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