Dutch guns in 1653

One of the amazing features of 17th Century Dutch guns is that the shot weight is not a very good indicator of the weight of a particular piece. In fact, because of how guns were manufactured, there were usually not two pieces of the same weight. The material also affected the weight. I have weights for both bronze and iron guns, although most guns seem to be iron, often purchased from Sweden. Some examples:

3pdr iron     715 lbs
4pdr iron    1035 lbs
5pdr bronze  1400 lbs
6pdr iron     970 lbs
6pdr iron     370 lbs

Who commanded the Amsterdam Directors' ship Gideon?

I was confused about who commanded the Amsterdam Directors' ship Gideon (34 guns) on which dates. The original commander was kapitein Hector Bardesius. Commandeur Ulderich d'Jager apparently commanded the ship at the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland). He was removed and court martialed. Certainly, by May 1653, the Gideon (or Gidion) was commanded by Dirck Jansz Somer. He seems to have commanded the ship until at least after the voyage to Norway in September to November 1653.

The Graaf Hendrick and the Graaf Willem

The Frisian ships Graaf Hendrick, the ship commanded by Jan Reijnderdersz Wagenaer, and the Graaf Willem, the ship commanded by Jan Coenders, were both quite large. They were about the length of the largest of the Amsterdam 40-gun ships built from 1640 to 1652. The Graaf Hendrick only carried 30 guns and the Graaf Willem, a fluit, only carried 24 guns. There are two different groups of documents about Frisian ships. One has good information about the Graaf Hendrick, with dimensions and a gun list. The other does not and only has a partial gun list. The Graaf Willem is noteworthy for only having a main battery of 8pdr guns.

One question answered

One question that I had about which ship Ulderick (or Ulrich) de Jager commanded. I just received a photograph of a document that shows him as a commandeur, in command of the Amsterdam Directors' ship Gidion. This was a ship that carried 34 guns and had a crew of 115 men. There is also no mention of the seemingly mythical ship Groote Sint Lucas. Instead, Sipke Fockes is shown as the captain of the Sint Maria, and as it seemed, the Sint Maria was not lost in the Three Days Battle.

The list of Amsterdam ships from 1653

I received the rest of the Amsterdam list that seems to closely resemble that in The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, starting on page 308. The date of the list is 27 March 1653. I had expected that it would be list from 5 April referenced by Ron van Maanen, but it precedes that list. The list in The First Dutch War still looks like a summary of this list, omitting the really interesting parts: dimensions and gun lists. The presence of Barent Pietersz Dorrevelt's ship Amsterdam, which foundered in storm in the Shetlands in early August 1652 and Jeroen Adelaer's ship Middelburg, taken by the English in June 1652, are particularly noteworthy. They are both 120ft ships.

Cor Emke drawing of the Zeven Provincien

Cor Emke has a nice drawing (probably made with AutoCAD Lite) of the Zeven Provinci@euml;n on the Bataviawerf site (or perhaps, I should say: the Bataviawerf site has a nice Cor Emke drawing!).

It looks like the list published in The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, is just a summary of the real list

I don't have more than the first few pages, but it appears that I have the beginning of the list of Amsterdam ships published in The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, starting at page 308. What is in The First Dutch seems to be just a summary of the real list. "The real list" seems to have dimensions and gun lists for most ships. I may be mistaken and may change my mind when I see the complete document. The list of hired ships in the Mediterranean that was published just has ship names, the captains, and guns for most ships and the crews for all. This list has exactly what was published, but has the correct ship name, rather than two ships named Venetia.

The Sint Matheeus in April to June 1653

The Amsterdam Directors' ship Sint Matheeus has always interested me, as this was the largest of the Directors' ships. There was some ambiguity about the ship, as there are two sets of dimensions mentioned with this ship name. The dimensions usually mentioned are what I have at KentishKnock.com: 140ft x 34ft x 15ft x 7-1/3ft. David de Wildt's list, from February 1652, had the more expansive dimensions mentioned by Dr. Weber, in his book about the Four Days' Battle: 144ft x 36ft x 15ft x 7ft.By late April 1653, the Sint Matheeus was armed with 42 guns. This is what Witte de With's journal gives as the armament, in May. The ship carried the 4-bronze 24pdr and had a lower deck with 12pdr guns. The upper deck was 8pdr guns. There were the obligatory 2-3pdr guns, as well. I still don't understand their purpose, but most of the Amsterdam Directors' ships had them.

Zeeland ships

I was interested to see that Leendert den Haan's ship, the Haes in 't Velt, which was 116ft long, had a "main battery" of 14-6pdr guns, while Bastiaen Centsen's ship, the Haes, which was 113ft long, carried 4-18pdr guns, as well as smaller (mostly 8pdr and 6pdr guns). I would think that the Haes in 't Velt was underarmed.

Antiquariaat A. Kok & Zn.

I was interested to read this page from the Amsterdam Book Fair about Antiquariaat A. Kok & Zn. I have been buying books about Dutch naval history since about 2000, or perhaps the year before. I liked the photographs, as they help put a face to interactions that you lack with just email.

The Van de Velde drawing of the Battle of Livorno

Teemu Koivmaki has the Van de Velde drawing of the Battle of Livorno, from March 1653, on the front page of his Sailing Warship website. The battle was a great Dutch victory, and the result caused the English to withdraw from the Mediterranean Sea for the rest of the First Anglo-Dutch War. In the center, the Maan (40 guns) is clearly identifiable, firing at the English hired ship Sampson. The hired ship Witte Oliphant is clearly visible towards the left. The Maagd van Enkhuizen (34 guns) is firing at the Levant Merchant, between the Witte Oliphant and the Sampson. To the right of the Maan, we can see the Vereenigde Provincien (or Zeven Provincien) firing a broadside at the Bonaventure, which exploded. The English fireship Charity can be seen sinking. The Dutch ship Zon (40 guns) is between the Vereenigde Provincien and the Charity. Sources:

1. Michael S. Robinson, Van de Velde Paintings, Vol.I, 1990

Ten large Directors' ships in March 1653

In Appendix XXII of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, Vol.I, J.C. De Jonge gives the number of large Directors' ships in service in March 1653 was ten. These were ships with 34 to 38 guns. The question is if we can name them:

Adm     Ship                     Guns Crew Commander
A-Dir   Groote Vergulde Fortuijn 34   125  Claes Bastiaensz van Jaersvelt
A-Dir   Sint Matheeus            42   155  Cornelis Laurensz Naeuoogh
A-Dir   Elias                    34   107  Frans Fransz Sluijter
A-Dir   Gideon                   34    95  Dirck Jansz Somer
A-Dir   Burgh                    34   119  Hendrick Glas
A-Dir   Moor                     36   130  Ariaen Cornelisz van Ackersloot
R-Dir   Prins                    38   168  Jacob Cleijdijck
Mi-Dir  Gekroonde Liefde         36   142  Marcus Hartman
Vli-Dir Lam                      38   168  Michiel Adriaensz de Ruijter
Ve-Dir  Wapen van der Vere       37   116  Jan Olivierszoon

This is based on Witte de With's journal for 1653, as well as a documented dated 28 January 1653, which falls into the right date range.

The Friesland ship Harder in early 1653

The Friesland ship Harder, cast away off Scheveningen sometime before 4 April 1653, seems to have been the hired ship also known as the Schaapherder, a hired ship with a main armament of 6pdr guns and with a length of 119ft. The Schaapherder was in Michiel De Ruyter's fleet for the Battle of Plymouth, in August 1652, when they fought an action against Sir George Ayscue's fleet. De Ruyter's fleet was composed of about 30 ships, some built as warships and other that were hired. The largest ship was the Vogelstruis, which belonged to the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC. The Schaapherder was one of the weaker ships, in terms of broadside weight.

Groningen ships in April 1653

On 4 April 1653, there were four Groningen ships in service: the Stad Groningen en Ommelanden (38 guns and a crew of 110 men), the Graaf Hendrick (30 guns and a crew of 110 men), the Groninger Nicolaes (24 guns and a crew of 90 men), and the Graaf Willem (26 guns and a crew of 90 men). The Stad Groningen en Ommelanden was commanded by Joost Bulter, the Graaf Hendrick was commanded by Jan Reyndersz Wagenaer, the Groninger Nicolaes was commanded by Laurens Degelcamp, and the Graaf Willem was commanded by Jan Coenders.

