelle and the Hasewint (Hazewind)

The Zeeland ship Hasewint or Hazewindt (28 guns) was apparently built about 1642. The Hasewint (the modern spelling is Hazewind) was a convoyer, and was one of the 40 convoyers funded when the navy was reduced in 1648, after the peace treaty with Spain. According to what I have from Carl Stapel, Jacob Verhelle commanded the Hasewint right up until 1652. The Hasewint was one of the ten ships sent to Brazil, after Witte de With had returned from there. The ships all returned in June 1652, but many of them were sunk or taken by the English. The Hasewint was taken to Dover on 28 June 1652. The Hasewint carried 28 guns and had a crew of 85 sailors and 20 soldiers. Sources:

1. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.II, 1923
2. Nationaal Archief Collectie Johan de Witt 3.01.17 collectie 2775h ( oktober 1652 )
3. Lijst van schepen in dienst van de Staedt der Veenichde Nederlanden, 28 November 1652

English Naval Officer: Andrew Cotton

Andrew Cotton served in the English navy, starting with the latter 17th Century. On 20 July 1677, the King appointed him to command the Experiment sloop. A few months later, on 16 January 1678 (they called it 1677, in the old style), the King appointed him to command the Hound sloop. A year later, on 15 February 1678, the Commissioners appointed him to command the double-hulled Chatham. A year and a half later, the Commissioners appointed him to command the 6th Rate Fanfann. On 20 October 1681, the Commissioners appointed him to command the Monmouth yacht. On 20 February 1683 (they called it 1682, in the old style), the Commissioners appointed him to command the Navy yacht. Finally, on 24 March 1685 (again, in the old style, they called the year 1684), the King reappointed him to command the Navy yacht. He fought in the Battle of Barfleur, in 1692, where he commanded the 3rd Rate Northumberland (70 guns) in the Blue Squadron. Sources:

1. William Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present, Vol.II, 1898
2. J.R. Tanner, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Naval Manuscripts in the Pepysian Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Vol.I, 1903

The Wapen van Ceulen (Arms of Cologne)

We apparently now know the dimensions of the ship the Wapen van Ceulen. David de Wildt's list has a ship of that name, with dimensions: 126ft x 26ft x 12ft with a height between decks of 6ft. I first saw this ship mentioned in Witte de With's journal (E8812) on page 203. The Wapen van Ceulen was hired by the Admiralty of Zeeland. Her captain was Frans Mangelaer. The Wapen van Ceulen apparently carried 30 guns and had a crew of 120 men in September 1653. The Wapen van Ceulen was part of Witte de With's fleet on the voyage to Norway from September to November 1653. Sources:

1. David de Wildt, list of ships that might be suitable to be hired, dated 22 February 1652
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

I used to think that there were few Dutch lists with ship names from 1652

I had long studied published sources about the First Anglo-Dutch War. I have been particularly interested and focused on the Dutch in that war. The published sources for 1652 just have lists of captains, with no ship names, except for Michiel De Ruyter's fleet in July-August 1652. One of the documents that I received last week is dated 11 May 1652. That list has captains' names and ship names. This list has just Zeeland captains and ships. The list is divided between "old" and "new" captains. The "old" captains commanded ships built as regular warships. The "new" captains commanded ships hired in 1652:

"Old" captains:

Ship                  Guns Captain
Zeeuwschen Leeuw      27   Cornelis Evertsen de Oude
Amsterdam             32   Adriaen Kempen
Wapen van Zeeland     34   Joost Willemsz Block
Hasewint              28   Jacob Verhelle
Westcappel            28   Adriaen Banckert
Zeeuwschen Jager      14   Adriaen Jansz den Gloeyenden Oven
Middelburg            26   Claes Jansz Sanger
Sandenburg            24   Pieter Gorcum
Orangie, binnenjacht       Frans Mangelaer
Maecht, binnenjacht        Jan Jansz van de Putte
Zeeuwschen Post,           Oovrert (?) de Moor
  binnenjacht

The ship Jupiter

The ship Jupiter was hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam for service in the Mediterranean Sea. Carl Stapel found that the Jupiter was hired at Venice in 1652. Cornelis Janszoon served as the Jupiter's captain. From the document found in the notary archives by Dr. Hart, we have all the critical details about the ship:

The ship Jupiter, kapitein Cornelis Janszoon (or Janssen)

Length from stem to sternpost:  130ft
Beam:                            30ft
Hold:                            14ft
Height between decks:             7ft

28 guns:
4-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 12-6pdr, 2-4pdr

Crew:
100 men

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Dr. Simon Hart, papers from the Amsterdam notarial archives, Gemeentearchief Amsterdam: Arch. nr. 883, Inv. nr. 471
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "12 gehuurde schepen voor Mid Zee 24 Juli 1652", 2006

English Naval Officer: Barron Wilde (or Wild)

Barron Wilde (or Wild) served in the English navy. He was appointed as a lieutenant on the Oxford on 2 June 1683 by the Commissioners. He was promoted to Captain on 23 February 1684 (they called it 1683, in the old style). The Lord Dartmouth appointed him to command the Drake. On 25 September 1688, the King appointed him to command the Merlin yacht. Syrett and DiNardo have rather different dates. They say that he was appointed as a lieutenant on 2 January 1683 and to Captain on 25 February 1694. He fought in the Battle of Velez Malaga on August 13, 1704. He commanded the Ferme (70 guns). The Ferme had 25 killed and 48 wounded in the battle. In 1707, in command of the Royal Oak (76 guns), he fought in an action against Forbin. The Royal Oak was heavily damaged, but was saved. The Hampton Court and Grafton were taken by the French. Still in the Royal Oak, he fought an action with other convoyers with De Quay Trouin and Forbin. Captain Wild (or Wyld) again survived the battle, but was accused of misbehavior. Ultimately, he was restored to the service, but this is the last incident that I know about him. Andrew says that he died in 1733, when he was a Rear-Admiral. Sources:

1. William Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present, Vol.II, 1898
2. J.R. Tanner, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Naval Manuscripts in the Pepysian Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Vol.I, 1903

A list of Zeeland ships from 17 August 1653

Witte de With's journal, dated about 17 August 1653, has a list of ships for the Admiralty of Zeeland. At least one or two of these identifications could be controversial. These ship names are based on what is in Witte de With's journal, later, dating from September-October 1653. I have omitted names which had no guns or crew mentioned:

Adm    Ship                 Guns Crew Commander
Z      Amsterdam            32   116  kapitein Adriaen Kempen
Z      Vlissingen           34   134  kapitein Jan Pouwelszoon
Z      Lieffde              23    93  kapitein Dingeman Cats
Z      Goes                 26   110  kapitein Cornelis Kuijper
Z      Zeeridder            30   124  kapitein Gilles Janszoon
Z      Wapen van Ceulen     30   120  kapitein Frans Mangelaer
Z      Salamander           34   130  kapitein Pieter Marcuszoon
Z      Milde Maerten        26   110  kapitein Jan Matthijszoon

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Ship dimensions from David de Wildt's list

David de Wildt prepared a list of ships that might be suitable for hiring as warships. Two ships are prominently featured: the Engel Michiel (or Aarstengel Michiel) and the Grote Sint Matheeus:

Engel Michiel

143ft x 32-3/4ft x 15ft x 7ft

Sint Matheeus

144ft x 36ft x 15ft x 7ft.

There are others, as well:

Faem

116ft x 28ft x 11ft x 7ft

Blauwen Arent

127ft x 28-1/2ft x 14-1/2ft x 6-3/4ft

Sint Vincent

113ft x 26ft x 12ft x 6ft

Groote Vergulde Fortuijn

141ft x 31-1/2ft x 14-1/2ft x 7ft

Kroon Imperiael 

125ft x 29ft x 12ft x 7ft

Gulden Beer

120ft x 25-1/2ft x 11-1/2ft x 6ft

Calmer Sleutel

103ft x 25ft x 11ft x 6ft

A list that includes ships lost already from 28 November 1652: Rotterdam ships

In a package that I received yesterday, there is a list dated 28 November 1652. The list has many names for ships, the guns, and the commanders. The list includes some ships that had already been lost, but is still useful. This is the list of Rotterdam ships (the list names the Admiralty of Rotterdam):

Convoyers (ships of 1648):

Adm Ship                Guns Commander
R   Gorcum              30   Willem Adriaensz Warmont
R   Rotterdam           30   Jan Aertsz Vehaeff
R   Gelderlandt         30   Dirck Juijnbol
        or Schiedam
R   Gelderlandt         24   Aert Jansz van Nes
R   Dordrecht           26   Sier de Lieffde
R   (Nijmegen)          26   Paulus van den Kerckhoff

Of the 36 (of 1651):

R   Brederode           54   lt-admiraal Tromp
R   Gelderlandt         40   Michiel Fransz van de Berg
R   Princesse Louijse   36   Vice-Admiraal Witte de With
R   Hollandt            30   Hendrick de Munnick
R   Princesse Roijalle  36   Joost van Colster
R   Wapen van Rotterdam 26   Jacob van Boshuijsen

Of the 100 (of 1652):

R   Overijssel          22   Dirck Vijgh (formerly Cornelis Engelen Silvergieter)
R   Utrecht             22   Leendert Haexwandt
R   Roscam              26   Corstiaen Eldertszoon
R   Hollandia           24   Hendrick Ernestus de Bartrij
R   Beer                24   Jan de Haes
R   Maria               24   Krijn van den Kerckhoff
R   Sphaera Mundi       26   (Marinus de Clercq)
R   Calmer Sleutel      24   Dirck Vijgh

As I said at Anglo-Dutch Wars: give me a good subject line, in your email

This is what I said at Anglo-Dutch Wars, but it needs to be said here, as well: Gmail's spam filter is pretty aggressive, so if you send me mail, and you do not give a good subject line, your mail may be caught in the spam filter and be deleted. It is very easy to not spot a good mail, because I did not recognize that it was a mail that I would want to read.

