December 10, 1652

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Dungness, fought on 10 December 1652 (the Gregorian date). This was the only victory of the Dutch over the English in home waters in a battle between the main fleets. The Dutch lost one ship, the Schiedam (for some reason sometimes called the Gelderland) (30 guns) and the English had two ships captured (the Garland and the Anthony Bonaventure). Shortly after the battle, Bastiaan Centsen, in the Haes, chased the hired English ship Hercules. The Hercules was run on shore and was abandoned by the cowardly crew. The Dutch got the Hercules afloat and took her as a prize. The Hercules had 34 guns while the Haes was a small ship with 30 guns.

The Maecht van Enckhuijsen on 6 September 1652

I happened to look at a page from a document that is dated 6 September 1652. The document has gun lists for some ships that seem like they reflect what was actually carried on that date and not what was planned or allowed. One such ship is the Enkhuizen Directors' ship Maecht van Enckhuijsen (presumably Maagd van Enkhuizen). The armament includes the 4-bronze klokwijs guns of unspecified shot weight, but presumably heavy, and 4-iron 18pdr guns. The armament listed is consideraly different from that listed in 1653 after the ship was lost in the Three Days Battle and includes a main battery of iron 9pdr guns, which are unique in a day when ships either had 12pdr of 8pdr guns in the main battery.

30 June 1652

I have this printed page from 1652 that claims to be the list of Tromp's fleet from 30 June 1652. Except for one ship name (Alkmaar) there are only captains and flag officers mentioned. Given the names listed, the actual date would be earlier. Either that or ships that were already lost are included. For example, Adriaen de Zeeuw is listed as is Jan Warnaertsz Capelman. After finding all the men in my list of the fleet from 15 July 1652, I am still not able to make sense of the two names listed in the van: Jacob van Nove and Jan Elbertsz van Enckhuijsen. These are the names mentioned in the 15 July 1652 list that are not obviously in the 30 June 1652 list:

Hendrick Jansz de Munnick        Rotterdam           ship Holland, 30 guns
Corstiaen Corstiaensz de Munnick Rotterdam Directors ship Prins, 38 guns
Joris van der Zaan               Amsterdam           ship Groningen, 40 guns
lt-cdr Nicolaes Marrevelt        Amsterdam           ship Zeelandia, 36 guns
Jan ter Stege                    Amsterdam           ship Keijser, 24 guns
Barent Pietersz Dorrevelt        Amsterdam           ship Amsterdam, 34 guns
Cornelis Hola                    Amsterdam           ship Leiden, 28 guns
Gillis Janszoon                  Zeeland             ship Zeeridder, 28 guns
Claes Jansz Sanger               Zeeland             ship Middelburg, 26 guns
Cornelis Evertsen de Oude        Zeeland             ship Zeeuwsche Leeuw, 28 guns
Adriaen Banckert                 Zeeland             ship Westcappel, 28 guns
Adriaen Kempen                   Zeeland             ship Amsterdam, 30 guns
Lambert Bartelszoon              Zeeland             ship Eendracht, 18 guns
Johannes Michielszoon            Zeeland             ship Haes, 20 guns
Jacob Wolphertszoon              Zeeland             ship Sint Joris, 23 guns
Daniel Cornelisz Brackman        Zeeland             ship Abrahams Offerande, 24 guns
Dingeman Cats                    Zeeland             ship Dolphijn, 24 guns
Reijnst Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen   Noorderkwartier     ship Roode Leeuw, 24 guns
Thys Tijmensz Peereboom          Noorderkwartier     ship Peereboom, 24 guns
Gerrit Munt                      Noorderkwartier     ship Huis van Nassau, 28 guns

There was also Witte de With's squadron, but they were omitted from the fleet list for 30 June.

The ship Hoop, in service in 1652 and 1653

I was looking at a page dating from July 1653, yesterday, that had the armament list for the hired ship Hoop. The gun list is distinctive, because the largest guns are 10pdr, an odd size for 1653. I had thought that the ship Hoop that had fought in the Battle of the Gabbard and the Battle of Scheveningen might have been a different ship from that which Joris Caullerij (sometimes spelled Colerij) commanded in 1652. The gun list, however, as almost identical. The only difference in that the Hoop, in 1653, carried two more 8pdr guns and two fewer 6pdr guns. I had seen a list of ships hired for service in March or April 1653 that had somewhat different dimensions for a ship named Hoop, but I have frequently seen these sort of variations.