Three large Friesland ships in 1653

During the middle of 1653, there seem to have been three large Friesland ships in service. By large, I mean having a length of 129 to 132 feet or larger. One was Hendrik Jansz Camp's ship, the Wapen van Nassau (36 guns), Jan Reyndersz Wagenaer's ship, the Graaf Hendrik (30 guns), and Jan Coenders' ship, the Graaf Willem (26 guns). The Graaf Willem was long, but was a fluit and was only lightly armed. There is no sign of either the Groningen that was captured by the English in 1665 or the Groenewold, listed in the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654 and listed in Vreugdenhil's list.

One of the great lists from the Nationaal Archief

One of the greatest lists that I have seen from the Nationaal Archief is a particular list of Friesland ships from April 1653. Perhaps I think that just because I have seen some that are better, but this is good. What make it good are that it has the "real" armaments for the ships Stad Groningen en Ommelanden (Joost Bulter's ship, usually mistakenly called the Kameel), the Sevenwolden, and the Graaf Hendrick. The Stad Groningen en Ommelanden is noteworthy for being a rather small 120ft ship armed with 38 guns. The Sevenwolden is somewhat larger, but also has 38 substantial guns. I wonder if their heavy armaments contributed to their loss in battle. The Stad Groningen en Ommelanden was sunk by gunfire at the Battle of the Gabbard. The Sevenwolden was sunk at the Battle of Scheveningen. Her captain, Frederick Stellingwerff was taken prisoner and died of disease while in captivity. The Graaf Hendrik carried 30 guns and was lost in the storm, off the Texel, in early November 1653.

The Zeeland ship Zierikzee

The ship Zierikzee was purchased by the Admiralty of Zeeland in 1653. This was a quick way to acquire ships that were compatible with the First Anglo-Dutch War building program. The hull of the Zierikzee was purchased from the shipbuilder Arent Dircxsen Sluijck at Zaanstad. The Zierikzee was in service from 1653 to 1674. The most likely dimensions for the Zierikzee were 130ft x 31ft x 13-1/2ft x 7-1/2ft, but the length may have been 133ft, instead. Early on, the Zierikzee was armed with 34 guns and had a crew of 115 men. Later, the Zierikzee was armed with as many as 60 guns, but a 40 gun armament was more suitable, given the size of the ship. Sources:

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

Vreugdenhil's list revisited

A. Vreugdenhil's list, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, was published in 1938 by the Society for Nautical Research. For almost 70 years, this has been the only comprehensive list of Dutch ships from the latter 17th Century. My main complaint with the list is that it was largely prepared without referring to the Nationaal Archief in The Hague. Vreugdenhil apparently did consult the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654, which has problems. One problem is that in Vreugdenhil's list, he mixed dimensions in Amsterdam feet (283mm and 11 inches) and Maas feet (308mm and 12 inches). When I had seen that the Brederode had dimensions of 132ft x 32ft x 13-1/2ft, I assumed that the Brederode was extremely small for a 54 gun ship. I couldn't figure out how the Prinses Louise carried 36 guns on dimensions of 110ft x 26-1/2ft x 11-1/2ft. The answer is that in one sense, she didn't. In Amsterdam feet, her dimensions were 120ft x 28ft-4in x 12ft-6in. In another sense, in English feet, her dimensions were approximately those in Maas feet! The English foot is about 305mm and is divided into 12 inches. The main problem, aside from this, is that Vreugdenhil's list is very incomplete, at least for the 1652 to 1653 period. In another sense, he has information that is just plain wrong. One example is that he lists a Rotterdam Directors' ship named Burcht or "De Burcht". I can understand this in one sense, as Dr. Elias indicated that the ship commanded by Hendrick Glas, the Burgh, was a Rotterdam Directors' ship. In reality, this was the Amsterdam Directors' ship, Nassouw van den Burgh. By the fall of 1652, the ship was usually called the Burgh (Burch being another way of spelling the name). He also has dates wrong. The Amsterdam Directors' ships Blauwe Arend was actually hired in March 1652 and served until late 1653, but Vreugdenhil gives the date as just 1653. There are many more of this sort of error. What is needed is someone to get a new list into print. In my case, I can really only cover 1652 to 1654.

Jacob Andriesz Swart in December 1652

I have this list of ships with the Dutch fleet in December 1652. The list only has ship commander names. Only in the case of the VOC ship Vogelstruis is the name provided. Under the Admiralty of Amsterdam, the name of commandeur Jacob Andriesz Swart appears. I believe that he commanded the large 36-gun ship Drie Coningen at the Battle of Dungeness and the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland). I think that the story is that he was Lucas Albertssen's luitenant. Lucas Albertssen had commanded the Drie Coningen from the spring or summer of 1652 up to the Battle of the Kentish Knock. Witte de With accused Lucas Albertssen of not doing his duty at the Kentish Knock, and I believe that he was ultimately convicted in a court martial, along with some other captains. I think that the Drie Coningen was damaged enough in the Three Days Battle as to be discarded rather than repaired.

Another look at Witte de With's fleet in 1645

The composition of ships and captains in Witte de With's fleet that was used to force a large merchant fleet into the Sound without paying a toll to the Danes in 1645 is still interesting to me. There are quite a few naval officers who took part in 1645 who served in the First Anglo-Dutch War. These include:

vice-admiraal Witte de With      Adm van Rotterdam  Brederode
kapitein Cornelis van Houtten    Adm van Rotterdam  Gecroonde Lieffde
vice-admiraal Joris van Cats     Adm van Amsterdam  Huis van Nassau
schout-bij-nacht Johan van Galen Adm van Amsterdam  Goude Maan
commandeur Anthonis van Zalingen Adm van Amsterdam  Goude Zon
commandeur Willem Nijhoff        Adm van Amsterdam  Wapen van der Goes
kapitein Jan de Lapper           Adm van Amsterdam  groote Zutphen
kapitein Jan Uijttenhout         Adm van Amsterdam  Bommel
kapitein Gerrit van Limmen       oude Amsterdam Dir Burght
kapitein Maerten de Graeff       oude Amsterdam Dir Hollandia
kapitein Jan Meijkes             oude Amsterdam Dir Wakende Boeij
kapitein Cornelis Jansz Poort    nieuwe Amst Dir    Patientia
kapitein Jacob Sijvertsz Spanheijm nieuwe Amst Dir  Venetia
kapitein Jan ter Stegen          nieuwe Amst Dir    Swarte Raven
kapitein Jacob Swart             nieuwe Amst Dir    rechte Lieffde
kapitein Adriaen Houttuijn       nieuwe Amst Dir    Gouden Leeuw
kapitein Jan Warnaertsz Capelman Adm van de NQ      Wapen van Alkmaar
kapitein Gabriel Anthonisz       Adm van de NQ      Kasteel van Medemblik
kapitein Arent Dircksz           Adm van de NQ      Wapen van Monnikendam?
kapitein Gijsbert Malcontent     Enkhuizen Dir      Getrouwen Harder
kapitein Jacob Pietersz Houck    Hoorn Dir          Swarten Beer
kapitein Allert Taemesz          Hoorn Dir          Dolphijn
kapitein Jan Pietersz Eenarm     Medemblik Dir      Coninck David
kapitein Andries Douwesz Pascaert Harlingen Dir     Prins Willem

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. G. W. Kernkamp, De Sleutels van de Sont, 1890

Small Rotterdam ships with the fleet in May 1653

Witte de With's journal for May 1653 lists three small Rotterdam ships that were with the fleet. The listing is significant as it provides guns and crew size, which are absent from the published literature:

Adm Ship                   Guns Crew Commander
R   Haij, advijs jacht      6    14  Teunis Willemsz van de Henden
R   Coninck David, fireship 6    14  Jacob Arenszoon
R   Orangieboom, fireship   6    13  Dirck Jansz Stroo

Sources:

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

The more powerful Amsterdam ships in May 1653

The list of Admiralty of Amsterdam ships in May 1653 that carried 34 guns or more is interesting to see. These are just ships that were with the fleet:

Adm   Ship              Guns Crew Commander
A     Vrede             44   192  commandeur Gideon de Wildt
A     Vrijheid          50   207  vice-admiraal Witte de With
                                  vlag-kapitein Abraham van der Hulst
A     Leewarden         34   148  kapitein Govert Reael
A     Graaf Willem      40   155  kapitein Gideon Verburgh
A     Bommel            34   110  kapitein Pieter van Braeckel
A     Zeelandia         34   130  kapitein Nicolaes Marrevelt
A     Campen            40   158  kapitein Willem van der Zaan

Sources:

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

How closely does Brandt's list for the Dutch fleet sent to Danzig in 1656 match Witte de With's journal?