So what was Joris Collerij's ship in May 1653?

I noticed, in Witte de With's letters from May 1653, that Joris Collerij commanded a 26 gun ship with a crew of 110 men (page 116 of E8811). I could not remember, for sure, what that ship was. I had to "cheat" and look at Carl Stapel's list for 20 June 1653. He shows that the ship was the Jonas, a ship hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam. Carl gives the Jonas's crew on 20 June 1653 as 90 men. I noticed, in his list, the phenomenon that I had seen before, that ships were called by slightly different names than is shown in published sources. For example, Jan Boermans' ship is called the "Oude Prins", instead of the Prins Willem (at least that is what the handwritten list from July 1653 calls the ship). Another example is the "Princes", which is the "Prinses Aemilia" or "Princesse Amelia", which in the list from the Wrangell Collection is called the Amelia. Sources:

1. list of Amsterdam hired ships from the Wrangell Collection, Riksarkivet, Stockholm
2. Staten Generaal 1.01.04 Inv. Nr. 5556, "List of ships at Vlissingen on 2 July 1653", 1653
3. Witte de With, letters from 1653 to 1658, Archive E8811 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Directors' ships in September 1652

I continue to be interested in this one document from September 1652 that lists captains and ship names of ship hired by Directors of seaports. This list has a particular spelling of names that confirms some of those in published sources, such as Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, and which I have reproduced for both ship names and captains:

Adm    Ship                 Captain
A-Dir  Blauwen Arent        Dirck Pater
A-Dir  Fortuijn             Frederick de Coninck
En-Dir Vergulde Sonne       Jacob Claesz Duijm
Ho-Dir Sampson              Jacob Pietersz Houck
Ed-Dir Vergulde Maen        Jan Fredericksz Houckboot
Ha-Dir St. Vincent          Andries Douwesz (Pascaert)
Ha-Dir Vergulde Pelicaen    Aries Heeres Cleijntje

I do not have the Nationaal Archief reference, but that is where the document is from.

So Pieter Allertszoon commanded the Burcht van Alkmaar at Dover?

Carl Stapel says that he found a reference that shows that Pieter Allertszoon commanded the ship Burcht van Alkmaar at Dover on 29 May 1652. This is another case where captains were moved around between different ships, so just because in one action or operation, a captain commanded one ship, that does not mean that he commanded the same ship in other actions or operations in the First Anglo-Dutch War. He may well have, but you cannot assume that fact. Presumably, the Burcht van Alkmaar is that ship that was lost in the Battle of the Kentish Knock on 8 October 1652.

So what do we know about the old ship Overijssel?

Ron van Maanen breaks what I believe are all references to the same ship named Overijssel into three entries. He says that the length of the ship was 120ft. There are some other references to the Overijssel in the published literature:

Dr. M. G. De Boer, Tromp en de Armada van 1639 (1941)
   page 68    The ship Overijssel: 24 guns and a crew of 100 men
              in Witte de With's squadron in September 1639. 
              The captain was Jacques Forant.

Dr. Johan E. Elias, De Vlootbouw in Nederland 1596-1655 (1933)
   Page 84 and Note 6  At least two ships were sold, namely the
              Overijssel and Nassau, both of the Admiralty of Amsterdam.
              Resolutions of the States General on 11 April and 23 May 1652.
   Page 79 Note 5 says that the Nassau was sold on its return from Brazil
              The Nassau (36 guns) was from 1636 and had dimensions 132ft x 32ft.

W. J. Hoboken, Witte de With in Brazilie 1648-1649 (1955)
   page 309   The ship Overijssel, 28 guns, commanded by 
              Dirk Crijnen Verveen, and Steven Cuyper on the
              return voyage. This says that the Overijssel was
              sold on return for f 2000.

A. Vreugdenhil, Lists of Men of War 1650-1700, Part IV Ships
              of the United Netherlands 1648-1702 (1938)
   Page 5, ship number 50 Overijssel, sold in 1652.

All this seems to indicate to me that Abraham van der Hulst's ship was not the Overissel, as the ship was sold too early in 1652.

Abraham van der Hulst's ship in the spring and summer of 1652

After looking at the options, I suspect that Abraham van der Hulst's ship from June to August 1652 was the old Amsterdam ship Overijssel. My current thinking is that there was no Achilles built in 1644, as listed in Vreugdenhil's last as ship number 2. The only Achilles was ship number 1, which was still in existence up to 1655. Ron van Maanen lists both ships, but the dimensions for the ship supposedly built in 1644 are the same as the other ship, except for the length. Since we have not seen any evidence of two ships named Achilles, I suspect that the ship supposedly built in 1644 did not exist. The old ship Overijssel, sold sometime in 1652, seems like the most obvious candidate to me. Abraham van der Hulst commanded a Landsschip, which the Overijssel was. A likely scenario was that the ship was damaged in the storm off the Shetlands and was sold afterwards, as not being worth repairing. Many ships either foundered, were wrecked, or were heavily damaged and discarded after the storm. Perhaps this would have been the reason that the ship was sold. The Overijssel (28 guns) had been in service since at least the 1630's and had spent time operating off Brazil, from the latter 1640's. The Overijssel had fought in the Battle of the Downs in 1639, and had continued in service. I find the listing of Abraham van der Hulst's ship as having 26 guns and a crew of 100 men consistent with what we know about the Overijssel. Ron van Maanen says that the ship was 120ft long, so the ship was substantial. The only problem is that we have not been able to find any references that give the name of Abraham van der Hulst's ship during this period. By September, he was captain of the 40 gun ship Groningen and was with Witte de With. Carl Stapel had suggested the Overijssel, and that seems very plausible, as I was thinking along similar lines.

Dutch ships operating in the Baltic in December 1652

Carl Stapel says that there were 15 Dutch ships operating in the Baltic in December 1652. He provided with the names of six Amsterdam Directors' ships that were there. There is also a list in The First Dutch War, Vol.III, that names some captains. Putting the two lists together, I have 11 of the 15 ships:

Adm   Ship                     Guns Crew Captain
A-Dir Roosenboom               28   105  Gerrit Schuyt
A-Dir Vergulde Valck           28   105  Cornelis Jansz Brouwer
A-Dir Groote Vergulde Fortuijn 35   135  Frederick de Coninck
A-Dir Engel Gabriel            28   110  Bastiaen Bardoel
A-Dir Swarte Leeuw             30   130  Hendrick de Raedt
A-Dir Blauwe Arend             28   105  Dirck Pater
A     Edam                     28   100  Barent Cramer
A     Brak                     18    70  Pieter van Zalingen
A     Dolphijn                 26    95  Gerbrand Schatter
A     Westfriesland            28   100  Hendrick Huyskens
A     Phesant                  32   120  Jan Jansz Lapper

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Admiralty of Amsterdam ships on 5 August 1652", 2006
2. Dr. S. R. Gardiner, and C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.III, 1906
3. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
4. Carl Stapel, personal communication "a-dir in de Sont", 2006

Allert Janszoon and the council of war on August 6, 1652

I had thought that the Noorderkwartier captain Allert Jansz. Tamessen had been at the council-of-war on Tromp's flagship Brederode on 6 August 1652, but I now believe that it was the Zeeland captain Allert Janszoon, captain of the Vlissingen Directors' ship Dubbele Arend. Given the similarity of names and the propensity of the Dutch to omit the last name in many cases, I had jumped to the conclusion that this was the Noorderkwartier captain, not the Zeeland captain. Page 393 of The First Dutch War, Vol.I, has the list of captains who attended the council-of-war:

Adm    Ship               Guns Crew Commander
R      Brederode          54   270  luitenant-admiraal Maarten Harpertsz Tromp
                                   vlag-kapitein Abel Roelanstz Verboom
R      Prinses Louise     36   162  vice-admiraal Witte de With
A      Hollandia          32   130  kapitein Albert Claesz de Graeff
A      Zeelandia          36   120  luitenant-commandeur Nicolaes Marrevelt
A      ?                  26   100  kapitein Abraham van der Hulst
A-Dir  Gideon             34   120  kapitein Hector Bardesius
R      Prins              38   120  kapitein Corstiaen Corstiaensz de Munnick
Z      West Cappelle      26   100  kapitein Adriaan Banckert
A      Campen             38   130  kapitein Joris van der Zaan
A      Leiden             28   100  kapitein Cornelis Hoola
Mi-Dir Leeuwinne          30   105  kapitein Johannes van Regermorter
A-Dir  Vliegende Faem     28   105  kapitein Jacob Andriesz Swart
A-Dir  Sint Francisco     28   100  kapitein Stoffel Juriaenszoon
Vl-Dir Dubbele Arend      28   100  kapitein Allert Janszoon
                                   schipper Teunis Post
A-Dir  Arke Troijane      28   100  kapitein Abraham van Campen
Ho-Dir Liefde             28   105  kapitein Pieter Adriaansz van Blocker
N      Vergulde Schel     24    70  kapitein Teunis Vechterszoon
Mi-Dir Gouden Leeuw       30   110  kapitein Jacob Adriaansz Penssen
N      Eenhoorn           24   100  kapitein Pieter Aldertszoon
Z      Eendracht          18   100  kapitein Lambert Bartelszoon
Z      Hollandia          38   160  vice-admiraal Johan Evertsen
                                   vlag-kapitein Philips Joosten
N      Stad Monnikendam   32   120  Schout-bij-Nacht Pieter Florissen
A      Vrede              42   160  commandeur Gideon de Wildt
Z      Zeeuwsche Leeuw    30   120  commandeur Cornelis Evertsen de Oude
N      Stad Medemblick    26   100  kapitein Pieter Schellinger
N      Monnikendam        24    95  kapitein Arent Dirckszoon
Z      Amsterdam          30   120  kapitein Adriaen Nicolaesz Kempen
R      Gorcum             30   130  kapitein Jan van Nes
Z      Sandenburgh        24    85  kapitein Pieter Gorcum
A      Star               28    95  kapitein Jacob Paulusz Cort
N      Wapen van Enkhuizen 30  110  kapitein Gerrit Femssen
N      Wapen van Alkmaar  24    95  kapitein Gerrit Nobel
Mo-Dir Zwarte Beer        32   115  kapitein Jacob Claesz Boot
En-Dir Maagd van Enkhuizen 28  110  kapitein Gijsbert Malcontent
A-Dir  Witte Lam          30   110  kapitein Cornelis van Houtten
A      Gouden Leeuw       24    80  kapitein Gillis Matthijsen Campen
R-Dir  Hollandia          26   105  kapitein Ruth Jacobsz Buys
Z      Zeeridder          28   100  kapitein Gillis Janszoon
Z      Offerande Abrahams 24   100  kapitein Daniel Cornelisz Brackman

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, "The Dutch Fleet on 4 August 1652 as listed in Hendrik de Raedt’s pamphlet", 2006
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

The Zeeland ship Agatha

The Agatha was a ship originally belonging to the Hoorn Chamber of the VOC which served the Admiralty of Zeeland in 1665 and into 1666. The Agatha served as a three-masted jacht. In 1665, the Agatha was armed with 4-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 10-4pdr, 4-3pdr, 2-2pdr, and 2-1pdr guns. The Agatha was eventually sold to Denmark, probably in 1666. This is based on information from Ron van Maanen's unpublished manuscript "ZEELAND" (undated).

The Amsterdam ship Gouda (1656)

Ron van Mannen has some of the details of the Amsterdam ship Gouda, built in 1656. Ron says that the ship had a long service life, as the ship was finally sold at auction in 1685. The Gouda was a veteran of all the wars along the way. The Gouda (or Stad Gouda) had dimensions: 130ft x 32ft x 12ft. A subset of the 130ft Amsterdam ships were built to these dimensions. Many others had a 13-1/2ft depth, but there were some built with a 12ft hold, much as some of the Noorderkwartier ships, such as the Jupiter. Ron says that on 31 March 1665, the Gouda carried an armament consisting of 4-18pdr, 18-12pdr, 20-8pdr, and 6-3pdr guns. At varying points in the Gouda's service, the guns carried varied between 42 and 52 guns. The crew varied between 125 and 209 men. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "ZEELAND", undated

One of Johan Evertsen's greatest personal incidents

At the Battle of Dungeness, on 10 December 1652, two English ships, the Garland and teh Anthony Bonaventure had come alongside Lt-Admiral Maarten Tromp's flagship, the Brederode, and might have taken the Brederode. At the critical moment, Johan Evertsen had his flag captain, Adriaan Bankert, take their ship, the 120ft long Hollandia (36 or 38 guns) alongside and together, Tromp and Evertsen took the Anthony Bonaventure (36 guns), and then took the Garland. Tromp had originally engaged the Garland, thinking that his 54 gun ship outmatched the 44 gun ship. When the Anthony Bonaventure came alongside, unexpectedly, that upset his calculations, and was being pressed hard. On page 230 of The First Dutch War, Vol.III, Johan Evertsen, in his journal, describes the action. The Dutch had lost Dirk Juynbol's ship, the Schiedam, which was destroyed when its gunpowder had caught fire.

A ship named Amsterdam mentioned by Ron van Maanen

Ron van Maanen lists two ships named Amsterdam that were built for the Admiralty of Amsterdam. One was built in 1652 and had dimensions 120ft x 29ft x 11ft and a height between decks of 6-3/4ft. The armament in 1651 was 18-12pdr, 10-6pdr, and 2-4pdr. Ron says that he armament on 16 November 1652 was reduced to 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, and a 4-3pdr. The crew varied between 100 and 120 men. In November 1653, the ship carried 18-12pdr, 10-6pdr, and 2-4pdr. I suspect that Ron confuses multiple ships, as he did not pay attention very closely to captains. Ron mentions as second ship of the same name and characteristics that he says was wrecked. I have a hard time telling what ship either one was supposed to be, since there is no indication about who commanded either ship, if there were in fact two ships. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

The jacht Brak (1653)

Ron van Maanen lists an Amsterdam jacht Brak built in 1653. It seems very similar to the Brak of 1649, but here is what Ron has:

The jacht Brak, kapitein Dirck Pieterse Berthiens

Length from stem to sternpost: 115ft
Beam:                           25ft
Hold:                            9ft
Height between decks:            6ft

18 guns (5 April 1653):
4-8pdr, 12-4pdr, and 2-3pdr

Crew: 70 to 90 man

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

The Eendracht and the Groot Hollandia are not quite the same dimensions

I guess that I had known that the Groot Hollandia (built somewhere in the 1654 to 1655 period) and the Eendracht (built during 1653 or 1654 and beyond) were not quite the same dimensions, despite them being nominally the same (150ft x 38ft x 15ft in Amsterdam feet). The Eendracht was 137-1/2ft x 34-1/4ft x 13-1/2ft (in Maas feet of 12 inches), while the Groot Hollandia was 135ft x 34ft x 13-1/2ft (in Maas feet). A quick way to convert Maas feet to Amsterdam feet is to multiply the dimensions in Maas feet by 12/11, and the answer will be pretty close. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated

My theory about Abraham van der Hulst's ship in early 1652

I have written about this before, but I wanted to say that one issue that remains is to verify what ship Abraham van der Hulst commanded at least in June to August 1652. As I have written before, the list in the Hollandsche Mercurius for June 1652 and Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, for 4 August 1652, list Abraham van der Hulst as commanding a "landsschip" with 26 guns and a crew of 100 men. The unnamed ship is one which belonged to the Admiralty of Amsterdam. I assume that this ship was damaged in the storm in the Shetlands in early August and was paid off or discarded, rather than being repaired.

We know that by September 1652, Abraham van der Hulst commanded the 40-gun ship Groningen, did until about April 1653, when he was appointed to command the large Amsterdam ship Vrijheid. One suggestion has been that he, in fact, commanded the Groningen in June to August 1652, and that the lists are mistaken. I am less inclined to believe that, simply because the lists have proven to be almost completely correct, although the Hollandsche Mercurius list is riddled with typgraphical errors and misspellings. Until this issue is resolved, we still don't have a complete picture for this period, although we are closer than we have ever been, before.