Johan Regermorter

The short biography of Johan Regermorter, in Mollema's "Honour Roll" caught my eye today. I imagined that he was the son of Johannes Regermorter, who was killed in the Battle of Portland (the Three Days Battle). Johan's life seems to have been cut short. He had been in Cornelis Mangelaer's crew in the Goes in Brazil in 1650 to 1652. He served through the First Anglo-Dutch War in some unspecified capacity. In 1658, Johan Regermorter had been Adriaan Bankert's luitenant in the Sound. From 1661, he was Adriaan Bankert's flag captain. He died at the age of 32 in 1662, according to Mollema.

Jan Fransz Blom in September 1653

The Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654 lists Jan Fransz Blom as the captain of the jacht Haij. I just read a document that mentions him, without naming his ship, on 27 September 1653. He is mentioned, along with captains "Pauwels van den Kerckhove" and "Corstiaen Elderssen". They were all captains of the Admiralty of the Maze (or Rotterdam).

Aert van Nes and the Gelderland in 1652

At the beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War, the small frigate Gelderland (24 guns) was commanded by Jan Jansz van Nes, the Jonge Boer Jaep. His son, Aert Jansz van Nes was his lieutenant. According to a biographical dictionary I read last night, Jan Jansz van Nes died at Havre de Grace in late August 1652, after the collision with the Sint Nicolaes (24 guns), which was sunk. Aert van Nes commanded the Gelderland for the rest of the war. I have had some confusion, perhaps from misreading Dutch from the dictionary.

Last calculations

Perhaps this is an attempt to calculate the "incalculable", but I do it anyway. These are my calculations for lasts for these ships (in round numbers):

Groningen       A       1644      220 lasts
Groningen       F       1666      420 lasts
Gouden Leeuw    A       1652      170 lasts
Gouda           A       1636      180 lasts
Gorcum          R       1639      160 lasts
Mercurius       A-VOC   1653      210 lasts
Middelburg      A      <1652      170 lasts
Brederode       R       1645      350 lasts
Prinses Louise  R       1646      200 lasts
Utrecht         R       1653      260 lasts

Dutch squadrons on 12 and 13 June 1653

The question arose as to what the Dutch squadron organization was at the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 and 13 June 1653. Lacking manuscript sources, I was reduced to using Brandt's biography of De Ruyter, with a little supplementary information:

Tromp in the Brederode, squadron admiral
 Gideon de Wildt in the Vrede, squadron Vice-Admiral
 Abel Roelantsz Verboom in the Prinses Louise, squadron Rear-Admiral

Witte de With in the Vrijheid, squadron admiral
 Jan de Lapper in the Phesant, squadron vice-admiral
 Jacob Kleijdijck in the Prins, squadron rear-admiral (Schout-bij-Nacht)

Johan Evertsen, possibly in the Milde Maerten 
       rather than the Hollandia, squadron admiral
 Cornelis Evertsen de Oude in the Zeeuwsche Leeuw, squadron vice-admiral
 Adriaen Nicolaesz Kempen in the Amsterdam, squadron rear-admiral

de Ruijter's and Florissen's squadrons totaled 35 ships

Michiel de Ruijter in the Lam, squadron admiral
 Adriaen Jansz den Oven in the Neptunus, squadron vice-admiral  (Sunk)
 Marcus Hartman in the Gecroonde Liefde,  squadron rear-admiral

Pieter Florissen in the Monnikendam, squadron admiral
 Gillis Thijssen Campen in the Groningen,  squadron vice-admiral
 Claes Bastiaensz van Jaersvelt in the David en Goliat, squadron rear-admiral

I see what I wrote in 2004 about this topic.

The Noorderkwartier ship Samson built circa 1625

The Noorderkwartier ship Samson, built in 1625 or 1627, was a larger ship than the Eenhoorn of 1625. The Samson was variously listed as 240 or 250 lasts. That would be a ship of about 128ft x 30ft x 13ft (or 128ft x 31ft x 12-1/2ft). In 1639, for the Armada campaign that cuminated in the Battle of the Downs on 31 October 1639, the Samson was armed with 32 guns and had a crew of 120 men. Her captain in 1639 was Claes Cornelisz Ham.