Ever since I received Witte de With's journal last year, with a listing of the Dutch fleet sent to Danzig in 1656, I wondered how closely the list published by Brandt in the biography of Michiel De Ruijter matched what Witte de With had. The answer is that there is exact agreement for most ships except for those from Friesland. Witte de With gives the two Friesland ships as the Prinses Albertina and the Breda, while Brandt gave them as the Friesland and Prinsen Wapen. The captains agree but not the ships. I have the list from Brandt at my "anglodutchwarsblog.com" site.

The Goes or Ter Goes of 1652

Ron van Maanen has the dimensions for the small Zeeland ship Goes (or Ter Goes) that apparently had a very long life, for a Dutch ship in the 17th Century. The ship was mentioned as late as 1688. The Goes was rather small, having dimensions of 112ft x 28ft x 11ft, with a height between decks of 6-1/2ft. Ron says that the ship was also called the Goesland. The Goes took part in the Battle of Plymouth, with Michiel De Ruyter's fleet, in a action against an English fleet commanded by Sir George Ayscue. The purpose of Sir George Ayscue's fleet was to protect English shipping in the Channel and attack the Dutch. De Ruyter's fleet was engaged in convoying Dutch merchant ships to and from the Channel. De Ruyter's fleet was merged with the main fleet in September 1652 and took part in in the Battle of the Kentish Knock, minus some ships that were too damaged to stay at sea. Sources:

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

46 guns on the Prinses Louise in late 1652

I am perhaps the only one who cares about this, and most are not even aware, that Dr. Elias, in Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen says that in late 1652, the Prinses Louise carried 46 guns. I had originally assumed that this meant that Witte de With's flagship since 1651 had its armament increased to 46 guns, which seemed excessive for a 120ft (Amsterdam feet) ship. I have seen some references to the Henrietta Louise, a ship of the Middelburg Chamber of the VOC, that call the ship the Prinses Louise. That made me wonder if the document that Dr. Elias had seen was actually referring to the East Indiaman. Witte de With's journal in September 1652 refers to an Indiaman with the fleet with 48 guns that I assume was this ship. That was why I thought that the 46 guns could refer to this ship.

The Gulden Draak on 30 July 1653

Ron van Maanen has some information about the ship Gulden Draak, hired from the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC. The date of the information is 30 July 1653. The Gulden Draak was a large retourschip with dimensions 170ft x 38ft x 17ft, with a height between decks of 7ft. He lists and armament of 4-18pdr, 6-12pdr, and 18-6pdr guns. Ron says that the armament was 32 guns total, so there must have been more than he listed. The crew was variously listed as 113 or 163 men. Perhaps this was one of the ships drafted to serve with the fleet at the Battle of Scheveningen on 10 August 1653. Sources:

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

Two Zeeland ships with similar names

The Visser and the Vissers Harder seem to be two distinct three-masted jachts or small frigates. Ron van Maanen says that the Visser was in service in 1665 and 1666. He says that the Vissers Harder was in service from 1664 to 1672. The Vissers Harder was in the West Indies with Abraham Crijnssen in 1667. The dimensions for the Visser were 96ft x 24ft x 10ft x 5-1/2ft. The dimensions for the Vissers Harder were 100ft x 26ft x 10ft x 5ft. The Visser carried 26 or 28 guns while the Vissers Harder carried 26 guns. The Visser had a crew of 75 to 105 men. The Vissers Harder had a crew of 105 men. The two ships were similar enough to cause us to wonder if they really were two different ships, despite the difference in size. Sources:

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

The Profeet Samuel

I have a list from March 1653 of ships that might be suitable for hiring by the Dutch navy. One of the ship names is Profeet Samuel, the name of the ship that Rens Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen commanded in May and June 1653. The Profeet Samuel was damaged at the Battle of the Gabbard. After the battle, kapitein Sevenhuijsen was ordered to move himself and his crew to what was apparently a newly hired ship, the Mars. He commanded the Mars at the Battle of Scheveningen and on the voyage to Norway from September to November 1653. The Profeet Samuel in this list is 124ft long. We know that the Profeet Samuel carried 30 guns.

The Kasteel van Medemblik of 1688

The large, by Dutch standards, three-decker, Kasteel van Medemblik, was apparently built by Willem Ariszoon (or was it Aertszoon) at Medemblik in 1688. The ship may have carried as many as 94 guns. The Kasteel van Medemblik was in service until 1713, according to Ron van Maanen. The dimensions were 170ft x 43ft x 16ft. It seems odd that he would command a Noorderkwartier ship, but I have some information that seems to indicate that in June 1692, Gerard Callenburgh used the Kasteel van Medemblik as his flagship. The ship carried 86 guns at the time. 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

The Beer

Ron van Maanen has conflicting information about the ship Beer, which he says is the ship captured by the English and used in their service as the Bear. The Bear was finally given to the ordnance office in 1665, according to Frank Fox, after being taken in 1653. The English put 44 guns on the Bear. Ron has some conflicting information about the Beer. On the one hand, he says that the origin was unknown. He also suggestst that the ship was in service on 10 December 1652 with Directors of Edam. The Beer was said to be three years old. the dimensions given are 133ft x 27ft x 13-1/2ft x 6-1/2ft. the guns carried were 2-18pdr, 10-12pdr, 12-8pdr, 6-4pdr, and 2-3pdr. He also lists the Directors of Edam in May 1653 and the Directors of Medemblik in June 1653. He gives the armament as somewhere between 32 and 36 guns and the crew as 110 men. Sources:

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

Ron van Maanen has some really outrageous dimensions for the Oranje, lost at Lowestoft

I just looked at the dimensions that Ron van Maanen has for Bastiaan Centsen's ship, the Oranje (76 guns), that was lost at the Battle of Lowestoft. The dimensions he has are: 180ft x 52ft x 17ft x 7ft, which seem much too large. Herbert Tomesen, from Artitec, lists much smaller dimensions: 170ft x 38ft x 14ft (over the koebrug). I have thought that the usual hold depth would be 18ft. I am really curious as to the source of Ron's dimensions. He has very large dimensions (or at least length) for the Prins Willem, Witte de With's flagship at the Battle of the Kentish Knock. Ron's information is from his "Zeeland" document (undated).

The VOC ship Huis van Nassau

Ron van Maanen has the dimensions of the ship Huis van Nassau, which belonged to the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC (the Dutch India Company). This was the ship commanded by Jan Pietersz van Strijp during 1653 which served with the fleet from April to November 1653. The ship had dimensions 133-1/2ft x 27ft-4in x 13ft-10in, with a height between decks of 6ft-10in. In May 1653, the Huis van Nassau carried 34 guns and had a crew of 112 men. The ship was long and narrow, although not quite as extreme as the Sint Willeboort. 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

I assume that the six VOC ships on the page map to the six that served in 1653

We know that from May 1653, six VOC ships served with the fleet. Presumably, these map to the gun lists and dimensions in the one page I recently received:

Adm    Ship               Guns Crew Commander
A-VOC  Gereghtigheijt     34   112  Capt. Evert Swart (May 1653)
A-VOC  huijs van Nassouw  34   112  Capt. van Strijp (May 1653)
A-VOC  Mercurius          36   110  Capt. Pieter de Bitter (May 1653)
R-VOC  Nassau             32   124  Capt. Jan Arensz van der Werff (May 1653)
                         36   128  Capt. Jan Arensz van der Werff (Aug. 1653)
Ho-VOC Sinte Willeboort   27   120  Capt. Herick Jacobsz (Aug. 1653)
Mi-VOC Swarte Bul (Edam)  32   104  Capt. Willem Volckertsz (May 1653)
                         36   139  Capt. Willem Folckertsz (Aug. 1653)
                         35   125  Lt-Cdr. Abraham Arensz (Sept. 1653)

Sources:

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

The ship Sint Willeboort of the Hoorn Chamber of the VOC

When I was reading the pages from the outline list of ships at Vlissingen in July 1653, I had seen that there was one ship listed from the Hoorn Chamber of the VOC. I had heard of a ship called the Mars, and wondered if that was the ship. It was only after seeing Witte de With's journal and hearing from Carl Stapel that I knew the name of the ship was the Sint Willeboort, which I had not seen mentioned in the published literature. Yesterday, I received the page that lists six VOC ships that served with the fleet in 1653. One was Pieter de Bitter's ship, the Mercurius and another was a ship of Hoorn. The characteristics were those of the Sint Willeboort, which Carl Stapel had sent me. A striking feature of the Sint Willeboort is that the length-to-beam ration is 5.0, while the length to beam ratio for the Mercurius is just 4.0. Another surprising fact is that the armament is very light, with only six guns of 12pdr and larger. The rest are 8pdr and smaller, down to 2pdr.

