The Swarte Beer

The Monnikendam Directors' ship Swarte Beer served through the First Anglo-Dutch War. We know the armament on 21 June 1653, from an inventory. The ship had 2-18pdr guns, some 12pdr guns, with the main battery being 8pdr guns. The Swarte Beer also had some 4pdr guns and 2-3pdr guns. I have wondered about the widespread use of 2-3pdr guns by many ships and have not heard a good explanation of how they were used.

Letters from after the storm in the Shetlands

The most recent pages that I have received include letters from the captains of Amsterdam Directors' ships, such as Cornelis van Houten, captain of the Witte Lam (28 guns). Some letters are signed by Abraham Hendricksz van Campen and Hector Bardesius. Tromp's fleet consisted of 92 warships, along with one supply ship (the Blompot), seven fireships, and three galjoots.

I used to think that the lists of ships for 1648, 1651, and 1652 were static

Back when I started one of my writing projects, "Dutch Ships in Various Operations During the First Anglo-Dutch War", I had assumed that the lists of ships, the 40 convoyers funded in 1648, the 36 cruisers funded in 1651, the 50 Directors' ships funded in 1652, and the 100 ships funded in 1652 were static, so that I could have one table for each. I would fill them in once and that would be enough. I know now that the ships funded by each increment changed over time. The first indication of that was when more ships were hired by the Directors to replace losses. I could also see that more ships were hired by the admiralties, also to replace losses, but also to replace ships discarded for various reasons. Dr. Colenbrander had the numbers of ships for Rotterdam, Amsterdam, the Noorderkwartier, Zeeland, and Friesland in his book, Bescheiden uit vreemde Archieven omtrent de groote Nederlandsche Zeeoorlogen, 1652-76.

I have started work on a new family of wargame pieces: Dutch ships of various lengths that can be customized

The trick for putting together sheets of ship wargame pieces is to have a family of drawings scanned that can be customized to match individual ships. They are not intended, in my case, to represent actual appearances, although I may do that at times. Generally, there are not enough drawings of known ships for the First Anglo-Dutch War Dutch ships to be able to do that. I will be posting the results here as I finish them. The next ten days will be difficult, except today and the weekend, as I will be working ten hour days.

The Vrijheid was more lightly armed in 1652 and 1653, despite carrying 46 guns

The large Amsterdam ship Vrijheid, built in 1651, was lightly armed in the period of 1652 to 1653. Later, the Vrijheid had a lower tier of 18pdr guns, but during the First Anglo-Dutch War, the Vrijheid had 4-24pdr and the rest being 12pdr guns on the lower tier. The upper tier was 8pdr guns, probably with an unarmed waist, plus two 6pdr guns. I have a list with armaments dating from 1652 that has guns but no dimensions.

No surprises

Because we have basically complete information on Amsterdam and Friesland ships in the First Anglo-Dutch War, I am skeptical about a ship named Eendracht commanded by Albert Claesz de Graeff up to August 1652. While that is possible, given that we have dimensions and gun lists for all other ships built for and hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam in the period of 1652 to 1653, it seems unlikely. We even have dimensions and gun lists for Jeroen Adelaer's ship Middelburg, captured by the English in June 1652 and Barent Pietersz Dorrevelt's ship that foundered in the storm off the Shetlands in early August. I doubt any possible "mystery ship".

Amsterdam ships armed with 10pdr guns in 1652 and 1653

Apparently, the gun shot weights 5, 10, 15, and 20pdr were non-standard for Dutch ships. I have thought that they were an older standard, as in the few lists that I have dating from prior to 1639, there are many ships carrying at least the 5, 10, and 15pdr guns. At least one ship carried 20pdr guns in 1652 and 1653, although very few. The 5pdr is equivalent to the English saker (5-1/4pdr). I know for sure that the Amsterdam ships Gelderland (ship of Cornelis van Velsen), Overijssel (ship of Jan van Campen), and the Zeelandia (ship of Jacob Huyrluyt and Nicolaes Marrevelt) all carried a large number of 10pdr guns. The Gelderland exploded in the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort), so those guns were lost.

The list of Zeeland ships funded by the resolution at the Peace in 1648

You should not assume that they list of Zeeland convoyers includes the actual ships in service in 1648. There is reason to believe that the actual ships funded by the act of the States Generaal changed over time. My list is the list from early December 1652. By the summer of 1653, the ships included in the 40 convoyers of 1648, the 36 cruisers of 1651, the 50 Directors' ships, and the 100 ships of 1652 had changed radically, due to war losses, ships discarded, ships moved between categories, and new ships hired. You only have to study the lists over time to see the changes.