Fireships from Vlissingen on 11 July 1652

There were five fireships ("branders") listed as being "of Vlissingen" with the fleet on 11 July 1652:

Adm    Ship               Captain
Z      Samaritaen         kapitein Lisagie
Z      Oostende           kapitein Cornelis Tiebie
Z      ter Tholen         kapitein Jacob Willeboortsz alias Boese
Z      Eenhoorn           kapitein Laurens Josiasz
Z      Wassende Maen      kapitein Gerrit Bosse

Zeeland Landsschepen with the fleet on 11 July 1652

The document that I received yesterday has a fleet list dated 11 July 1652. The Zeeland Landsschepen (purpose-built warships) only have the captains and admirals' names, but we know what the ships were:

Adm    Ship                Guns Crew Commander
Z      Hollandia           38   160  vice-admiraal Jan Evertsz
                                    kapitein Philip Joosten
Z      Zeeuwsche Leeuw     30   120  kapitein Cornelis Evertsz (de Oude)
Z      Amsterdam           30   120  kapitein Adriaan Kempen
Z      Zeeuwsche Jager     14    56  kapitein Adriaan Jansz den Oven
Z      Middelburg          26   110  kapitein Claes Jansz Sanger
Z      Zeeridder           28   100  kapitein Gillis Janssen
Z      West Capelle        26   100  kapitein Adriaen Banckert

Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
3. list of ships with the fleet on 11 July 1652 from the Nationaal Archief Inv. Nr. 5549

List of ships in Witte de With's journal in April 1653

On page 80 of Witte de With's journal for April 1653, he has listed some ships, with their guns, crew, victuals and water. We are in a good position to supply the ship names:

                                                                Weeks of Weeks of
Adm   Ship              Guns Crew Commander                     Victuals Water
A-Dir Vergulde Valck    28   111  Cornelis Jansz Brouwer          6      13
A-Dir David en Goliat   34   125  Claes Bastiaensz Jaersvelt      5.5    13
A-Dir Sampson           28   110  Cornelis Cornelisz de Groot     6      13
A-Dir Engel Michiel     28   110  Frederick Bogaart               5.5    13
A-Dir Sint Pieter       28   109  Gerrit Schuyt                   6      13
A-Dir Blauwe Arend      28   110  Lt-Cdr Hendrick Hendricksz Heij 5.5    13
R     Utrecht           22    98  Leendert Haexwant               3.5     6
R     Overijssel        24    98  Dirck Vijgh                     3       6
R     Gulden Beer       23    94  Lt-Cdr Pieter Jacobsz Regenboog 2.5     7
A-VOC Huis van Nassau   34   112  Jan Pietersz van Strijp         6      13
N     Prins Maurits     32    97  Cornelis Taenman                3      13

Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, personal communication "M Pieter Jacobsz", 2006
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Schepen die op 10 april 1653 uit Texel zijn gezeild (onder bevel van V.A. Witte de With)", 2006
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The two Friesland Directors' ships with Tromp's fleet on 4 August 1652

This is not particularly news to anyone, but as I am publishing the entire list of ships with Tromp's fleet on 4 August 1652, from Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, I am including the two Friesland (actually, Harlingen) Directors' ships:

Directors’ ships of Friesland

Rank       Name                         Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship              
kapitein   Andries Douweszoon Pascaert  Ha-Dir   28   105  Sint Vincent      
kapitein   Ariaen Heeres Kleijntje      Ha-Dir   28   100  Vergulde Pelicaen

Sources:

1. list of the fleet 19/20 September 1652 from the Nationaal Archief
2. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The 30 April 1653 list of Witte de With's squadron

I have thought that Witte de With's squadron, as listed on 30 April 1653, in his letters (E8811 page 70) was a pretty potent striking force. Witte de With was the senior officer who was trusted to handle these special assigments. That had been true since the 1640's. We don't have the gun lists for all the ships, but for quite a few:

Adm    Ship          Guns Crew Commmander                   Gun list
A      Leeuwarden    34   158  vice-admiraal Witte de With  4-18pdr,14-12pdr,16-6pdr
Vl-Dir Witte Lam     38   168  vice-commandeur de Ruyter   
R      Utrecht       22    98  commandeur Leender Haexwant  6-12pdr,10-8pdr,2-6pdr,
                                                             4-4pdr
A      Vogel Phesant 32   110  vice-commendeur de Lapper    18-12pdr,14-6pdr
A      Bommel        30   120  kapitein Pieter van Braeckel 20-12pdr,2-6pdr,8-4pdr
Z      Neptunus      30    85  kapitein Adriaan den Oven    2-18pdr,4-12pdr,2-10pdr,
                                                             6-9pdr,5-8pdr,11-6pdr
A      Omlandia      32   109  kapitein Maarten Schaeff     12-12pdr,6-8pdr,
                                                             10-6pdr,2-3pdr
A      Graaf Willem  40   155  kapitein Verburgh            4-18pdr,16-12pdr,
                                                             16-8pdr,4-6pdr
R      Overijssel    22   100  kapitein Dirck Vijgh         4-24pdr,2-12pdr,
                                                             4-8pdr,12-6pdr
N      Prins Maurits 32    97  kapitein Taenman
Z      Amsterdam     32   116  kapitein Kempen              2-20pdr,8-12pdr,
                                                             2-10pdr,14-?pdr,6-?pdr
F      Postpaert     30   106  kapitein Isaac Kodde         10-12pdr,8-8pdr,
                                                             10-6pdr,2-3pdr
Z      Hollandia     36   127  kapitein Adriaan Banckert    4-24pdr,4-18pdr,2-15pdr,
                                                             16-12pdr,10-6pdr
Mi-Dir Gouden Leeuw  30   110  kapitein Jacob Penssen       4-24pdr,4-12pdr,14-8pdr,
                                                             6-6pdr,2-4pdr
Ha-Dir Sint Vincent  28   110  kapitein Kleijntje
A-VOC  Gerechtigheid 34   105  kapitein Evert Swart
En-Dir Vergulde Zon  28   115  kapitein Jan Duijm           4-18pdr,8-12pdr,6-8pdr,
                                                             6-6pdr,2-4pdr,2-2pdr

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Witte de With's fleet in April 1653", 2006
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
3. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Zeeland", undated
4. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
5. Witte de With, letters from 1653 to 1658, Archive E8811 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Zeeland Directors' ships with Tromp on 4 August 1652

These are the Zeeland Directors' ships in Hendrick de Raedt's list that mainly reflects the ships with Tromp's fleet on the voyage to the Shetlands. The list is from 4 August 1652:

Directors’ ships of Middelburg

Rank        Name                     Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship
kapitein    Jan le Sage              Mi-Dir   30   105  Vergulde Haan
kapitein    Jan Penssen              Mi-Dir   30   110  Goude Leeuw
kapitein    Johannes Regermorter     Mi-Dir   30   105  Leeuwinne                   

Bastiaan Tuyneman’s ship had been captured.

kapitein    Bastiaan Tuyneman        Mi-Dir   30   105  Sint Laurens
kapitein    Jan Thijssen             Vli-Dir  32   110  Witte Lam


Directors’ ships of Vlissingen

Rank        Name                       Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship
kapitein    Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge Vli-Dir  26   110  Vlissingen
kapitein    Allert Janszoon            Vli-Dir  26   110  Dubbele Arend


Directors’ ship of Zierikzee

Rank        Name                     Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship
kapitein    Cornelis Rocusz Fincen   Zi-Dir   34   110  Wapen van Zierikzee


Directors’ ship of Veere

Rank        Name                     Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship
kapitein    Jan Olivierszoon         Ve-Dir   38   125  Wapen van der Vere

Amsterdam Ships with Tromp's fleet on 4 August 1652

I have updated my annotated list of ships with Tromp's fleet on the voyage to the Shetlands (Hitland) in July-August 1652. The list is based on Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet. These are the list of Amsterdam ships not in Witte de With's squadron:

Admiralty’s ships of Amsterdam

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                
commandeur         Gideon de Wildt                  A        42   160  Vrede               
kapitein           Abraham van der Hulst            A        26   100  Achilles            
kapitein           Gerbrandt Schatter               A        26    95  Dolphijn            
kapitein           Jacob Paulusz Cort               A        28    95  Star                
kapitein           Govert Reael                     A        36   140  Leeuwarden          

Joris de Colerij’s ship is to be deducted from the hundred.
kapitein           Joris de Colerij                 A        28   100  Hoop                

kapitein           Joris van der Zaan               A        38   130  Campen              
commandeur         Nicolaes Marrevelt               A        36   120  Zeelandia           
kapitein           Barent Pieterszoon Dorrevelt     A        34   125  Amsterdam           
kapitein           Cornelis Hoola                   A        28   105  Leiden              

Jan ter Stege’s ship is to be deducted from the hundred
kapitein           Jan ter Stege                    A        26   100  Keijser             