More from the Amsterdam Directors' ship list: the Catrina

This list of Amsterdam Directors' ships, dating from about March 1653, lists the ship that is often called the Catarina as the Catrina. The captain's name is given as Jacob Coppen, rather than Cop or Coppe. This was a ship lost at the Battle of the Gabbard in June 1653. These are the details:

The ship Catrina, kapitein Jacob Coppen

Length:  125ft
Beam:     29-1/4ft
Hold:     12-1/2ft
Height:    7ft

28 guns: 12-12pdr, 6-8pdr, 8-6pdr, and 2-3pdr

Crew: 110 men

The captain of the Amsterdam Directors' ship Faam

I have the photograph of a multi-page list of Amsterdam Directors' ships that defniitely shows that the captain of the Faam (28 guns) was Jacob Cornelisz Swart. The document is in a group of pages dating from late February to early March 1653. That same list suggests to me that Sipke Fockes commanded the Sint Maria (28 guns) at the Three Days Battle (AKA the Battle of Portland).

The Amsterdam ship Omlandia

Jacob Troncquoijs commanded the hired ship Omlandia during the summer of 1652. He was replaced by Boetius Schaeff, by the fall. From the spring of 1653, Boetius Schaeff's father, Maarten Schaeff, commanded the Omlandia, until the Omlandia was sunk at the Battle of Scheveningen on 10 August 1653. Ron van Maanen has the dimensions for the Omlandia: 120ft x 27-1/2ft x 12ft, with a height between decks of 6-3/4ft. From a document, I know that the armament of the Omlandia, during the summer of 1652, was 12-12pdr, 6-8pdr, 10-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns, for a gotal of 30 guns. The crew was nominally 100 men. Sources:

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

The Kampen drawing at Maritiem Digital

Two Willem van de Velde de Oude drawings of the ship Kampen show up in a search of the Maritiem Digitaal database. The drawing that was done about 1665 is the best of the two. The second, dating from 1672 is so light as to be all but invisible. The drawings available online seem to be very low resolution images, but this, showing the Kampen from the port quarter is acceptable. I found these simply by searching with the term "1652". The 1665 drawing was number 68 of 359 records.

Ab Hoving at Texas A&M University

I have exchanged email with Ab Hoving several times in the last 4 years. He is the ship model curator at the Scheepvaart Museum at Amsterdam (which is closed for renovation). About a year ago, Ab Hoving was invited to speak at the Nautical Archaeology Program at Texas A&M University. Wendy van Duivenvoorde has a page about the visit, with photographs. I knew that Ab Hoving was looking for a publisher for an English translation for his Nicolaes Witsen book, and it would be great if it could be published by the university press at Texas A&M University.

The July 1653 list of ships at Vlissingen: the VOC ship of the "Hoorne" Chamber

The handwritten outline list of ships at Vlissingen in early July 1653, giving the status of ships, most of which are not named, gives the VOC ship from Hoorn (written as "Hoorne") as "unready". That ship was the Sint Willeboort, which is not mentioned in any published source that I have seen. This was a quite long ship, almost 140 Amsterdam feet, that only carried 28 guns and had a crew of 110 men. I am pretty confident that the ship was ready in time for the Battle of Scheveningen on 10 August 1653. The Sint Willeboort had fought in the Battle of the Gabbard ("Nieuwpoort")on 12 and 13 June 1653.

Hendrick Croeger's middle name

A document dated 27 April 1652 gives Hendrik Kroeger's name as "Hendrick Evertsz Croeger". I have not seen his middle name, Evertszoon, mentioned before. This sort of name is usually abbreviated down to Evertsz (ommitting the period that we would put there, writing "Evertsz."). You might also see names like this called Evertssen, although it could be Evertsen, like the famous Zeeland family. By the way, Hendrick Kroeger commanded the convoyer Marcus Curtius (24 guns) up until 22 July 1652, when the English attacked the fishing protection squadron, of which the Marcus Curtius was part. He commanded the ship Leiden (28 guns) during 1653.

Gerrit Munth was Willem Ham's lieutenant in April 1652

I was reading copies, this morning, from the Collection Johan de Witt, and looked a page that listed captains and their lieutenants in April 1652 for the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier. I had seen this before, but had forgotten that in April 1652, Gerrit Munth was Captain Ham's lieutenant. I presume that this meant Willem Ham, who commanded the Noorderkwartier ship Sampson at the beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War. Fairly early, Gerrit Munth was appointed as captain of the 28-gun ship Huis van Nassau. By May 1653, he commanded the 32-gun ship Lastdrager and did so up to at least November 1653.

Analysis

I have revived my analysis document about Amsterdam ships that I had started in December 2006. I still am interested in seeing if I can guess which ship that Abraham van der Hulst commanded. I assume that this was a "landsschip" and that the ship was one that we know about. If that is true, then by having a comprehensive list that shows who commanded ships, by date, we should be able to find which ship was that commanded by Abraham van der Hulst. The list of ships is too well-defined for his ship to be a "mystery ship". I must admit that our experience with Zeeland ships in 1652 ought to inspire some caution on this, as there were a number of Zeeland ships in service that were not mentioned in published sources.

The reason why Abraham van der Hulst's ship in 1652 could be a previously unknown ship

There is a small chance that Abraham van der Hulst's 26-gun ship in 1652 could be a previously unknown ship is that figuring out what ship he commanded, by analysis, has not been possible. You would think that if he commanded a ship that we knew about and that we have accurate information about which captains commanded which ships, then we could find the ship by analysis. I think that the chances of the ship being an unknown ship (a "mystery ship") are small, but they are a real possibility. Another possibility is that the ship was one that had served in the 1630s and 1640s, was damaged in the storm in the Shetlands and was finally discarded. We just don't know of any plausible ships.

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

I decided to look at the options, again, for Abraham van der Hulst's ship in June to August 1652. I assume that his ship was one of the well-known ships built as a warship. If that is true, then we should be able to make an educated guess as to the ship's identity by knowing, for all the Amsterdam ships, what captains commanded them during this period. I had thought, again, that the ship might be the klein Zutphen, but Ewout Jeroenszoon de Moy seems to have commanded the Zutphen from June, if not earlier.

Mistakes?

I have wondered at the seeming mistakes in the outline list of the Dutch fleet, dating from early July 1653, when the fleet was mostly near Vlissingen (Flushing). The issue is about the assignment of ships to particular directors, from some seaports. The ship Halve Maen, is said to be with the Directors of Monnikendam, whch we actually think that the ship was hired by the Directors of Edam. The ship Vergulde Zon, or Schellinkhout, seems to have been hired by the Directors of Enkhuizen, but there are several lists, including the one from early July, that say that the ship was hired by the Directors of Edam. The fact that there are several, unrelated lists with these assignments is curious. Were they all wrong? My supposition is that they were all wrong, and that they are based on some common source that gave the assignments incorrectly.

The Amsterdam ship Gaasterland, built in 1688

The ship Gaasterland was built by Hendrik Cardinaal at Amsterdam in 1688. The Gaasterland was built for the Admiralty of Amsterdam, and was considered to be a poor ship as the gunports were too low to the water. The French captured the Gaasterland in 1703. The dimensions for the Gaasterland were 135ft x 35ft x 14ft. The main battery consisted of 18pdr guns. The armament was 22-18pdr, 22-8pdr, and 8-4pdr guns. Ron van Maanen describes the Gaasterland as a "4th Rate". The Gaasterland was usually armed with between 46 and 52 guns and had a crew that varied between 190 and 210 men. Sources:

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

The Sint Mattheus

I have been confused by the Sint Mattheeus, because there were two sets of dimensions referenced in different places. I had finally become convinced that there was only one ship, and that was captured by the English at the Battle of the Gabbard in June 1653. Ron van Maanen has two entries in his "Zeeland" document, one for the larger dimensions and one for the smaller. I cannot be sure if he was just documenting the two sets of dimensions or if he actually thought that there were two ships. Documents dating from March 1652 give the dimensions as 140ft x 34ft x 15ft, with a height between decks of 7-1/3ft. The only exceptions to those dimensions were the list prepared by David de Wildt in February 1652 that listed dimensions of 144ft x 36ft x 15ft. The 144ft x 36ft were the dimensions mentioned in Dr. Weber's book about the Four Days' Battle. Ron van Maanen says that the 7-1/3ft is actually the height below the orlogdeck, which is a rather different proposition. I see some of these different heights mentioned, but the same sort of dimension is used in every case where there is a deck height listed and they are consistent. The documents often don't say what the height is, but they author simply assumed that everyone knew that it was the height between decks.