The Zeeland contribution to the 40 convoyers

At the peace treaty with Spain in 1648, the Dutch navy was reduced to 40 convoyers. The actual ships in that category seem likely to have changed over time. As of December 1652, the Zeeland convoyers included the following ships:

Adm    Ship              Gun Commander
Z      Zeeuwsche Leeuw   27  kapitein Cornelis Evertsen de Oude
Z      Westcappel        28  kapitein Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge
Z      Amsterdam         32  kapitein Adriaen Kempen
Z      Middelburg        26  kapitein Claes Jansz Sanger
Z      Sandenburgh       24  kapitein Pieter Gorcum
Z      Wapen van Zeeland 34  kapitein Joris Willemsz Block
Z      Hasewint          28  kapitein Jacob Verhelle (lost)
Z      Jaeger            14  kapitein Adriaen Jansz den Oven

Ships under the command of Egbert Meeussen (Kortenaer)

He wasn't using the name Kortenaer in October 1653, but Egbert Meeussen was recognized as being an outstanding officer. From the Battle of Scheveningen and on the voyage to Norway in October 1653, he was a temporary squadron commander. I have a document that gives guns and crew for the ships in his squadron:

Adm    Ship                Guns Crew Commander
R      Brederode           54   263  kapitein Egbert Meeussen
R      Princesse Louijsse  36   131  kapitein Abel Roelantsz (Verboom)
R      Gelderlandt         24   114  kapitein jonge boer (Aert van Nes)
A      Oosterwijck         55   226  kapitein de Wilde (Gideon de Wildt)
A      Edam                30   122  kapitein Cramer (Barent Cramer)
A      Gouda               30   145  kapitein Jan Egbertsz Ooms
A      Ouden Prins         32   113  kapitein Boermans (Jan Boermans)
  (the Prins Willem)
A      Leijden             30   114  kapitein Croeger (Hendrick Croeger)
A      Groningen           40   198  kapitein Gillis Thijssen Campen
A      Zutphen             30   107  kapitein Ysbrandt de Vries
A      Overijssel          30   132  kapitein Jan van Campen
A      Hollantsen Tuijn    24    87  kapitein Joris Block
N      Tobias              30   122  kapitein Jan Ham
F      Breda               32   124  kapitein Adriaen Bruijnsvelt
Ho-VOC Sint Willeboort     27   123  kapitein Eddick Jacobsz

Dutch ships in August 1652

When we look at Vuce-Admiral Johan Evertsen's list from August 1652, we are immediately confronted by some questions. Is his list accurate and not to be questioned, or is it fairly accurate but with some errors. The latter assessment is easier to deal with than the alternative. Some examples that cause us concern are the name of Albert Claesz de Graeff's ship (the Eendracht) and the name of Jan le Sage's ship (the Middelburg). I have assumed that Albert Claesz de Graeff's ship was the large hired ship Hollandia that carried 30 guns. He commanded the Hollandia in September 1652. Other sources, such as Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, are of no help, as Albert Claesz de Graeff was in Witte de With's squadron and none of those ships have guns or crew listed. We believe that Jan le Sage commanded the Middelburg Directors' ship Gulden Haan (30 guns). The name Middelburg might be an error, but based on Jan le Sage's ship being a Middelburg Directors' ship. At this point, as the rate of research that I can afford is slow enough that I am unlikely to be able to find the answers before the information is published elsewhere.

Dutch lists from September 1653

The lists that I have seen for the Dutch fleet in September 1653, both from Witte de With's journal and from other documents, are the sort of material that should have been published as part of The First Dutch War volumes. Certainly, the 1914-1918 war intervened and caused the last volume to be published years later. That is the volume, Vol.VI, that would have naturally had that sort of material. There is very limited Dutch material in that volume and the one actual list is actually from August 1652 and was mistakenly thought to be from 1653. That is the list of De Ruyter's fleet that eventually fought Sir George Ayscue in the Battle of Plymouth, in 1652. Anyone with the least amount of knowledge of the subject should have recognized that fact. These latest pages that I have received have some really useful information about Dutch ships, albeit just captains, gun and crew figures, and just a few ship names in some. From this, however, we see that Frans Mangelaer's hired ship Wapen van Ceulen (Cologne) carried 30 guns and Rens Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen's ship, the Mars, carried between 34 and 38 guns. I imagine that towards the end of The First Dutch War project that it was easier to look at English sources rather than Dutch ones, so that is largely what we got.

More about Laurens Degelcamp's ship

I guess that I had not realized just how flimsy the basis for Laurens Degelcamp's ship being named the Gelderland was. The only place that I have where that name is used is on page 157 of The First Dutch War, Vol.VI. The entry says: "Captain Degelcamp, the ship Gelderlant", with 24 guns and 80 men. Carl Stapel says that he name of Captain Jongen Boer's ship, the Gelderland, commanded by Lieutenant Jan van Nes, was mistaken for Laurens Degelcamp's ship. All other sources call Laurens Degelcamp's ship the Groninger Sint Nicolaes.

One outstanding question is the issue about the Friesland ship Gelderland

The First Dutch War mentions a Friesland ship Gelderland, commanded by Laurens Degelcamp. The Gelderland was with Michiel De Ruyter's fleet in the Channel in August and September 1652, and then was probably with Witte de With's fleet at the Battle of the Kentish Knock. One problem is that the documents that I have with Friesland ship data only mention a ship named the Groeningen Nicolaes or Groeninger Sint Nicolaes commanded by Laurens Hermansz Degelcamp. I swear that I saw a page that gave the name Gelderland to a ship with the same specifications as the Groeningen Nicolaes, but I can't find the page to verify that fact. Based on my large but limited set of information, this is still an unresolved problem. Carl Stapel may know the answer, but I do not.