 
Directors’ ships of Amsterdam

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                
kapitein           Jan Maijckers                    A-Dir    29   100  Alexander           
kapitein           Dirck Pater                      A-Dir    28   105  Blauwe Arend        
kapitein           Matthijs (Matheeus) Corneliszoon A-Dir    34   120  Sint Salvador       
kapitein           Jacob Cornelisz Swart            A-Dir    28   110  Vliegende Faam      
kapitein           Abraham van Kampen               A-Dir    28   100  Arke Troijane       
kapitein           Cornelis Janszoon Poort          A-Dir    34   125  Kroon Imperiael
kapitein           Cornelis Jansz Brouwer           A-Dir    28   105  Valck               
kapitein           Maerten de Graef                 A-Dir    28   110  Prinses Roijael
kapitein           Gerrit van Lummen                A-Dir    34   125  Neptunis            
kapitein           Cornelis Naeuoogh                A-Dir    34   125  Sint Mattheus       
kapitein           Nicolaes de With                 A-Dir    34   115  Prins Maurits       
kapitein           Gerrit Schuyt                    A-Dir    28   105  Rozeboom            
kapitein           Bastiaen Bardoel                 A-Dir    28   110  Engel Gabriel       
kapitein           Cornelis van Houten              A-Dir    28   110  Witte Lam           raedt, dir-1, dir-5
kapitein           Hector Bardesius                 A-Dir    34   120  Gideon van Sardam
kapitein           Stoffel Juriaenszoon             A-Dir    28   105  Sint Francisco      
kapitein           Claes Bastiaensz van Jaersveldt  A-Dir    34   120  David en Goliad
kapitein           Jacob Syvertsen Spanheym         A-Dir    34   120  Elias               
kapitein           Hendrick de Raedt                A-Dir    28   130  Zwarte Leeuw        

Sipke Fockes’ ship is lying mastless in the Texel.
kapitein           Sipke Fockes                     A-Dir    28    96  Sint Maria          

kapitein           Bruijn van Seelst                A-Dir    38   135  Groote Liefde       

Due to a leak, he was forced to leave.
kapitein           Lambert Pieterszoon              A-Dir    34   130  Nassouw van den Burgh

kapitein           Frederick de Coninck             A-Dir    35   135  Groote Vergulde Fortuijn
kapitein           Frederick Bogaert                A-Dir    28   115  Engel Michiel       

I am more convinced than ever that Dr. Ballhausen is wrong about Cornelis Jol and Cornelis Hoola being the same man

In his book, Dr. Ballhausen seems to assume that Cornelis Hoola, commander of the Leiden in 1652, and Cornelis Cornelisz Jol were the same man. The reason why that cannot be true is that in early 1652, Cornelis Cornelisz Jol was lieutenant of Bastiaan Bardoel's ship, the Engel Gabriel. The Engel Gabriel was one of the 27 original ships hired by the Amsterdam Directors in about March 1652. I believe that Cornelis Hoola commanded the Leiden from at least February 1652. There is no way that they could be the same man, given that we know all this.

I just updated the Wikipedia page for the battle on 29 May 1652 off Dover

I just updated the Wikipedia page that calls itself "the Battle of the Goodwin Sands" on 29 May 1652. I used the latest information that Carl Stapel found, as well as a bit that I found in Witte de With's journal. I may update some of the other pages for the First Anglo-Dutch War, as well. The bad news is that Carl says that the list from Dr. Ballhausen is mistaken about 12 ships and captains for the Dutch (and I do not have access to the correct list).

The Groot Hollandia (1654) measurements

Ron van Maanen has the actual measurements, built, for the Rotterdam ship Groot Hollandia (1654). He also has the nominal dimensions in Maas feet:

The ship Groot Hollandia, built at Rotterdam in 1654

Nominal dimensions in Amsterdam feet: 150ft x 38ft x 15ft
Actual measured dimensions as built: 147ft-3in x 37-1/2ft x 14ft-8in
                                      height between decks: 7ft-7in
Nominal dimensions in Maas feet: 135ft x 34ft x 13-1/2ft

Amsterdam feet are 283mm and are divided into 11 inches
Maas feet are about 308mm and are divided into 12 inches

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated but circa 1992

Maas feet and Amsterdam feet: some dimensions in both

Ron van Maanen has both the dimensions in Maas feet and in Amsterdam feet for a few ships:

The Prinses Louise (1646), 36 guns

Dimensions in Maas feet:      110ft x 26-1/2ft x 11-1/2ft height between decks=6ft-6in
Dimensions in Amsterdam feet: 120ft x 28ft-4in x 12ft-6in

The Gorinchem (or Gorcum) (1639), 30 guns

Dimensions in Maas feet:      106ft x 25ft x 9-1/2ft height between decks=6ft-6in
Dimensions in Amsterdam feet: 115ft-7in x 27ft-3in x 10ft-10in

The Eendracht (1653), 72 guns

Dimensions in Maas feet: 137-1/2ft x 34-1/4ft x 14ft-8in
Dimensions in Amsterdam feet: 152ft x 37ft-4in x 15ft-3in  height between decks=7ft-9in

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, "De Dutch in Danish Waters", undated
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

Ron van Maanen says the the Rotterdam ship Maria was hired in Amsterdam in 1652

Ron van Maanen says that Quirijn (or Crijn) van den Kerckhoff's ship Maria was hired in Amsterdam in 1652. The ship seems to have been pretty badly damaged in the Three Days Battle, and may have been discarded after that battle. There had been speculation in correspondence by officers such as Johan Evertsen that Captain van den Kerckhoff had been killed, but we know that was not the case. Given that an inventory was made of suitable merchant ships at Amsterdam prior to the start of the war, perhaps the dimensions might be found. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated

My updated list of Zeeland ships from 1652

Had I updated this list?

Adm   Ship               Guns Crew  Commander
Z     Hollandia          38   127   vice-admiraal Johan Evertsen
Z     Zeeuwsche Leeuw    30   120   commandeur Cornelis Evertsen de Oude
Z     Meerminne          28   100   kapitein Gillis Janszoon
Z     Middelburg         26   110   kapitein Claes Jansz Sanger
Z     Amsterdam          30   110   kapitein Adriaan Kempen
Z     West Cappelle      26   100   kapitein Adriaan Bankert
Z     Zeeuwsche Jager    14    56   kapitein Adriaan Jansz den Oven
Z     Eendracht          18   100   kapitein Lambert Bartelszoon
Z     Haze               20   100   kapitein Johannes Michielszoon
Z     Sint Joris         28    85   kapitein Jacob Wolphertszoon
Z     Abrahams Offerande 24   100   kapitein Daniel Cornelisz Brackman
   (or Offerhande Abrahams)
Z     Dolfijn            24    85   kapitein Dingeman Cats
Z     Sandenburgh        24    85   kapitein Pieter Gorcum

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
3. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
4. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
5. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

A glaring hole: Abraham van der Hulst's ship up to August 1652

Given how much we have learned, the one really glaring hole in our knowledge is not knowing which ship Abraham van der Hulst commanded in 1652, up to August. The available lists, which may all be based on the same source, show that he commanded a 26 gun ship with a crew of 100 men. The ship appears to have been a regular warship owned by the Admiralty of Amsterdam. We know that by September, Abraham van der Hulst commanded the 40 gun ship Groningen and commanded it until March or April 1653, when he took command of the big 44 gun ship Vrijheid. Given that the rest of Hendrick de Raedt's list seems accurate, I have difficulty in believing that the 26 guns and crew of 100 men is an error. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910
2. Pieter Casteleyn, Hollandsche Mercurius, 1652
3. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.I, 1898
4. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
5. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Another writing project for someone

A writing and research project for someone would be to produce a book, somewhat along the lines of Frank Fox's book, Great Ships: the Battlefleet of King Charles II. The differences would be that the new book would be about Dutch warships in the 17th Century and perhaps beyond, and would be a combination of Frank Fox's book and David Lyon's book, The Sailing Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy: Built, Purchased and Captured, 1688-1860. Alternatively, the Dutch warship history could be divided into periods and separate volumes, published over time. That is what Rif Winfield is doing for the English and British navies. Rif's first book in the series is titled: BRITISH WARSHIPS IN THE AGE OF SAIL 1793-1817 Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.