Was Adriaen Vermeulen Johannes van Regermorter's lieutenant?

Adriaen Vermeulen commanded the Middelburg Directors' ship Leeuwinne on the voyage to Norway in September to November 1653. The original commander, Johannes van Regermorter was killed at the Three Days' Battle, on the first day, 28 February 1653. The Leeuwinne (or Gouden Leeuwinne) was a 120ft-long ship with a main battery of 8pdr guns. The Leeuwinne was equipped, however, with 4-bronze 24pdr guns. Sources:

1. a page dated 11 February 1653 from Lias Admiraliteiten at the Nationaal Archief
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

More interesting pages

I received some more interesting pages today. One has the dimensions, gun list, and crew details for Jan Le Sage's ship, the Gouden Haen and Jacob Pensen's ship Gouden Leeuw. Both ships had "main batteries" of 8pdr guns, but the Gouden Haen had 8-18pdr guns, so that the ship was one of a handful of Dutch ships to carry 8-18pdr guns. Pieter Florissen's ship, the Monnikendam, was another ship so armed.

Looking for Zeeland ships during 1700 to 1800

I am browsing Ron van Maanen's largest document, looking for Zeeland ships during the period of 1700 to 1800. I am up to "Dolfijn" and all I have seen are many vessels of the type "uitlegger". I found the "Naval Sailing Warfare History 1650-1850" Wiki, and saw that there were at least some large Zeeland ships during this period. For example, after I saw the Wiki, I was able to find Ron's reference to the Zierikzee, built in 1733 and last mentioned in 1782:

The ship Zierikzee, built in 1733, rebuilt in 1743

Dimensions: 156ft x 44ft x 18-1/2ft

Sources:

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

Captain of the Hector van Troijen in December 1652

One document that in photographs that I received two days ago list Friesland captains and their ship, apparently from 7 December 1652. The page with the date is indistinct, so the date is certainly in December 1652, but the exact day is unclear. In any case, the only change that I especially noticed is that Laurens Harmensz Degelencamp (as this document calls him) was now captain of the ship Hector van Troijen. Reiner Sekema (or Siccema) had been removed and would face courtmartial. The Hector van Troijen was a rather small 24-gun ship that had fought at the Battle of Plymouth in August and the Battle of the Kentish Knock in October. I usually seen the captain's name written as Laurens Degelcamp, but I have seen him simply called Laurens Hermanszoon. A descendent of his or distant relative told me that his name really was Laurens Degelencamp.

The Wikipedia De Ruyter page

I just checked the De Ruyter Wikipedia page and it seems to have at least some of the information from new books published as we come up to the anniversary of Michiel de Ruyter's birth (1607), four hundred years ago.

Yesterday, I received photographs of the document with Zeeland Directors' ships from December 1652

I received the two photographs from a document that gives the gun lists and crews for three Zeeland Directors' ships: Jan Thijssen's ship Witte Lam, Bastiaen Centen's ship the Haes, and Allert Janszoon/Teunis Post's ship, the Arend (or Dubbele Arend). The Lam or Witte Lam had been Michiel De Ruyter's flagship from late 1652 until the late summer of 1653, and was heavily engaged. The Haes and Dubbele Arend both took part in the voyage to Norway and back in September to November 1653. Perhaps there would be some interest in knowing that in December 1652, the Lam carried 34 guns, of which four were 24pdr and two were 18pdr. The Lam had an odd collection of guns: bronze 24pdr, 18pdr, 12pdr, and 6pdr guns and iron 12pdr and 8pdr guns. The largest number were iron 8pdr guns.

Ron van Maanen says that there were fireships in 1665 fitted with "bangmakers"

Ron van Maanen lists a fireship Walvis that served in 1665 for the Admiralty of Zeeland. The ship had dimensions 91ft x 21-1/2ft x 11ft. The Walvis carried two guns and had a crew of 12 men. Interestingly, Ron says that the Walvis was fitted with "bangmakers". That is the only reference to "bangmakers" that I could find in his largest document. I need to look at Frank Fox's book, A Distant Storm, to see if he mentions "bangmakers".

Today, I received a list of Amsterdam ships from about

I received photographs of a list of Amsterdam ships, giving their crews and lists of guns. This only covered the ships still in service, as those that were already lost had only summary information. The striking thing is that the better ships all had large numbers of 12pdr guns, with the remainder being 6pdr. The lesser ships only had a smaller number of 12pdr guns, with more 8pdr, with 6pdr and smaller guns, as well.

I have this page dated 24 May 1652

There is a page dated 24 May 1652. There had been a date of 29 April 1652, but a line is drawn through it. The page has a list of seven Rotterdam captains:

Dirck Claesz van Dongen
Isaack de Jongh
Jacob van Cleijdijck
Sijmon Cornelisz van der Meer
Ruth Jacobsz Buijs
Arien Cornelisz de Zeeuw

We could play a game of "what name seems to not belong here?". The name that is "out of place" is Dirck Claesz van Dongen. The others commanded Rotterdam Directors' ships, but he commanded a ship involved in fishery protection. Does anyone have an explanation?

The Noorderkwartier ship Lastdrager (1652-1653)

Although not mentioned by name, the ship Lastdrager initially appeared in late 1652, under the command of Volckert Schram (according to Carl Stapel). By the spring of 1653, Gerrit Munt commanded the Lastdrager, which apparently was an East Indiaman. There is an undated page, but likely from June 1652, that mentions the ship and Gerrit Munt as the captain. The ship is listed, although not by name, as having 32 guns and a crew of 110 men in August 1653. In September 1653, the ship is mentioned by name, along with Gerrit Munt as the captain, in a list of ships with Witte de With's fleet on the voyage to Norway. This is from Witte de With's journal.

Prior to the Battle of the Kentish Knock, some of the Amsterdam Directors' ships were upgunned

Apparently, the figures usually seen for the Amsterdam Directors' ships armaments in 1652 were just nominal figures, or what was planned. What I am seeing from September 1652 are actual guns on board, which is apparently something unusual. The ships in this document all have 4pdr guns and some have more guns than the nominal numbers. I had no idea that Sipke Fockes' ship, the Sint Maria, carried 31 guns at the Battle of the Kentish Knock. I believe that it was the Gideon that had as many as 37 guns. The Mauritius had her nominal 34 guns, but had 12pdr guns substituted for lesser guns.

The Gideon in September 1652

I received better photographs of a document, dating from September 1652, that has armaments listed for some ship, including the Amsterdam Directors' ship Gideon, commanded by Hector Bardesius at this date. A number of ships were armed with "half-cartouwen" 24pdr guns. The Gideon carried 4 bronze 24pdr guns of this type. While nominally carrying 34 guns, the Burgh actually seems to have had 37 guns: 4-24pdr, 14-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 5-6pdr, 2-4pdr, 4-3pdr. From other sources, we know that the Gideon had dimensions of 132-1/2ft x 29-1/4ft x 13-1/2ft, with a height between decks of 6-1/2ft.

I see that the latest Rotterdam list from 1652 is of the fleet "under the flag of Vice-Admiral De With"

I had wondered about yet another list of ships of the Admiralty of Rotterdam, dating from 1652. I looked at the title on the first page, and this list is of the fleet under the flag of Vice-Admiral Witte de With. In the list, the crew of the Brederode is listed as 175 sailors and 75 soldiers. The crew of Witte de With's flagship Prinses Louise was 121 sailors and 41 soldiers. The list actually includes all Rotterdam ships, as Michiel Fransz van den Bergh's ship, the 40-gun Gelderland, which was in the Mediterranean Sea is included. The Gelderland had a crew of 110 sailors and 30 soldiers. The small frigate Gelderland, commanded by the famous Aert Jansz van Nes, had a large crew, consisting of 80 sailors and 20 soldiers. Paulus van den Kerckhoff's ship, the Dolphijn, had a crew of 109 sailors and 31 soldiers.