Some different gun figures for Dutch ships in September 1653

I have a page that I received yesterday that has some rather unusual gun numbers for Dutch ships in September 1653:

Adm   Ship      Stated guns Usual guns  Captain
A     Samson    24          26          Hendrick Adriaenszoon
A     Pelicaen  28          24          Jan Overcamp 
                  (the Pelicaen carried 24 guns on 14 July 1653)
A     Brack     20          18          Poppe Binckes
A     Hoop      24          28          Dirck Pater
A-Dir Samson    26          28          Cornelis de Groot

Friesland ships

There is some controversy over the exact owners or hirers of Friesland ships in 1652 and 1653. The Breda, Frisia, and Westergoo were definitely 's Landsschepen. I actually have two sources that say that the Graaf Hendrick (30 guns) was a Directors' ship, and the ship hired by the Groningen Directors. The two Harlingen Directors' ships were the Vergulde Pelicaen (28 guns) and Sint Vincent (28 guns). Hendrick Jansz Camp's ship, the Wapen van Nassau (36 guns), was a ship hired by the Admiralty of Friesland and was gone by mid-March 1653. Confusing the issue are the ships hired by Groningen, versus the ships hired by the Admiraliteit van Friesland. This is what I think to be true:

Friesland 's Landsschepen:

Adm    Ship                          Guns Commander
F      Westergoo                     28   Joris van den Broeck
                                          Tijmen Claeszoon
F      Frisia                        28   Schelte Wiglama
F      Breda                         28   Adriaan Bruijnsvelt
F      Sevenwolden                   38   Frederick Stellingwerff
F      Stad Groeningen en Ommelanden 38   Joost Bulter

Ships hired for the Admiraliteit van Friesland

Adm    Ship                          Guns Commander
F      Wapen van Nassau              36   Hendrick Jansz Camp
F      Schaapharder                  26   Aldert Pietersz Quaboer
F      Groninger Sint Nicolaes       24   Laurens Degelcamp
F      Sint Nicolaes                 24   Andries van den Bouckhorst
F      Postpaert                     30   Isaac Codde
F      Sara                          24   Hans Carelsen Becke
F      Graaf Willem                  24   Jan Coenders

Directors' ships
Ha-Dir Vergulde Pelicaen             28   Ariaan Heeres Kleijntje
Ha-Dir Sint Vincent                  28   Andries Douwesz Pascaert
                                          Ariaan Heeres Kleijntje
Gr-Dir Graaf Hendrick                30   Jan Reijndersz Wagenaer

Zeeland ships in September 1653

The list of ships and captains for Zeeland in September 1653 is rather interesting:

Adm    Ship             Guns Crew Commander
Z      Amsterdam        32   120  kapitein Adriaen Kempen
Z      Wapen van Ceulen 30   120  kapitein Frans Mangelaer
Z      Salamander       34   125  kapitein Pieter Marcuszoon
Z      Goes             25   110  kapitein Cornelis Kuijper
Mi-Dir Gouden Leeuw     34   126  kapitein Adriaen Pensen
Vl-Dir Haes             30   110  kapitein Bastiaen Centsen
Mi-Dir Luipaert         37   130  kapitein Cornelis Tiebij

I found that the Luipaert (or Luipaard) was a Middelburg Directors' ship from Ron van Maanen's comprehensive list.

Wargaming

At this point, I am in a position to do calculations for Privateers Bounty and other game systems for the Dutch fleet in the First Anglo-Dutch War. There are far fewer ships for which I would need to estimate specifications. My downloadable scenarios for Privateers Bounty have not been updated to use the new information. The information has come in a torrent since August 2006, and I have not digested all of it by any means. What is really lacking, right now, is comparable information for the English during 1652 to 1653, particularly. I spoke with Frank Fox, again, and thinks that there is likely comparable information for the English, during the Commonwealth and English Civil War (1642 to 1660), but no one has found it yet. Frank told me that there are more than a 1,000 volumes on information that is uncatalogued and which is yet to be investigated. Right now, there is no one interested to fund the effort, as those with an interest don't have the resources to do fund the work.

Yesterday, I received a photograph of the page that says that the Sint Maria was under repair after the Three Days Battle in 1653

One continuing issue for me is the Amsterdam Directors' ship Sint Maria, commanded by Sipke Fockes up to early 1653. The Hollandsche Mercurius and the Onstelde Zee both say that Sipke Fockes was killed and his ship, the "Grote Sint Lucas" was captured and taken into an English port after the Three Days Battle. I have seen no other reference to a ship "Grote Sint Lucas" that served as an Amsterdam Directors' ship. On the other hand, there is this (and other) pages that show that the Sint Maria remained in Dutch hands after the Three Days Battle and was under repair. The ship was apparently totally dismasted and had other damage, as well. I presume that the decision was made to discard the Sint Maria due to the extent of the damage. The other ships listed all returned to service (the Gidion, Elias, Burgh, and Faam).