The seven Rotterdam Directors' ships

We know a good bit about six of the seven ships hired in 1652 by the Rotterdam Directors. The one exception is the Erasmus, which Vreugdenhil did not even know about, when he made his list of Dutch ships and we only know the name and captain. Sijmon Cornelisz van der Meer commanded the Erasmus up until the ship was sunk in action in June 1652. One other ship, the Sint Pieter, was apparently damaged in fight in June. Adriaen de Zeeuw commanded the Sint Pieter from the time it was hired until the fight in June. He left the service and Sijmon Cornelisz van der Meer took command of the Sint Pieter. His service was spotty in the war. In the summer of 1652, he was too ill to be at sea and his lieutenant, Jan Jansz van der Valck commanded the Sint Pieter, including in the Battle of Plymouth, with De Ruyter's fleet. Several of the ships served through the war, and perhaps, beyond. One was Ruth Jacobsz Buys' ship the Hollandia and the other was the Prins. This is a summary list of ships and captains:

Adm    Ship          Guns Crew Captain                       Fate
R-Dir  Erasmus                 Sijmon Cornelisz van der Meer sunk in action June 1652
R-Dir  Sint Pieter   28   122  Adriaen de Zeeuw            
                               Sijmon Cornelisz van der Meer
                               Lt. Jan Jansz van der Valck
R-Dir  Jonas         36   125  Jan Evertsz de Liefde         Eventually paid off
R-Dir  Prins         38   120  Corstiaen Corstiaensz       
                               Jacob Cleijdijck
R-Dir  Hollandia     26   105  Ruth Jacobsz Buys
R-Dir  Meerman       30   120  Jacob Cleijdijck              sunk on 28 Feb 1652
R-Dir  Sint Pieter   29   110  Isaac de Jongh                foundered in Aug 1652

Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Directieschepen van de Maze d.d. 6 maart 1653", 2006

The Dutch jacht Ruiter, taken by the English at Lowestoft

Ron van Maanen has the dimensions for the jacht Ruiter that was captured by the English at the Battle of Lowestoft. I do not have the captain's name along, but perhaps I can add that later. The Ruiter later served in the English navy as the flyboat Horseman. The Dutch dimensions were 95ft x 24-1/2ft x 10-1/2ft with a height between decks of 5-3/4ft. The Ruiter carried 18 guns and had a crew of between 60 and 65 men. This was a former East India company ship. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "ZEELAND", undated

The English prize Bonaventura in 1653

The English hired ship Anthony Bonaventure, along with the Garland had both attacked Tromp's flagship in the Battle of Dungeness on 10 December 1652. Johan Evertsen came to Tromp's rescue and together, they captured the Anthony Bonaventure and Garland. In 1653, the Anthony Bonaventure was fitted out by the Middelburg Directors. Ron van Maanen says that the Bonaventura carried between 30 and 36 guns and had a crew of 110 men. Ron says that the English recaptured the ship in the Battle of Scheveningen, and later sold it. Sources:

1. Dr. S. R. Gardiner, and C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.III, 1906
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript, the "Zeeland" document, undated

Ron van Maanen has the dimensions for the Zwanenburg, burnt at Lowestoft in 1665

One of the ships for which Ron van Maanen has dimensions but not a gun list, is the Zeeland ship Zwanenburg, burnt at the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665. Cornelis Kuijper commanded the Zwanenburg in the battle. The Zwanenburg was quite small: 110ft x 26ft x 10ft with a height between decks of 6ft. At the Battle of Lowestoft, the Zwanenburg carried 30 guns and had a crew of 120 men. Sources:

1. Frank Fox, A Distant Storm: the Four Days' Battle of 1666, 1996
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

One gap in our knowledge is the dimensions and lists of guns for ships hired (or perhaps some are Landsschepen) by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier during the First Anglo-Dutch War. These are some of the ships involved:

Adm   Ship              Guns Crew   Captain
N     Lastdrager        32   110    kapitein Gerrit Munt (1653)
N     Profeet Samuel    30   110    kapitein Reijnst Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen (1653)
N     Peereboom         24    87    kapitein Tijs Tijmensz Peereboom
N     Harder            31   146    kapitein Jan Backer (1653)
N     Prins Maurits     32    97    kapitein Cornelis Pietersz Taenman
N     Vergulde Schel    24   110    up to March 1653: kapitein Teunis Veghterszoon
                                    after March 1653: kapitein Claes Valehen
N     Tobias            30   119    kapitein Jan Claesz Ham (1653)
N     Mars              38   125    kapitein Reijnst Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen (1653)
N     Wapen van Alkmaar 28   107    kapitein Gerrit Nobel (1652)
N     Land van Beloften 29    70    kapitein Jan Noblet (1652)
N     Huis van Nassau   28   109    kapitein Gerrit Munt (1652)
N     Alkmaar           28    95    kapitein Jan Warnaertsz Capelman (1652)
N     Rode Leeuw        29    75    kapitein Reijnst Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen (1652)
N     Engel             29    75    kapitein Cornelis Wogters (1652)
N     Nieuw Kasteel     19    65    kapitein Claes Allertszoon (1652)
N     Adam en Eva       29    70    kapitein Jan Heck (1652)
N     Wapen van Holland 28    90    kapitein Herman Munnekes (1652)

I have started the process to update my list of Dutch war losses at AngloDutchWarBlog.com

Since we have learned so much in the last year about the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War, I need to update my list of Dutch losses in the war on AngloDutchWarBlog.com. I hope to have that online later today.

Jacob Claesz Duijm's ship Vergulde Sonne

Jacob Claesz Duijm commanded the ship Vergulde Sonne (or Zon in the modern spelling) from the spring of 1652 up until the Battle of the Gabbard, when the ship was lost. The Vergulde Sonne was an Enkuizen Directors' ship. The ship was also called the Schellinghout. Ron van Maanen had found the dimensions of the Schellinghout, but did not know that this was the same ship as the Vergulde Sonne. Carl Stapel found the connection between the names, the dimensions, and the list of guns:

The ship Vergulde Sonne, kapitein Jacob Claesz Duijm
 a ship hired by the Enkhuizen Directors

Length from stem to sternpost: 127ft
Beam:                           26ft
Hold:                           12-1/2ft
Height between decks:            6ft

28 guns:
4-brass 18pdr, 8-12pdr, 6-8pdr, 6-6pdr, 2-4pdr, and 2-2pdr

Crew:
24 April 1653: 115 men

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The Friesland ship Westergo in 1652 and 1653

The Friesland ship Westergo served with De Ruyter's fleet in July to September 1652. He fought in the Battle of Plymouth in August and was apparently in the Battle of the Kentish Knock. Witte de With had concerns about luitenant-commandeur Tijmen Claeszoon's conduct in the battle, and he was sent in with a letter to luitenant-admiraal Tromp, but nothing happened. In late December 1652, he was a convoyer for merchant ships from the Goeree and joined the fleet after that. He fought in the Three Days Battle and then in the Battle of the Gabbard in June 1653. The Westergo was lost in that battle, perhaps due to bad judgment by Tijmen Claeszoon. The ship later served in the English navy as the Westergate, surviving to serve in the Restoration navy until lost at sea in 1664. I have the details about the ship from Carl Stapel and Ron van Maanen:

The ship Westergo, kapitein Joris Pietersz van den Broecke
                  luitenant Tijmen Claeszoon
Length from stem to sternpost: 114ft
Beam:                           26-1/4ft
Hold:                           12ft
Height between decks:            6-1/4ft

28 guns
Crew 110 men

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

More complete information about Joost Bulter's ship Stad en Ommelanden

Carl Stapel had found more complete information about Joost Bulter's ship Stad en Ommelanden (also called Stad Groningen). This is the ship which was sunk at the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 June 1653:

The ship Stad en Ommelanden, kapitein Joost Bulter
Length from stem to sternpost: 120ft
Beam inside the planking:       28ft
Hold:                           11-1/2ft
Height between decks:            7ft

28 guns: 4-brass 12pdr, 2-iron 10pdr, 12-iron 8pdr, and 10-iron 5pdr
Crew: 110 men

Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006

A question about the Harder and Harderinne in 1653

Two ships, the Harder and the Harderinne (Harderin) were in service in July of 1653. The Harder was apparently hired by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier and the Harderinne was hired by the Enkhuizen Directors. Ron van Maanen has the details of the Harder and Harderin that served with the Admiralty of Amsterdam. They are both said to have been acquired in 1653. The question is if these are the same ships that were later employed by the Admiralty of Amsterdam. Ron van Maanen has the data for the two ships:

The ship Harder

Dimensions: 114ft x 28ft x 11-1/4ft

The ship Harderin

Dimensions: 118ft x 29ft x 12ft

Witte de With's journal lists the two ships in July and September 1653:

Adm    Ship               Guns Crew  Commander
N      Harder             30   108   Jan Backer
En-Dir Harderinne         30   120   Dirk Gerritsz Pomp

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Schepen die liggen voor Texel op 22 juli 1653", 2006
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

My current Dutch ship list format

I am experimenting with a format modeled after Carl Stapel's format that he uses in Dutch. One difference, other than that mine is in English rather than Dutch, is that I have a single document, not one document per ship. I spoke to Frank Fox, and asked him about how he adds information about references used. He uses end notes, and generally does not put the superscript numbers in the text. I am using a rather bad system that works for me. I don't want to deal with the Microsoft Word end note system. Instead, I am using a system that derives from the Artificial Intelligence community and has been used in their publications, at least in the past. This is an incomplete example of the format:

A Duivenvoorde  1655

Dimensions: 140ft x 32ft x 13-1/2ft

Guns:
11/06/1666   lower tier: 8-18pdr, 12-12pdr  upper tier: 18-8pdr  quarterdeck: 8-3pdr

1655    Built, perhaps at Amsterdam
11/06/1666 46 guns  kapitein Jonkheer Otto van Treslong in the Four Days' Battle
                    crew: 179 sailors and 28 soldiers
                    On 11 June, the Duivenvoorde was set afire by English incendiary
                    shot, burned and exploded. 36 men survived. kapitein Treslong
                    and about 170 other men died.