An interesting two page document

On 2 March 2007, I received more photographs of documents. These included a two page document that has ship names, captains, crew, and lists of guns. There is an entry for the "Jeronimus", commanded by Jan Pietersz Een arm, but the entry only gives the crew as 100 men and the armament as 30 guns, with no guns listed (sadly). The other entries all list guns, by shot weight, except for the ship commanded by kapitein Ham. This was the Tobias, but the name is not even included. The list is dated 6 September 1652.

Willem Folkertszoon's ship the Swarte Bul

Willem Folkertszoon commanded a ship belonging to the Middelburg Chamber of the VOC (the Dutch East Indies Company) in the summer of 1653. Witte de With's journal says that in August, the Swarte Bul (presumably, also named Edam) carried 36 guns and had a crew of 139 men. At this date, the Swarte Bul carried victuals for 12 weeks. None of the published sources have even the number of guns for any of these VOC ships serving with the fleet. The dimensions for the Swarte Bul (Edam) may exist. I have just not seen them, yet. The Swarte Bul took part in the voyage to Norway in September to November 1653, in Witte de With's fleet. The Swarte Bul's captain at this time was Abraham Arenszoon, who had been the luitenent-commandeur. Sources:

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

Another list that confirms that the Campen, Westfriesland, Star, and others were hired!

The document from the Wrangell Collection that Jan Glete had sent me had Amsterdam ships hired in 1652. We had a hard time with it, because we had considerable reason to believe that the Campen, Westfriesland, Star, Edam, and other ships, were "Landsschepen" and belonged to the Admiralty of Amsterdam rather than being hired ("gehuurd"). I received photographs of a list, today, that confirm that these ships were listed as "hired". My attempt at an explanation is that these ships were funded by the "100 ships", and were considered to be "hired". Another explanation is that they were actually hired, after being discarded at the peace in 1648. I have assumed that these ships were simply put into reserve, in 1648, available to be returned to service when needed.

I have inventories for Friesland ships in 1652

One interesting thing that I received in the last few days were photographs of inventories for hired Friesland ships in 1652. They don't have the weights of guns, but they are detailed inventories, which could be useful for analysis of ships characteristics. They could also help to estimate values for ships for which we don't have inventories. One little nugget is the the hired ship Schaepharder seems to have been built in 1643 and had a main battery of just 6pdr guns. The ship carried nothing larger.

Numbers of Dutch ships in 1652

The numbers of Dutch ships funded by the various acts of the Staten Generaal seem to be treated in the published literature, including by Dr. Elias, as absolute numbers. There were the 40 convoyers funded at the peace treaty with Spain in 1648. These were supplemented by 36 cruisers in 1651. In early 1652, another 150 ships were "added", fifty provided by the Directors of the various seaports and 100 by the five admiralties. Those numbers total to 226 ships, which some authors expect to be meaningful. In fact, there were fewer than 40 convoyers left by early 1652, although the number 41 is sometimes mentioned, to further confuse the issue. The "36 Ships" is in different sources also said to be 35 or 37 ships. Of the 150 ships, the fifty Directors' ships were in fact hired and in service, however briefly, before losses occurred. Of the 100 ships, there were never 100 ships in service, and they were not just hired ships, but new construction and warships activated from the reserve.

36pdr guns in the Dutch navy

Prior to 1665, and even after that, very few Dutch warships carried any 36pdr guns. The Aemilia and Brederode, both flagships, both carried them, as did the Eendracht blown up at the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665. Michiel De Ruyter's flagship, the Zeven Provincien carried more 36 pdrs than any Dutch ship previously seen, as it had 12 in 1666. The Aemilia and Brederode carried four each. A few other ships had 36pdrs. For example, the Groene Draeck, 250-last ship built in 1623, carried two of them. The Hof van Zeeland, lost at the Four Days' Battle had two, as well. The Delfland, Michiel De Ruyter's flagship in the summer and early fall of 1665 carried one 36pdr. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984
3. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated but circa 1992

One thing that interests me are keel lengths for Dutch ships

They only seem to be scarcely documented, but there are some keel lengths known for Dutch warships. They seem known for more ships built from the 1680's and beyond. Ron van Maanen has some of them in his long document:

Adm   Ship                Date Length    Keel Length  Length to Keel
A     Argo                1772 149ft-9in 140ft-2in    1.0688
N     Arnhem              1693 145ft     123-1/2ft    1.174
A     Beemster Koe        1686 138ft     115ft        1.2
N     Beschermer          1690 170ft     146-1/4ft    1.1624

Sources:

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

One continuing mystery: the Dutch prize Bear, taken by the English

Somehow, Ron van Maanen has Dutch specifications for ship that was taken by the English and which served as the Bear. This ship is still a mystery, since the obvious conclusion was that this was the Monnikendam Directors' ship commanded by Jacob Claesz Boot in the summer of 1652. The Swarte Beer still seems to have been in service with the Dutch in August 1653, by now commanded by Jan Cornelisz Oli. This was a large ship, 132ft long, with 32 guns.

The Amsterdam ship Banier from 1691

The Amsterdam ship Banier was built in 1691 during the War of the English Succession. The Banier was built by Hendrik Cardinaal at Amsterdam. There was another report that the Banier had been built by Jan van Rheenen. Ron van Maanen has the details about the Banier. The dimensions were 145ft x 39ft x 15ft. The Banier carried 64 guns and had a crew of 325 men. The armament consisted of 24-18pdr, 24-12pdr, and 16-6pdr guns. The Banier was broken up in 1719 (or, perhaps, in 1718). Sources:

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

The Burcht van Leiden of 1653

Ron van Maanen has the details about the Amsterdam ship Burcht van Leiden, which was built at Edam in 1653 by Pieter Pietersz "Ouwtdaas". The contract called for a ship that was 130ft long with a 13ft hold. The ship was built larger than that. The ship survived at Amsterdam until 18 April 1685, when the ship was to be sold at auction, since it had become "unservicable". The dimensions usually given were 132-1/2ft x 32ft x 13-1/2ft, with a height between decks of 7ft. In April 1655, the guns were listed as 4-18pdr, 22-12pdr, 14-8pdr, and 4 drakes (probably 6pdr). The ship was often called the Burgh van Leiden. Sources:

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

Game programming books

I am still a rookie game programmer. I have done a small amount of 2D Blitz Basic programming, using the Visual Blitz IDE, but that is all I have done. I am an experienced Java programmer, so in my continuing program to get to the point that I can do some game programming, I purchased Jonathan Harbour's book Beginning Java 5 Game Programming. Last week, my wife bought me a book called The Game Maker's Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners, by Jacob Habgood and Mark Overmars (a Dutch professor). I am interested in developing simulation-style naval wargames for 17th Century naval gaming. I at least have the continuing delusion that I might have something to contribute on the subject. I suspect that my first effort will be 2D, not 3D, due to the difficulty of generating 3D models.

We should be able to estimate the rake and thickness of the side for Dutch ships captured by the English

Where we have both Dutch dimensions and English dimensions when a Dutch ship was captured and the dimensions were recorded, we should be able to estimate the rake and the thickness of the planking on the side. We might use the Amsterdam ship Edam. The only possible issue is that the length is somewhat in dispute. The usual length given is 120ft, but we have instances where the length was given as 124ft. If we use the "classic" dimensions, we find:

The ship Edam or Wapen van Edam, called the Black Bull by the English

Dutch Measurements

      Amsterdam ft English ft
Length  120ft      111ft-4in
Beam     28ft       26ft
Hold     11ft       10ft-2.5in

English Measurements 

      Amsterdam ft English ft
Keel    92ft-7.5in  86ft
Beam    30ft-6in    28ft-4in
Depth   12ft-1in    12ft

If this has any validity, we might think that the rake was 120ft - 92ft-7.5in, or 27ft-3.5in. The thickness of one side is (30ft-6in - 28ft)/2 = 1ft-3in. If we feel daring, we would see if we can tell the camber of the deck. The Dutch measured the hold at the side, where the deck connected with the side. The English measured at the high point, under the deck at the center. They may not have measured from the same place, but let us imagine that they did. That would make the deck camber 1ft-1in, seems rather high. I took these figures from an old post from 2004.