The Amsterdam ship Oosterwijk

I had an inquiry about the Amsterdam ship Oosterwijk, built in 1653. I had forgotten that the Oosterwijk was in service by September 1653 and was commandeur Gideon de Wildt's flagship on the voyage to Norway from September to November 1653. Witte de With's journal says that the Oosterwijk carried 55 guns and had a crew of 226 men during that period. He was assigned to Egbert Meessen's (or Meeuwssen)squadron of 16 ships. The other large, new ships on the voyage, under the command of Witte de With, were the Amsterdam (50 guns and a crew of 210 men), commanded by Gideon Verburgh, the Huijs te Cruijningen (48 guns and a crew of 250 men), and Witte de With's flagship, the Huijs te Swieten (56 guns and a crew of 276 men).

The list of Dutch casualties after the Zeeslag bij Elba

One of the documents that I received last week was a damage report and list of casualties after the Zeeslag bij Elba (or Battle of Monte Cristo) in the Mediterranean Sea in August 1652. I just updated a Wikipedia page to add names. There are 11 Dutch ships listed:

Commander                   Dead Wounded
admiraal (Johan van Galen)  18   30
vice-admiraal 't Hoen        4   26 (Albert Cornelisz 't Hoen was killed)
Schout-bij-Nacht Blocq       5    8 (Joost Willemsz Blocq was killed)
kapitein Bont               21   30 (David Jansz Bondt was killed)
kapitein Swart               7   31 (Hendrik Claesz Swart was killed)
kapitein Verveen             4   10
kapitein Tromp               5   15 
kapitein Andries de Boer     3    5 or 6
kapitein Jacob de Boer       5    4

Total                       70  162

The East Indiaman Prins Willem

While I was in Amsterdam five weeks ago, Ab Hoving showed me "the famous model" of the East Indiaman Prins Willem. There is a page in English about the model. There are references, used by Herman Ketting in his book, that give the length as 181ft (Amsterdam feet). Ab Hoving's position is that it could not have been that long. That the ship was probably less than 170ft long. Herbert Tomesen's position some years ago was that the Prins Willem and the Oranje were both built to the 170ft charter for retourschepen, and that the Prins Willem must have had dimensions of about 170ft x 38ft x 14ft and had three decks.

Friesland ships with the Dutch fleet in December 1652

One of the documents that I received recently was a list of the captains with the Dutch fleet in early December 1652. This is the list of Friesland captains and ships, as far as possible, using the spelling from the page:

F=Admiralty of Friesland
Ha-Dir=Harlingen Directors
Gr-Dir=Groningen Directors

Adm      Ship                 Guns Crew Captain
F        Wapen van Nassau     36   127  Hendrick Jansz Camp
F        Postpaert            30   106  Isaack Codde
F        Breda                28   110  Adriaen Bruijnsvelt
F        Frisia               28   110  Scheltes Wiglama
Ha-Dir   Sint Vincent         28   110  Andries Douwesz Pascaert
Ha-Dir   Vergulde Pelicaen    28   100  Jacob Cleijntge
Gr-Dir   Graef Hendrick       32   110  Jan Reijndersz Waegenaer       

The list of ships, captains, lieutenants, and writers for Amsterdam Directors' ships in March 1652

Yesterday, I received a copy of the list of ship names, captains, lieutenants, and writers for the Amsterdam Directors' ship hired in March 1652. This is a different version of a the list than I have seen before. There are some unique features. One is that Frederick Bogaert's ship was listed a "de Mars" and then crossed out, with "de Engel Michiel" written in light letters below it. In this list, Ulrich de Jager, lieutenant of the Gidion van Sardam, (who has had his first name spelled in some rather odd ways) is called Ulrich Claesz de Jager, which is what I have been using. I am not sure that I have had his middle name, but I may have started to use it in my writing, already. Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet uses the name Gerrit van Lummen for the captain of the ship Neptunis (34 guns), but this document calls him Gerrit van Limmen, which is apparently correct. The most unique thing in this list the name Mars, which was the name of a ship hired by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier in 1653.

December 1652

The situation with Noorderkwartier ships and captains in December 1652 is rather interesting. This is the list of men and what might be the ships:

Officer                             Ship                   Guns
Schout-bij-Nacht Pieter Florissen   Stad Monnikendam       36
kapitein Cornelis Pietersz Taenman  Prins Maurits          32
kapitein Arent Dirckszoon           Wapen van Monnikendam  24
kapitein Thijs Tijmensz Peereboom   Peereboom              24
commandeur Johannes Bourgougie      Tobias                 30
kapitein Jan Heck                   Eenhoorn               30
kapitein Volckert Schram            Lastdrager             28
kapitein Teunis Vechterszoon        Vergulde Schel         24
kapitein Harman Munnekes            Wapen van Enkhuijsen   32

Jacob Cornelisz Swart

Carl Stapel says that Jacob Cornelisz Swart was captain of the Amsterdam Directors' ship Faem from March 1652. I already knew from Witte de With's journal that Jacob Cornelisz Swart commanded the Faem on the voyage to Norway from September to November 1653. The Faem was a 116ft long ship that carried 28 guns and served through the entire First Anglo-Dutch War, or at least until late 1653. According to David de Wildt's list from 22 February 1652, Cornelis Jansz Poort owned the Faem.