References:
[Weber], [van Maanen], [Distant Storm]



Published Sources:

[Weber]  H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984

[Distant Storm] Frank Fox, A Distant Storm: the Four Days' Battle of 1666,  1996



Unpublished Sources:

[van Maanen] Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

[7 Oct 1674] Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Eskader onder C. Tromp op 7 oktober 1674 in de baai van Roses te Cadiz", 2006

Frank Fox says that there are English intelligence reports about Dutch ships

Frank Fox says that there are English intelligence reports about Dutch ships. There are probably just guns and crew, while we are looking for dimensions and lists of guns. When you start finding that sort of information, it is addictive and you want more.

The VOC ship Batavia

The ship Batavia, purchased at Zaandam by the Rotterdam Chamber of the VOC, fought in the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665. Ron van Maanen has the details about the Batavia:

The ship Batavia, kapitein Nicolaes Naalhout

Length from stem to sternpost:  136ft
Beam:                            29-1/2ft
Hold:                            14ft
Height between decks:             7ft

44 guns:
Lower deck: 20-12pdr
Upper deck: 16-8pdr, 8-3pdr

Crew:
148 sailors and 46 soldiers

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

A mystery possibly solved

In The First Dutch War, Vol.V, there is a list of ships and captains from the Admiralty of Amsterdam after the Battle of Scheveningen and listing damage and remaining gunpowder in many instances. A "Captain Quaeff" is mentioned. He commanded a ship named "Morgenstar". There is now reason to believe that the captain was Albert Claesz de Graeff, who had commanded the hired ship Hollandia. The ship might possibly be the same ship, the Star or Ster, previously commanded by Jacob Paulusz Cort. The other possibility is a "mystery ship". I am now leaning towards the Star, as I have not had time to really research the issue.

So, was Jan Duijm's ship the Salamander?

At least up to November 1652, the Zeeland captain Jan Duijm commanded the ship Salamander, according to what Carl Stapel found. Carl wondered if this was the same ship that Pieter Marcuszoon commanded. In a list dated 17 August 1653, from Witte de With's journal, Pieter Marcuszoon is shown to command a ship of the Admiralty of Zeeland with 34 guns and a crew of 130 men. In October, a list with ship names gives the name of his ship as Salamander. This was probably the same ship as August, as a list from September 1653 gives his ship the same armament and crew. Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, personal communication "Z Salamander", 2006
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Another page dated 12 March 1652

The second page in the list from 12 March 1652 has more Amsterdam Directors' ships:

The ship Arche Troijane, 12 April
(the ship commanded by Abraham van Campen)
Dimensions: 116ft x 26-3/4ft x 12ft x 6-1/4ft

The ship Blauwen Arent, 17 April
(the ship commanded by Dirck Pater)
Dimensions: 127ft x 28-1/2ft x 12-1/4ft x 6ft-10in

The ship Mauritius, 16 April
(the ship commanded by Nicolaes de With)
Dimensions: 130ft x 30ft x 13ft x7ft
Guns: 18-12pdr, 6-6pdr, 6-4pdr, 6-3pdr

The ship Roosenboom, 10 April
(the ship commanded by Gerrit Schuyt)
Dimensions: 118ft x 27ft x 12-1/2ft x 6ft

The ship, the Lam, 12 April
(the ship commanded by Cornelis van Houten)
Dimensions: 127ft x 27-1/4ft x 12-1/2ft x 6-1/2ft

The ship, the Elias, 24 April
(the ship commanded by Jacob Sieuwertsz Spahnheijm
 with lieutenant Frans Fransz Sluyter)
Dimensions: 132-1/2ft x 30ft x 13ft x 6-1/2ft

Page from 13 March 1652 listing Amsterdam Directors' ships

There is a page dated 13 March 1652 (but with entries from later) that has some interesting things, most of which is common knowledge, but there is a bit that seems unique:

The ship Sint Francisco, 7 April
 (the ship commanded by Stoffel Juriaenszoon)
  133ft x 28-1/4ft x 13-1/4ft x 6-1/2ft
  Guns: 8-12pdr, 6-8pdr, 8-6pdr, and 2-4pdr

The ship nieuw Gidion
 (the ship commanded by Hector Bardesius, whose 
   lieutenant was Ulrich Claesz de Jaeger)
  132ft x 29-1/2ft x 13-1/2ft x 6-1/2ft

The ship, the Swarte Leeuw, 29 April
 (the ship commanded by Hendrick de Raedt)
  130ft x 28ft x 13-1/2ft x 6-1/4ft

The ship, the Valck, 15 April
 (the ship commanded by Cornelis Jansz Brouwer)
  132-1/2ft x 26-1/6ft x 12-3/4ft x 6-1/2ft

The ship, the Faem, 6 April
 (the ship commanded by Jacob Swart)
  116ft x 28ft x 11ft x 7ft

The ship, the Groote Alexander, 7 April
 (the ship commanded by Jan Maijkers)
  131-1/2ft x 27-3/4ft x 13ft x 6-3/4ft

The ship Sint Maria, 16 April
 (the ship commanded by Sipke Fockes)
  122ft x 27ft x 11-1/4ft x 6ft

I am pretty much convinced that what Ron van Maanen has for the ship Frisia is, in fact, Schelte Wiglema's ship

Schelte Wiglema commanded the Friesland ship Frisia from sometime in the summer of 1652 until the ship exploded in the Three Days Battle (AKA, the Battle of Portland) in early 1653. Ron van Maanen has the details of the Frisia, which despite the dates, must be post-lost documentation of the ship:

The ship Frisia, commanded by kapitein Wiglema

Length from stem to sternpost: 120ft
Beam:                           28ft
Hold:                           11ft (or 11-1/4ft)
Height between decks:            7ft

28 guns: 2-12pdr, 4-10pdr, 8-8pdr, 10-6pdr, and 4-5pdr

Crew: 110 men

On 17 September 1652, Witte de With's journal says:

Capn. Wiggelma crew: 108 guns: 29 supplies: 13 weeks

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Zeeland", undated
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The Dordrecht of 1653

Ron van Maanen has the details about the Zeeland ship Dordrecht, completed in 1653 and in service until 1673:

The ship Dordrecht, built in Middelburg in 1653

Dimensions: 130ft x 34ft x 13-1/2ft  7ft between decks
Measurement: 300 lasts

Guns: 
30 March 1665: 4-24pdr, 2-18pdr, 14-12pdr, 12-8pdr,
                  8-6pdr, 2-4pdr, 2-3pdr, and 2-2pdr

1667: 4-24pdr, 4-18pdr, 26-12 and 8pdr,
         18-6, 4, and 3pdrs

Ron van Maanen has information about the Arend

Ron van Maanen has information, in his "Zeeland" document, about the Vlissingen Directors' ship Arend, which I believe is the same as the Dubbele Arend. He has all the important details:

The ship, the Arend, a ship hired by the Vlissingen Directors
and in service from 1652 to 1653 (Ron says only 1652)

Length from stem to sternpost: 112ft
Beam inside the planking:       26ft
Hold:                           12ft
Height between decks:            6ft

26 guns: 2-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 10-6pdr, and 4-4pdr

Crew: between 98 and 118 men

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Zeeland", undated

A court martial on 29 September 1653

On pages 75 to 76 of The First Dutch War, Vol.VI, the court martial of luitenant Hendrick Hey is described. He was convicted and was sentenced to be "keelhauled three times with a halter round his neck". He was sentenced to be imprisoned for 20 years and to pay the costs of bringing him to trial. There are some familiar names on the court martial board and some unknown to me:

A. Halewijn
Gillis Janszoon
Jan Pouwelszoon
B. Russell
Dirck Vijgh
Hendrick de Raedt
E. Gomes
Aert Jansz van Nes
Willem van der Zaan
E. Meijer

Zeeland ships with Witte de With's fleet in September 1653

On page 175 of Witte de With's journal for 11 September 1653, he gives a list of ships belonging to the Admiralty of Zeeland:

Adm   Ship             Guns Crew Commander
Z     Amsterdam        32   120  kapitein Kempen
Z     Wapen van Ceulen 30   120  kapitein Mangelaer
Z     Salamander       34   125  kapitein Pieter Marcuszoon
Z     Goes             25   110  kapitein Kuijper
Z     Lieffde          23    94  kapitein Dingeman Cats
Z     Walvis, ammunition ship    kapitein Willem de Mataele