Carl Stapel says that I am mistaken about the Groninger Nicolaes and Gelderland

Carl Stapel says that the Groninger Nicolaes (or Groninger Sint Nicolaes) and the Gelderland were two separate ships. He says that they both took part in the Battle of the Kentish Knock. Despite the fact that I had seen the page with Laurens Hermansz Degelcamp in command of the Gelderland, I cannot find the photograph, today.

The ships Gelderland and Groeningen Nicolaes were the same ship

I have photographs of pages from the Nationaal Archief that show that the ships Gelderland and Groeningen Nicolaes were the same ship. This was a small ship with dimensions of 106ft x 25-1/2ft x 11ft, with a height between decks of 5-3/4ft. The guns were 4-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 10-4pdr, and 2-2pdr, according to Ron van Maanen. He says that this was a pinnace hired in Groningen in 1652, so that seems to rule out that this was a ship in service prior to the war.

I will be switching to a new look soon

To ease the difficulties in Blogger template maintenance, I will soon be switching 17th Century Naval Wargaming to the new style template, which is much easier to maintain.

I went to photograph some of the pictures from the Hollandsche Mercurius...

I had forgotten that the edition of the 1652 and 1653 Hollandsche Mercurius that I have lacks the nice Reinier Nooms drawings. I went to photograph them over the weekend and realized that I don't have them. I remember now, that when I received my copy a year ago, I saw that there were no drawings. I had also tried to get the James Ford Bell Library to make copies for me, in 2001, but I was only able to get a few. I may have to hire someone to photograph them for me. I do have this one image, showing Tromp fighting the Garland. It is rather large, although the file is just 62K:

The ship Faem, hired in 1642 for service in the Sound

In 1642, the Admiralty of Amsterdam hired ships for service in the Sound. Carl Stapel had sent me copies of the documents some time ago. I could not read several names that were obscured by dark patches, but by adjusting contrast and brightness, I could read the name of this ship. I had photographed the paper copy, which as usual, contains more information than is visible. These are the ship details:

The ship Faem, hired in 1642

Length from stem to sternpost: 118ft
Beam:                           28-1/2ft
Hold:                           14-1/4ft
Height between decks:            6-1/2ft

26 guns: 2-bronze 12pdr, 2-iron 12pdr, 14-iron 8pdr,
         2-copper 8pdr, 4-iron 5pdr, 2-iron 4pdr

A matter of vision

One thing that I found out from my work with digital photographs of documents is that much of my difficulties with reading pages in gothic typeface stem from the small size. I also find that adjusting the brightness and contrast, in conjunction with zooming in to larger size, that I do much better reading the text than if I am left with reading paper with the gothic type face. If I am trying to read from images of copies, the resolution really makes a difference. I have found that pages that I scanned from copies are much lower resolution than photographs, and the images with gothic typeface are much more difficult to read. I probably need to photograph my copies of the Onstelde-Zee, from the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota, to see if that helps readability. High-resolution digital cameras are good; scanners are not.

Quite a few Dutch ships had been lost or discarded by January 1653

I have a document dating from January 1653 that shows what it says are original numbers funded at the start of the war and those remaining in service:

Ships

Ordinary Convoyers

Originally
in
service  Admiralty     Remaining
 6       Rotterdam         3
16       Amsterdam        14
 8       Zeeland           7
 6       Noorderkwartier   4
 2       Friesland         0

36       Total            28


of the 36 against the French

Originally
in
service  Admiralty     Remaining
 6       Rotterdam         4
14       Amsterdam        13
 7       Zeeland           7
 7       Noorderkwartier   6
 2       Friesland         0

36       Total            30

of the 50 Directors' ships

Originally
in
service  Admiralty     Remaining
 7       Rotterdam         4
24       Amsterdam        16
 9       Zeeland           8
 7       Noorderkwartier   6
 3       Friesland         3

50       Total            30


of the planned hundred

Originally
in
service  Admiralty     Remaining
 9       Rotterdam         6
33       Amsterdam        24
16       Zeeland           9
10       Noorderkwartier   5
15       Friesland         9

83       Total            53

there was also the ship
Vogelstruijs of the East Indies Company

I had forgotten that Nico Brinck said that Dutch guns were bronze, not brass

I believe that Frank Fox always says that 17th Century guns were brass, but Nico Brinck, sea captain, who is into marine archaeology and Dutch guns, says that they were bronze. I had forgotten that is what he had told me. I looked up the old mail from late December 2004, and read that again. I had a question about what a "copere" gun meant, as opposed to "metaele", which is bronze.

Rombout van der Parre's ship in 1652

I have a page that gives the name of Rombout van der Parre's ship. The ship belonged to the Admiralty of Friesland and was named, in this document, "Princesse Albartina van Orangie". The crew was quite small, there being 68 sailors and 12 soldiers. The "main battery" consisted of iron 6pdr guns, supplemented by 6-8pdr and some 3 and 4pdr guns.

The second Friesland 36-gun ship

I have a page from a list of the Dutch navy, dated 28 November 1652, that indicates that there was a second Friesland ship that carried 36 guns, besides Hendrick Jansz Camp's ship, the Wapen van Nassau. That second ship did not have a name listed. Yesterday, I found out what that ship was. I received a photograph of a page that has dimensions, gun list, and crew for a 36-gun ship that does not have a name on the page. The page is from a list of Friesland ships dated 3 December 1652, just five days after the list was prepared. There is just an indication that this was a new ship. I immediately recognized that this was the ship that eventually went into service as the Zevenwolden and which was sunk at the Battle of Scheveningen.

Abraham van der Hulst, in 1652, up to August

I now have photographs of a list from 30 June 1652 that shows that yes, Abraham van der Hulst commanded a 26-gun ship at that date, as indicated by Hendrick de Raedt's list. The question remains: "which ship was that?" I do have the list, dating from 28 November 1652, that shows how the ships were divided into "convoyers funded at the peace in 1648", "the 36 cruisers funded in 1651", and the "hundred ships of the extraordinary equipage, funded in 1652". I would hazard a guess that the ship was one of the convoyers from 1648. My experience has been that when (if we ever do) we know the identity of his ship, we would say "Oh, yeah, of course!" The only thing that I can think to do is to take the list from 30 June 1652, and compare that against the list from 28 November, and look for ships from the latter list that we can't find in the first list. That would be the ship, if there is such a ship.

Some new information about Noorderkwartier hired ships

I just received a photograph (this one somewhat out of focus) of a page that gives the gun lists for the Noorderkwartier hired ships Peereboom and Vergulde Schel. Considering that they both fought through the First Anglo-Dutch War, the surprising thing is how light their armament is. The Peereboom has a main battery of 6pdr guns, with four 8pdrs and some smaller. The Vergulde Schel had 10 3 or 4pdr guns, with some 6 and 8pdrs, as well.

Rotterdam Directors' ships from 16 May 1652

I have a list of Dutch warships dating from 16 May 1652. This is not a fleet list, but a list of ships in service at that date. For the Rotterdam Directors, the list convirms the captains' names that are in Hendrick de Raedt's list, published after the storm in the Shetlands in early August 1652. This list gives the following captains, to which I have added ship information:

Adm    Ship        Guns Crew Captain
R-Dir  Meerman     32   110  Jacob Cleijdijck
R-Dir  Erasmus     ?    ?    Sijmon Corneliszoon (van der Meer)
R-Dir  Jonas       36   125  Jan de Lieffde
R-Dir  Sint Pieter 28   110  Adriaen de Zeeuw
R-Dir  Sint Pieter 29   110  Isaack de Jongh     short of 10 men
R-Dir  Hollandia   28   110  Ruth Jacobsz Buijs  short of  8 men

This list does not include Corstiaen Corstaiensz de Munnick's ship, the Prins. Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. list of Dutch warships dating from 16 May 1652, attached to letter from Lt-Admiraal Tromp

Jan Olivierszoon's ship

From 1652 to 1653, Jan Olivierszoon commanded the Veere Directors' ship that I have seen called the "Wapen van der Vere" (you would expect something like "Wapen van Veere"). From the page that had the handwritten name "Wapen van der Vere", there were the dimensions: 123-1/2ft x 28ft x 12ft. I only noticed this morning that I have a photograph of a page that has a gun list for Jan Olivierszoon's ship. The sum claims to have 38 guns, but I could only see 34 guns: 4-brass 18pdr, 4-iron 12pdr, 18-iron 8pdr, 4-iron 6pdr, and 4-iron 3pdr. The page gives his crew as 125 men, consisting of sailors and soldiers. The date seems to be 27 November 1652, if I am reading the three letters correctly, as "nov".