The Gouden Leeuw was apparently back in service in June 1653

The ship that had been commanded by Gillis Thijssen Campen in 1652 was apparently back in service in June 1653 and had fought in the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort). You may recall that this was a 113ft ship that was very lightly armed. The largest guns were 6-8pdr and the rest were smaller. This must be the ship listed as number 22 in the list of ships following the Battle of the Gabbard. The ship is shown to have 24 guns and a crew of 75 men. The name is somewhat different, the Vergulde Leeuken.

The Amsterdam ship Westfriesland in June 1653

From a photograph that I took a month ago, I can see that in the list from about 23 June 1653, the ship Westfriesland, of the Admiralty of Amsterdam, is listed as having a length of 122ft. I would take the dimensions in this list very tentatively, as they tend to vary from the usual dimensions. Still, the information is very good for understanding how ships were armed and manned after the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort). The Westfriesland was another ship with a main battery of 8pdr guns, supplemented by a few 12pdrs and some smaller. The crew size was mandated as 110 men, but only 103 were on board when this list was compiled. One bit of trivia is that the ship had 1200 lbs of gunpowder on board and had six weeks of victuals.

The crew of the Sint Pieter, Gerrit Schuijt's ship in November 1653

Gerrit Schuijt's inventory for the Amsterdam Directors' ship Sint Pieter, dating from early November 1653, gives the breakdown of the crew:

Officers and seamen:  68 men
Ship's soldiers:      29 men
Land soldiers:         5 men
Boys:                  6 boys

Total:               108 men and boys

I was surprised at the large numbers of "ship's soldiers" (Marines). I had expected that they all would be land soldiers.

The ship Faam on 3 November 1653

I can definitively say that the Amsterdam Directors' ship Faam was commanded by commandeur (probably luitenant-commandeur) Jacob Cornelisz Swart on 3 November 1653. The ships in Witte de With's fleet apparently prepared documents documenting their supply position, prior to arriving back off the Texel in early November. We know from The First Dutch War that the ships in the fleet were extremely short of food and had to cut back on how much they fed their men.

Some Dutch guns

I took some photographs of documents, when I visited the Nationaal Archief The Hague. One page has some gun weights and also numbers of shot on hand for a particular Dutch warship, the hired ship for the Admiralty of Amsterdam, the Jonas. These are some representative weights:

Gun        Weight of piece
12pdr      3015 lbs
12pdr      2930 lbs
8pdr       2320 lbs
8pdr       2210 lbs
6pdr       2560 lbs
6pdr       2400 lbs
5pdr       1420 lbs
5pdr       1410 lbs
5pdr       1395 lbs
5pdr       1365 lbs
3pdr        730 lbs
3pdr        720 lbs

I would really like to know more about the Nooderkwartier ship, the Mars

Right now, the main thing that I know about the Noorderkwartier ship Mars was that Rens Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen was the captain. He took his crew from the Profeet Samuel and moved to the hired ship Mars, I believe, in July 1653. I do know that in late October, the Mars had a crew of 130 men. The Mars was on the voyage to Norway with Witte de With's fleet. I think that information exists. I just don't have the original documents. Carl Stapel had indicated that the Mars carried 38 guns, but I have not been able to confirm that, myself.

Musketeers

One document that I received several days ago lists musketeers assigned to ships in Witte de With's fleet that had sailed to Norway and would return to the Texel by early November 1653. Here are some representative numbers:

Adm   Ship            Musketeers
M     Brederode       73
M     Prinses Louise  61
M     Gelderland      23
A     Oosterwijk      71
A     Edam            42
A     Gouda           25
A     Prins Willem    18

I keep hoping that I will find information about the ship Mars in later 1653

Reijnst Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen commanded three ships that I know of during the First Anglo-Dutch War. They all were employed by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier. His first ship was the Roode Leeuw (24 guns), a hired ship. The second was also a hired ship, the Profeet Samuel (30 guns). The third was the Mars, also a hired ship. I do not even have the number of guns or the crew size for the Mars in any document that I possess. I have what I believe to be the dimensions for the Roode Leeuw, although that is uncertain. I do have the gun list for the Profeet Samuel, a ship paid off after the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort (the Battle of the Gabbard). I have nothing about the Mars. I know that the Mars was with Witte de With's fleet on the voyage to Norway in later 1653, but that is all. I suspect that the Mars fought in the Battle of Scheveningen, but can't prove that.

The Westergoo

The Friesland ship Westergoo was captured by the English at the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 June 1653. This was a 114ft ship with a main battery of 8pdr guns. The Westergoo also had some 12pdr, 6pdr, 4pdr, and 3pdr guns, totalling 28 guns. The crew was nominally 110 men. Her luitenant, Tijmen Claeszoon, commanded the ship after the original captain died in 1652. The Westergoo had fought in the Battle of Plymouth in August 1652.