Sources:

1. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

A remaining mystery: Abraham van der Hulst's ship in Hendrick de Raedt's list

There is a good deal of reason to think that Abraham van der Hulst commanded the Amsterdam ship Groningen from the beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War. The only reason to question that is that Hendrick de Raedt's list (and the Hollandsche Mercurius list) indicate that Abraham van der Hulst's ship carried 26 guns and had a crew of 100 men. The indication is that this was a purpose-built warship, rather than a hired ship. The Groningen was a 40-gun ship, so this could not be the Groningen. We might think that this is an error in the list, except that other ships in the list that might have seemed to be in error were found to be relatively accurate, to my surprise. The two ships where that was true were the two Zeeland frigates, those commanded by Lambert Bartelszoon (18 guns and a crew of 100 men) and Johannes Michielszoon (20 guns and a crew of 100 men). Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van schepen van 20 juni 1653", 2006

The VOC ship Huis van Nassau (or Nassouw)

Witte de With's journal for May 1653 mentions a ship belonging to the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC (the united East India company). The ship was commanded by kapitein van Strijp, carried 34 guns and had a crew of 112 men. Witte de With's journal for October 1653 confirms that this ship was the Huis van Nassau. The journal spells the name "Huijs van Nassouw". At that late date, the captain was still Jan Pietersz van Strijp. Ron van Maanen has the dimensions for the Huis van Nassau. They were: 133-1/2ft x 27ft-4in x 13ft-10in, with a height between decks of 6ft-10in. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The Amsterdam ships Omlandia and Hoop

Up until June 1652, Boetius Schaeff had commanded the Gewapende Ruyter (36 guns), a Portuguese prize. The Gewapended Ruyter was sunk by the English in June 1652, while returning home from Brazil. Carl Stapel has found that in September 1652, that Boetius Schaeff was in command of the Amsterdam ship Omlandia, which in September 1652 carried 28 guns and had a crew of 85 men. After the Three Days Battle, Boetius Schaeff was appointed to command the ship Hoop (28 guns). In the Battle of the Gabbard (or, the Two Days Battle, or Battle of Nieuwpoort), Boetius Schaeff and his lieutenant were killed and his crew mutinied. In his place, Dirck Pater was appointed to command the Hoop. When Boetius Schaeff was appointed to command the Hoop, his father Maarten Schaeff had been appointed to command the Omlandia. At this stage, the Omlandia carried up to 32 guns. The Omlandia was sunk at the Battle of Scheveningen, although Maarten Schaeff seems to have survived the battle. Sources:

1. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.V, 1928
2. Carl Stapel, personal communication "maerten en boetius schaeff", 2006
3. Carl Stapel, personal communication "some new information which might interest you", 2006
4. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Reynst Cornelisz Sevenhuysen's ships in 1652 to 1654

Reynst Cornelisz Sevenhuysen served the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier and commanded a series of ships during 1652 to 1654:

Adm   Ship              Guns  Crew   Dates
N     Rode Leeuw        24-29 75-85  1652
N     Profeet Samuel    30           1653 until after the Gabbard
N     Mars              38    125    1653, from July
N     Alkmaar           32     90    1654, newly completed

Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654, 1654
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Schepen die op 10 en 11 september 1653 zijn uitgelopen", 2006
4. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Herman Walman and Joris Block on 17August 1653

I wondered if Witte de With's journal would mention both HermanWalman and Joris Block at the same time. On 17 August 1653 (pages 159 and 160), there is a listing of the fleet that includes both of them:

Adm   Ship             Guns  Crew  Commander
A     Hollandsche Tuin 24     97   Joris Block
A-Dir Hollandsche Tuin 36    140   Herman Walman

Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.V, 1912
2. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.V, 1928
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Herman Walman (or Wallemans)

Apparently, in November 1652, Herman Walman was luitenant under kapitein Swart on the Amsterdam Directors' ship Vliegende Faam (Schetsen, Vol.III, note on page 87). On 11 August 1653, the Amsterdam Directors' ship Hollandsche Tuin, under the command of Herman Walman, was mastless after the Battle of Scheveningen, and had to "drive along the coast" towards the Texel. The other Hollandsche Tuin was a the ship hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam, and at this date was commanded by Joris Block. The First Dutch War, Vol.V, on page 364 lists the damage to the smaller Hollandsche Tuin, commanded by Joris Block, and gives the gunpowder before the battle (7,000 lbs) and that remaining after the battle (5,400 lbs). This was the ship previously commanded by Hillebrandt Jeroenszoon, who was killed while fighting in the Battle of Scheveningen. He had taken command of the Zutphen, after his brother Ewout was severely wounded in the Three Days Battle. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.V, 1912
2. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen, Vol.III, 1925
3. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.V, 1928
4. Carl Stapel, personal communication about Hillebrandt Jeroenszoon, 2006

I was interested to find this about Vice-Admiral van Foreest

When the Germans attacked the Netherlands in 1940, Lt-Cdr van Foreest was executive officer of the incomplete cruiser Jacob van Heemskerck. the ship had its propulsion plant installed, so Lt-Cdr van Foreest commissioned the ship and got underway from Amsterdam. He took the ship to Great Britain, where the ship was completed and fought in the war. Presumably, this is the co-author of Dr. Weber's book about the Four Days' Battle.

The advijsjacht Loopende Hert

The advijsjacht Loopende Hert was apparently built in 1662. I believe that the Loopende Hert took part in the Four Days' Battle in early June 1666. Ron van Maanen has the details, which Dr. Weber apparently had not seen. I conveniently do not have my copy of Dr. Weber's book along with me, so I cannot check it (but I wrote about this in the past). I just have Ron's document "'Oorlogsschepen' van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw":

The advijsjacht Loopende Hert

Length from stem to sternpost: 76ft
Beam:                          19ft-7in
Hold:                           9ft-3in

8 guns (16 March 1665): 4-6pdr and 4-4pdr

Crew: 20 to 40 men

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "'Oorlogsschepen' van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, unpublished manuscript", undated
2. H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984

Witte de With's letters have the answer

(Blogger seems to be getting bad again) Page 117 of Witte de With's letters gives an expanded list of Rotterdam ships that explains the earlier list:

Adm   Ship            Guns  Crew  Commander
R     Utrecht         22     98   commandeur Haexwant
R     Overijssel      24     98   kapitein Vijgh
R     Rotterdam       32    120   luitenant-commandeur Pieter Verhaven
R     Gorcum          30    116   kapitein Willem Arensz Warmont
R     Dolfijn         32    116   kapitein Kerckhoff
R     Gelderland                  kapitein Aert Jansz Jongen Boer (van Nes)
R     Brederode       56    268   Lt-admiraal Tromp's flag captain

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Witte de With, letters from 1653 to 1658, Archive E8811 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Admiralty of the Maze ships in April 1653

Witte de With's journal for April 1653 lists ships operating under his command. The list of ships belonging to he Admiralty of the Maze (or Rotterdam) is interesting. I am confused by the last entry, and am not certain of the ship name:

Adm   Ship            Guns  Crew  Commander
R     Utrecht         22     98   kapitein Leendert Haexwant
R     Overijssel      24     98   kapitein Dirck Vijgh
R     a ship          23     94   luitenant-commandeur Pieter Jacobsz

I was thinking that the last was Pieter Verhaven, but Carl Stapel says that his name was Pieter Jansz Verhaven. He was Jan Aertsz Verhaeff's son. Jan Aertsz Verhaeff commanded the 30-gun ship Rotterdam. A 23-gun ship would be more likely to be the Gelderland, commanded by kapitein Aert Jansz van Nes. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Nominal dimensions and converting between Maas feet and Amsterdam feet

In Vreugdenhil's list for 1648 to 1652, he uses Maas feet for Rotterdam ships, but does not say that. A Maas foot has 12 inches and was about 308mm or more in length. An Amsterdam foot is divided into 11 inches and was about 283mm long. He gave the dimensions for a group of ships as 106ft x 25ft x 9.5ft, which are the dimensions in the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654. One of these ships was named Gorinchem, also called the Gorcum. Dr. Weber, in his book about the Four Days' Battle, gave the dimensions in Amsterdam feet as 116ft x 27ft x 11ft. Ron van Maanen gives more precise, measured dimensions: 115'7" x 27'3" x 10'10". These are very close to what I would expect if the dimensions in Maas feet were: 106ft x 25ft x 10ft, which is what is given in a list of Rotterdam ships from 26 February 1652. A rough and ready conversion is to multiply a length in Maas feet by 12 and divide by 11. For fractions, multiply times 11 and you get the number of inches. Sources:

1. Admiralty of Rotterdam, List of ships from 26 February 1652
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated but circa 1992
3. H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984
4. Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654, 1654