A ship of 200 lasts

In a note on page 275 of Vol.I of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, there is a description of a ship of 200 lasts. The ship was mentioned in a document dated 1630. The dimensions given were 125ft x 29ft x 11-1/2ft x 7ft (the last is the deck height). The dimensions are in Amsterdam feet and pretty much match the dimensions of the Noorderkwartier ship Eenhoorn, built in 1625. The Eenhoorn is usually called a ship of 200 lasts, although one reference gives the size as 220 lasts.

The Onstelde-Zee book

My original thoughts about the Onstelde-Zee book, published in 1654, were that the book was not to be trusted. After learning more, I found that the book's description of the Battle of Portland, which the Dutch call the Three Days Battle, is quite accurate. The book mentions the Prins Willem, when referring to the ship usually called the Prins. The Prins must actually be called "Prins Willem te Paard". The Van de Velde drawing of the Battle of Dungeness calls the ship Prins te Paard, as does a letter from Johan Evertsen from mid-August 1652. The book calls Jacob Cleijdijck's ship Meerman, which is correct. Johannes van Regermorter's ship is correctly called the Leeuwin. Abraham van Campen's ship is called by an alternative name "Poort van Troijen", which is what Johan Evertsen called the ship in mid-August 1652. The more usual name was Arke Troijane. One seeming error is the mention of the Groote Sint Lucas being Sipke Fockes' ship. All indications were that Sipke Fockes still commanded the Sint Maria in the battle and that the ship was not captured, although he was killed. We have no explanation, at this date, for the Groot Sint Lucas.

From 9 June 1652

One thing notable on a page dated 9 June 1652 is the following:

5 die de steden Delff, Rotterdam, Schiedam, @ Enckhuijsen ordinarie equipperden, @ voegen bij s'lants schepen tot bescherminge van de buijssen

In other words, this is trying to cover five ships hired by cities for protection of the fishing busses. These ships were to be part of the fishery protection squadron, along with the ships of the admiralties. Of course, there are only four cities named and there are five ships.

Wargaming 1648-1720

Wargaming in the 1648-1720 period is a great challenge, due to the large fleets that were employed during this period. If you insist on fighting fleet actions without the help of a compupter, then you must follow some strategy like that employed by Iain Stanford in "General-at-Sea", where the game mechanisms are simplified and the ships are grouped. There is a slight possibility that if you had large teams of gamers, you might be able to use more detailed rules, but I am doubtful.

One alternative is to fight small actions, either small, independent squadrons or else small parts of larger fleets. If what you really want is to be able to fight the Battle of Portland or the Battle of the Gabbard, you would end up being pretty dissatisfied.

The ultimate would be a simulation game with 3D models that was paced to allow large numbers of ships on each side. Barring that, at least a simulation game that used a plan view map as the display would be adequate. You would want to have some degree of artificial intelligence employed, probably at the ship level, as well as for the squadron commander. I can see such a game written in Smalltalk being possible. The main difficulty is the level of effort involved and the cost to pay developer's time. I suspect that such a game would not be commercially viable, as everyone wants a flashy 3D graphics interface.

Nine Amsterdam 40 gun Landsschepen in March 1653?

I am back to trying to fill in the details that match J. C. De Jonge's appendix XXII to Vol.I of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen. This is the table entitled "Staat der Nederlandsche Zeemagt, in Maart des Jaars 1653". One nagging problem involves finding nine Amsterdam 40-gun Landsschepen. Finding eight is easy:

Campen
Groningen
Graaf Willem
Zon
Maan
Vereenigde Provinciën
Haarlem
Goes

The question is, what is the ninth ship? The natural ship to list as the one 40-gun hired ship would be the Aartsengel Michiel. Interestingly, that is listed as being funded by the 40-ships of 1648 appropriation in a list from 28 November 1652. I thought it would be possible, then, to include the Aartsengel Michiel as the ninth 40-gun ship. That leaves us with having to find the 40-gun hired ship somewhere else. The only possibility that I could think of would be to use the Vogelstruis as the hired ship. That is more satisfying then using it as a Landsschip. The Vogelstruis was the ship hired from the Amsterdam Chamber of the East India Company (the VOC). I am doubtful that any of this is a reasonable thing to do, but then, what else can you do? We would have to be able to go back in our time machine and ask Johan Cornelisz de Jonge what he meant to resolve the problem, otherwise.