More Dutch gun weights from 1653

One of the best things about the last month has been the discovery of quite a few Dutch gun inventories, showing gun weights. I believe that all these date from 1653. Here are some more representative examples:

Material  shot weight    weight of piece  Special
Bronze    24 lbs         4806 lbs
Iron      18 lbs         3500 lbs
                         3590 lbs
Bronze    12 lbs         1556 lbs         klokwijs
                         1592 lbs         klokwijs
Iron      12 lbs         3225 lbs
                         3150 lbs
                         3300 lbs
                         3015 lbs
                         2930 lbs
Iron       8 lbs         2320 lbs
                         2210 lbs
                         2150 lbs
                         2075 lbs
Iron       6 lbs         2560 lbs
                         2520 lbs
                         2400 lbs
                         2240 lbs
                         2000 lbs
                         1900 lbs
                         1825 lbs
Iron       5 lbs         1420 lbs
                         1365 lbs
Iron       3 lbs          980 lbs
                          730 lbs

Allert Jansz Tamessen

I do not know too much about Allert Jansz Tamessen. I just learned more about him from Carl Stapel, as the Hoorn that he commanded was the ship built in 1625, also called the Eenhoorn or Witte Eenhoorn. Apparently, Allert Jansz Tamessen commanded the Eenhoorn from 1650 to 1652, and had been in Brazil until arriving back in later July 1652. I have seen a note that he was present at a council of war on the Brederode on "26 July 1652" (presumably an "Old Style" date, since this was from The First Dutch War). The Eenhoorn was a 125ft ship of 220 lasts. Jan Heck was appointed captain of the Eenhoorn from September 1652 and commanded the ship through the rest of the war.

The loss of the Jaarsveld off of Livorno in January 1653

Yesterday, I received a photograph of details of the Amsterdam ship Jaarsveld, which was wrecked on an uncharted rock off of Livorno (Leghorn) in January 1653. The Jaarsveld was the flagship of the Dutch Mediterranean fleet up to this time. The Jaarsveld had been built in 1651 and was larger than the normal 40 gun ships. The Jaarsveld was not huge, but was 130ft long. The Jaarsveld had a lower tier of 12pdr guns and an upper tier of 8pdr guns, with a few smaller, probably on the quarterdeck or poop. Also, in the archaic style, the Jaarsveld carried a few larger guns, as well. The style, in the latter 16th Century, would have ships armed with 4 to 6 larger guns, a lower tier of the current heavy gun (the English used 18pdr culverins) and an upper tier of the current ligher gun (for the English, this was the 9pdr demi-culverin). The Dutch still mostly armed their ships this way during the First Anglo-Dutch War, although they already had many Amsterdam ships that had armaments that were more uniform.

Halve Cartouwen

I was curious to see if I might have been able to find a description of 16th and 17th Century guns described as cartouwen and halve cartouwen. I was reading a page that described a cartouwen as firing a 52 pound shot and as having a 8 inch bore. Of course, we don't know the actual weight and inch being used. The Dutch used halve cartouwen, in the First Anglo-Dutch War, firing 24 pound shot. They were usually made of bronze. I have a page that gives the weight of a bronze 24pdr gun as 4806 pounds. They varied, of course. Chambered guns would be lighter.

The Noorderkwartiier ship Peereboom

In June 1653, the Noorderkwartier hired ship Peereboom had a main battery of 6pdr guns. The Peereboom had an armament of 24 guns, with a few 8pdr guns and the remainder were a mix of 5pdr, 4pdr, and 3pdr guns. We actually know the number of cannon shot carried:

 50 8pdr shot
250 6pdr shot
 50 5pdr shot
 50 4pdr shot
 50 3pdr shot

Dutch ships also generally carried "expanding bar shot". there were fewer of these, but they had them for every size gun. The Dutch often were firing at the English masts and rigging, so the bar shot was useful. Remember that Robert Blake, the English commander at the Three Days Battle, was wounded by bar shot. The wound did not heal for the remaining four years of his life.

The Morgen Sterre

In The First Dutch War, Vol.V, there is a damage report for Amsterdam ships from after the Battle of Scheveningen. That list mentions "Captain Quaeff" as the commander of the ship "Morgen Sterre" (or however you would want to spell the ship name). I presume that this was the same as the ship otherwise referred to as either the "Vergulde Star", "Star", or "Sterre". One of the pages the I recently received shows that the captain was Albert Claesz de Graeff, who had commanded the hired ship Hollandia (a large ship) in 1652 and into 1653. Another page calls the ship "Morge Star". Apparently, in late July 1653, the intended crew for the Morgenstar was 120 men, although only 109 were actually on board.

Three binnenjachten in May 1652

This one list of Zeeland ships and captains has three binnenjachten (inland waters yachts) but omits mention of the Dolfijn, which was in service in Brazil in May 1652. Actually, around this time, all the Dutch navy ships returned to the Netherlands. They arrived a few weeks after the opening of hostilities with England on 29 May, and some were lost. The three binnenjachten were:

Orangie         kapitein Frans Mangelaer
Maecht          kapitein Jan Janssen van de Putte
Zeeuwsche Post  kapitein Govaert de Moor

All three were from families that provided Zeeland naval officers.