Could the small ship Roode Hart be the captured English Hart?

The last ship in a list of Zeeland ships is named the Hart. The Hart was commanded by Jan Franssen Wasel. The Roode Hart was a 70ft-long "boot", with a crew of 40 men and an armament of 8 iron 4pdr guns. I had forgotten that this was the "Roode Hart", not just the "Hart", so perhaps it is not the English prize.

The frigates Overijssel and Utrecht were of the 100 ships of 1652

I was surprised to learn that the old Rotterdam frigates Overijssel and Utrecht were among the 100 ships funded in early 1652 for the First Anglo-Dutch War. These were both built as warships, and were of the same design as the frigate Gelderland, which was one of the 40 convoyers funded in 1648, at the peace. A list dated 28 July 1652 and another dated 28 November 1652 both confirm this fact.

In a list from late 1652, there is a note that Jan Bourgoigne commanded Willem Ham's ship

In a recently received document photograph, there is confirmation that Jan Bourgoigne commanded Willem Ham's ship. Willem Ham had commanded the Noorderkwartier ship Sampson, a landsschip, in the Battle of Dover on 29 May 1652, where he was wounded. His luitenant apparently commanded the Sampson on 22 July 1652 when the Sampson was taken by the English. Willem Ham was eventually appointed captain of the Noorderkwartier hired ship Tobias. The Tobias would be the ship that Jan Bourgoigne commanded at the Battle of Dungeness on 10 December 1652.

This list from late 1652 calls Claes Jansz Sanger "Claes Janssen Zanger"

I just received photographs of this wonderful list of Zeeland ships that dates from late 1652. In that list, the man that I usually call Claes Janszoon Sanger is called Claes Janssen Zanger. That does not surprise me particularly, as there is the constant interchange in use between the "sen" and "zoon", the former seeming more Scandanavian. So Janszoon (Jan's son) becomes Janssen. There is also the interchange between Z and S a great deal in 17th Century writing. There are also several occasions, such as Witte de With's journal in May 1653 when Claes Jansz Sanger is called "kapitien Claes". In May 1653, he commanded the ship Milde Maarten (26 guns).

Carl Stapel has the correct dimensions for the Essen

Carl Stapel sent me his information about the Essen, or Wapen van Essen. The dimensions should be 142ft x 36-3/4ft x 14ft. The armament from 1665 seems extremely odd, with the largest guns being 12pdr and there being 38-8pdr guns!

The Amsterdam ship Essen

Ron van Maanen has the dimensions for the Amsterdam ship Essen that was sunk after the Battle of Stromboli on 8 January 1676: 148ft x 42ft. At KentishKnock.com, I have a page with the Dutch order of battle. If you move up one level, you can get to my OOBs for the other battles in 1676.

Several ships named "Amsterdam" from 1652-1653

Ron van Maanen has two entries for ships named Amsterdam from the Admiralty of Amsterdam. One is for a ship with dimensions 120ft x 29ft x 11ft, with a height between decks of 6-3/4ft. This could be the ship commanded by Barent Pietersz Dorrevelt that was lost in the storm in the Shetlands in 1652. The second entry uses the same dimensions with question marks after them. He shows dimensions for another ship that has a length of 130ft and a hold of 13ft. This seems to be the ship Amsterdam that was originally commanded by Sijmon van der Aeck and later by Paulus Egbertsz Sonck. That ship carried 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, and 4-3pdr guns. The other armament for a ship named Amsterdam that is listed by Ron has 18-12pdr, 10-6pdr, and 2-4pdr guns. One occurance of that gun list is in 1651. Another in in November 1653. The 130ft ship's armament is listed with a date of 16 November 1652. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. list of Admiralty of Amsterdam hired ships from 1652 from the Wrangell Collection, 1652

Hendrick Ernestus de Bertrij's ship, the Hollandia

I received photographs of documents from the Nationaal Archief today. One shows some information about kapitein Hendrick Ernestus de Bertrij's ship, a pinnace named Hollandia. The Hollandia had a crew of 80 sailors and 20 soldiers. The armament consisted of 24 guns: 4-8pdr, 10-6pdr, 8-4pdr, and 2-2pdr guns. The Hollandia served with Witte de With's squadron during the spring and summer of 1652. The ship was discarded later in October 1652, after being inspected by Lt-Admiraal Tromp.

"Claes Hen"

I had forgotten that "Claes Hen" refers to Claes Cornelisz Valehen, who distinguished himself in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars. He had started the First Anglo-Dutch War as commander of a fireship. In the entry in Witte de With's journal for 8 July 1653, he mentions Capt. Claes Hen, on a ship with 24 guns and a crew divided between 38 "coppen" and 52 "alsont"(?). The ship carried victuals for 13 weeks and water for 9 weeks. The ship was the Schel or Vergulde Schel, which had been commanded for the first part of the war by Teunis Vechterszoon.

The Rotterdam ship Delft built in 1655

Ron van Maanen has the dimensions of the frigate Delft built in 1655. This must be the ship that Vreugdenhil says sank in harbour in 1658. The dimensions that Ron gives are 117ft x 29-3/4ft x 12-1/6ft. He says that they are in Maas feet. If that is so, then the dimensions in Amsterdam feet would be 127-7in x 32ft-5in x 13ft-3in. That would be a much larger ship. I just consulted Carl Stapel's list "Staet van de monture van de schepen anno april 1655", and that agrees on the dimensions. If the 32 guns given by Vreugdenhil is correct, then that must be the light peacetime armament designed for extended operations that was typical in 1654, in the Staet van Oorlog te Water. The Delft of 1655 seems to have been one of a group of ships built to these dimensions. The others were the Prins Willem, Prins Maurits, Prins Hendrick, and Utrecht from 1654 and the Dordrecht, Delft, Rotterdam, and Briel from 1655. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Staet van de monture van de schepen anno april 1655", 2006
3. A. Vreugdenhil, Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702, 1938

Analyzing documents

Over at Anglo-Dutch Wars, I have tried transcribing and annotating a list from a document that I received in 2003 from the Nationaal Archief in The Hague. I have found that you cannot analyze information in a vacuum. If you have only seen one document or item in a published source, you probably do not have enough background to interpret what is there. The problem with all published sources is that there are errors. On the later volumes of The First Dutch War, C. T. Atkinson lacked the exposure to the subject matter than Dr. Gardiner had, so he made more errors, especially in the early volumes, but in all, even Vol.VI. In several cases, we have benefitted from the mistakes, as he put material in the work that we would not have seen if he understood the material better. For example, there is an English list from 1649 that was put into Vol.III, because Mr. Atkinson could not date the material. If he had known more, he would have recognized that this was prior to the 1650's.

Ron van Maanen calls the Harder "Grote Herder"

I believe that the ship that Ron van Maanen calls the "Grote Herder" is the larger of the two ships named Harder that appears in lists dating from May 1665. J. C. De Jonge had reproduced a document published in 1665 that includes ships not actually with the fleet. The Harder was one of those, as I recall. Ron has the length and beam: 118ft x 29ft. He also lists the guns as 18-12pdr, 16-6pdr, and 4-3pdr. He says that the armament was listed at 38 guns and the crew as 140 men. My list, derived partly from Brandt's biography of De Ruyter, gives the captain as Floris Florisz Bloem, and the crew as 134 sailors, 17 marines, and 5 soldiers in 1665. I see that Floris Florisz Bloem commanded the Groote Harder through the period of 1665 to 1667. 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

In a May 1653 list the Roskam is listed as a Rotterdam Directors' ship

In Witte de With's journal, on page 121 from May 1653, he listed what he said were four Rotterdam Directors' ships. He actually only has the captains' names, the guns, and the crew size. We can supply the ship names:

Adm   Ship            Guns Crew Commander
R-Dir Hollandia       26    95  kapitein Ruth Jacobsz Buys
R-Dir Roskam          24    95  kapitein Corstiaen Eldertsz
R-Dir Sint Pieter               Sijmon Cornelisz van der Meer
R-Dir Prins           38   168  Jacob Cleijdijck

The Roskam is usually considered to be a ship hired by the Admiralty of the Maze (or Rotterdam), rather than the Directors. From May to August 1653, the lists seem to have the ships assigned to different organizations than we have thought, based on other sources. We believe that the Sint Pieter carried 28 guns and had a crew of about 93 men.