The Rotterdam ship Prinses Louise, built in 1646

The Rotterdam ship Prinses Louise was vice-admiraal Witte de With's flagship in 1652. I as looking at the van de Velde drawing of the Prinses Louise and was counting gun ports. There are ten ports on a side on the lower tier. The upper tier is incomplete, with an unarmed waist. There are two guns on a side forward and four on a side aft. There are also four guns at the level above this. The lower tier almost certainly consisted of the 4-bronze 24pdr guns and 16-12pdr guns. The upper tier would have been 12-12pdr guns. At the next level (the poop), there were the 4-bronze chambered 5pdr guns. Of the lower tier, the bronze 24pdr guns were not chambered, apparently. By November, the 24pdr guns were reduced to two and two more 12pdr guns replaced them. Presumably, that was to lighten the ship.

Ships in the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland)

The question I have is whether there is any documentary support for these ships being at the Three Days Battle (what the English called the Battle of Portland) from 28 February 1653 until 2 March 1653 (new style dates):

Adm    Ship                      Guns Crew Commander
A      Graef Willem              40   140  kapitein Jan Gideonsz Verburgh
A      Zeelandia                 34   120  luitenant-commandeur 
                                             Nicolaes Marrevelt
A      Zutphen                   26   100  kapitein Ewout Jeroensz de Moij
A      Amsterdam                 30   100  kapitein Sijmon van der Aeck
A-Dir  Sint Matheeus             34   125  kapitein Cornelis Naeuoogh
Z      Eendracht                 24    80  kapitein Andries Fortuijn
N      Wapen van Enkhuizen       32   120  kapitein Herman Munneckes
N      Lastdrager                32   110  kapitein Volckert Schram
N      Monnick                   28    95  kapitein Arent Dirckszoon
N      Prins Maurits             32    97  kapitein Cornelis Pietersz Taenman
Mo-Dir Swarte Beer               30   115  kapitein Jacob Claesz Boot
Ed-Dir Vergulde Halve Maen       30   110  kapitein Jan Fredericksz Hoeckboot
Ho-Dir Samson                    30   110  kapitein Jacob Hoeck
F      Breda                     28   110  kapitein Adriaen Bruijnsvelt
F      Graef Hendrick            30   110  kapitein Jan Reijndersz Wagenaer
F      Hector van Troijen        24    70  kapitein Laurens Hermansz Degelencamp
F      Princesse Albertijna      26    90  kapitein Rombout van der Parre
F      Sara                      24    80  luitenant Hessel Franszoon
F      Sevenwolden               36   140  kapitein Frederick Stellingwerff
F      Wapen van Nassau          36   130  kapitein Hendrick Jansz Camp
Ha-Dir Sint Vincent              28   105  kapitein Andries Douwesz Pascaert

I want better support than appearing on De Sneuper website or being listed in Dr. Ballhausen's book. Preferably, I would like two have at least two sources per ship to prove that the ship and captain fought in the battle. The admiralties follow my usual abbreviation system.

Job Forant

I have a copy of the letter of marque from Charles II for Job Forant on the ship Fortune. The letter is dated 1652, so Anderson's date is wrong. We knew that Job Forant was in Brazil until mid-1649, so the 1649 date listed by Anderson was questionable.

Job Forant in 1649 or there abouts

I see the listing in R.C. Anderson's book about English captains in the period of 162 to 1660 where Job Forant (or Foran) is named as a Royalist captain in about 1649. He is listed as the captain of the Fortune.

Captain Belevelt

In his journal, Witte de With mentions a captain Belvelt who commanded a Friesland ship with the fleet in September 1652. The ship has neither guns nor crew mentioned. Carl Stapel had seen a reference from March 1653 that said that Captain Belvelt commanded a ship named Omlandia. There seems to have been an available ship named Omlandia, that built in 1628 and mentioned in July 1654 and then again in 1655.

One problem with this is that we know of the Omlandia from 1652 to 1653. We have many lists of Friesland ships and the ship built in 1628 is totally absent. All other Friesland ships are listed. So that is a concern, but given the list from July 1654, we might conclude that the Omlandia was simply employed outside of home waters and would be omitted from a list of ships based in the Netherlands. There was a Noorderkwartier ship Enkhuizen, which is a similar case.

I am skeptical that the Omlandia mentioned in March 1653 was the Stad Groningen en Ommelanden and that Captain Belvelt was actually Joost Bulter. I would have to see hard evidence before I would believe that. Otherwise, we are just guessing.