A binnenjacht, the Maecht

From the Collection Johan de Witt, I had seen a copy of a document of Zeeland ships from early 1652 that mentioned two binnenjachten: yachts for the inland waters of Zeeland. One of these was the Maecht, commanded by Jan Janssen van der Putte. Ron van Maanen has no coverage of such vessels in his papers. I just saw a document, dating from June 1653, following the Battle of the Gabbard or Nieuwpoort, that mentions the binnenjacht Maecht and kapitein van der Putte. The jacht was apparently still in service. That is why I would be very interested to know that specifications of the binnenjachten.

Apparently, the Campen only came into service by September 1652

The list that I received from Jan Glete, last year, shows Joris van der Zaan (or van Zaanen) in command of the new 40-gun ship Campen. The Campen was completed in 1652. Apparently, the Campen still was incomplete in May. I had assumed that Joris van der Zaan had commanded the Campen while convoying ships off the Start, when he and Jacob Huyrluyt encountered Anthony Young, just prior to the Battle of Dover on 29 May 1652, but that seems not to be the case.

Ships building for the admiralty at Harlingen

On 30 January 1653, Witte de With's journal lists three ships building for the admiralty at Harlingen, the Admiralty of Friesland. We actually have a pretty good idea about the identity of these three ships:

A ship with dimensions 140ft x 36ft x 14-1/2ft (the Oostergoo)

A ship with dimensions 134ft x 34ft x 14ft (the Westergoo)

A ship with dimensions 122ft x 28-1/2ft x 12ft (the Zevenwolden)

The 160ft ship dimensions

Herbert Tomesen, of Artitec, had told me that he believed that the ship Vogelstruis was similar to the dimensions for the 160ft ship that I just listed. The Vogelstruis was a ship of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch United East India Company (the VOC). The Vogelstruis was active from the summer of 1652 up to the first day of the Three Days Battle on 28 February 1653, when the ship was captured by the English. These dimensions were 160ft x 36ft x 15ft x 8ft, I believe.

There is this fascinating list dating from 21 January 1653

I was looking at Witte de With's journal for January 1653 and there is this fascinating list of ships, with dimensions. There are no ship names, as far as I can tell:

140ft x 34ft x 14ft

130ft x 32ft x 14ft

East India Company
160ft x 36ft x 15ft x 8ft

118ft x 28ft x 13ft x 6ft

146ft x 36ft x 14ft (the dimensions of the Huis te Zwieten)

136ft x 30ft x 13-1/2ft x 7ft

137ft x 31ft x 13ft x 7ft

126ft x 27ft x 12-1/2ft

140ft x 34ft x 13-1/3ft x 7ft

136ft x 34ft x 13-1/2ft

137ft x 31-1/2ft x 13-1/3ft

130ft x 30ft x 12ft

120ft x 27ft x 12ft

130ft x 30ft x 13-1/2ft x 6-3/4ft

These seem to be ships under construction that might be purchased for use as warships.

I really like this English ship wargame piece page

I have this English ship wargame piece page that I did some time ago. I am gearing up to do more, and I had not remembered just how nice this page is.

One hole in my knowledge is a list of the Dutch fleet in the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland)

One thing that I really need is a list of the Dutch ships and fleet organization for the Three Days Battle. I assume that Dr. Ballhausen's list has little relation to what was actually used. I hope that I have information about most of the ships, and just need the actual fleet list. I can guess at some of the list. There was a substantial Zeeland presence. There were something like 17 ships that survived, while one, the Faam, commanded by Swart Pieter (the luitenant of Cornelis Loncke), was sunk.

Noorderkwartier ships in July 1653, according to Witte de With

Since the list of ships for 14 July 1653 seems to have errors, I thought that I would like see what Witte de With said about Noorderkwartier ships for approximately that date (8 July 1653):

Adm    Ship                Guns Crew Commander
N      Harder              30   108  kapitein Backer
N      Lastdrager          28   103  kapitein Gerrit Munt
N      Eenhoorn            26    94  kapitein Jan Heck
En-Dir Harderin            30   120  kapitein Gerrit Pomp
Me-Dir Coninck Radbout     32   110  kapitein Jan Rootjes

There were more ships than this. These are just the ones listed on this date in Witte de With's journal.

More thoughts on the storm in the Shetlands in early August 1652

I have thought, several times, that I had finally understood the extent of damage to the Dutch fleet from the storm in the Shetlands in early August 1653. Then, I have found new information that indicated that the impact was greater than I had thought. Published sources that I have seen only mention the loss of two warships: the Sint Pieter, commanded by Isaac de Jongh, and the Amsterdam, commanded by Barent Pietersz Dorrevelt. I suspected that more ships had been lost, as there were ships and captains not mentioned again after August. I really had no idea about the extent of damage to ships, as the published sources only spoke in generalities. We found that at least four large Amsterdam Directors' ships capsized in the storm and were lost. I had known that the fleet was scattered, but it turns out that many hired ships were damaged and were discarded rather than be repaired. I still do not have a definitive list of damaged ships, because there are still one or two "mystery ships", yet to be identified. The problem is greater because many captains were shuttled between ships, very few months. You cannot make any assumptions on captains and ships. You need to find the exact names for a given date. The lists are largely there, thankfully.

I had assumed that the small ship commanded by Claes Cornelisz Hen was the Schel

Certainly by August 1653, Claes Cornelisz Hen (later called Claes Valehen) commanded a small, 24 gun ship with a crew of 110 men. I had assumed that this was the ship Schel, which he commanded on the voyage to Norway in September to November 1653. But, no, this was the small ship Harderin, instead. The Harderin was a 24-gun ship hired by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier that had a very light armament. The largest guns were a half-dozen 8pdr guns. The rest were smaller, some much smaller (2 and 3pdr).

Odd armaments for Dutch warships in May to July 1653

From Witte de With's journal during May to July 1653, I had seen some odd armaments for ships such as the Bommel. The Bommel, then commanded by Pieter van Braeckel, was listed as carrying 34 guns. Jan van Campen's ship, the Overijssel, was listed as carrying 30 guns. The best list from published sources is that in The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, starting on page 308. That list, dating from about March 1653 gives the Bommel as carrying 30 guns and having a crew of 100 men. The Overissel is listed as having 28 guns and a crew of 100 men. This list from 14 July 1653 lists the guns for the Bommel with 34 guns and the Overijssel with 30 guns, so those are good figures. By the way, the Overijssel, like the lost Gelderland, had a main battery of 10pdr guns, at this date. The Gelderland, lost at the Battle of the Gabbard, or Nieuwpoort, was commanded by Cornelis van Velsen.

The "Coninck Radbout"

The Medemblick Directors' ship Koning Radboud (or Coninck Radbout) was very lightly armed for having 32 guns in July 1653. The ship also had an odd collection of guns: 12pdr, 10pdr, 8pdr, 6pdr, 4pdr, and 3pdr. The Koning Radboud had only six guns larger than 8pdr. The crew size was nominally 110 men, and that entire number were apparently present on 14 July 1653.

The Brederode in June 1653

I was interested to see that the Brederode, the Dutch fleet flagship, had her armament "improved" by June 1653. The lower tier, instead of being a mix of 18pdr, 24pdr, and 36pdr, now just had a set of 24pdr guns, supplemented by the four chambered 36pdr pieces. The upper tier was all 12pdr guns, with the quarterdeck still armed with 6pdr guns. Except for the 36pdr guns, this was a more modern armament. The Brederode was about the size of a small English 3rd Rate. Remember that the Maas foot and the English foot were very similar in size. The Brederode was 132ft x 32ft x 13-1/2ft in Maas feet of 308mm. Of course, the Dutch measured from stem to sternpost, inside the planking for the beam, and at the deck edge for the hold depth.

The ship Rotterdam in June 1653

I have always thought that the armament listed for the ship Rotterdam in the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654 was very odd, indeed. The lower tier was said to be all 18pdr guns, and this on a ship that was 116ft x 27ft x 11ft. The latest information that I have received indicates that in June 1653, the Rotterdam, a ship of the Admiralty of Rotterdam commanded by kapitein Verhaeff's son, Lt-Commandeur Pieter Verhaven, was armed more sensibly, mostly with 12pdr and 4pdr guns.

The hired ship Jonas in June 1653

The ship Jonas, commanded by Joris de Caullerij, had been hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam for service with the fleet. The Jonas carried 30 guns, and had a length to breadth ratio of about 5:1. The Jonas was very long and narrow, as the Jonas about the length of many of the 54 to 60 gun ships in service during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. There is a very fine portrait of Joris de Caullerij by Rembrandt van Rijn that has almost a photographic quality to it. We know a bit more, now, about the Jonas, as there is an inventory from about 21 June 1653 that includes the weights of the individual guns. This inventory shows that the weight of a piece is relatively independent of the shot weight! Six or eight pounder guns might weigh as much or more than a short 12 pounder.

I would like to make some new Dutch wargame piece sheets

Now that I know a great deal more (but not all there is to know) about Dutch ships that participated in the First Anglo-Dutch War, I would like to make some new sheets of wargame pieces. I know the names of almost all the Dutch ships involved and also know the list of guns for most ships. There are still a sizable number of ships for which I have not yet seen dimensions. These include the Rotterdam hired ships and the ships hired by the Rotterdam Directors. There are some more ships besides those, but not that many.

The small Zeeland ship, the Liefde

The small Zeeland ship, the Liefde, was apparently the same ship as that had been commanded by Joost Banckert in the Three Days Battle and before. Jan Matthijssen commanded the Liefde in the Battle of the Gabbard. The Liefde carried almost exclusively 6pdr guns. There were also two larger and four smaller guns. The ship had a crew of 85 sailors, with some soldiers.

The Friesland ship Wapen van Nassau

I have a page dating from May 1653 that says that Hendrick Jansz Camp's ship, the Wapen van Nassau (36 guns) was very disabled, and must have been discarded. I believe that Hendrick Jansz Camp was killed in the Three Days Battle (or Battle of Portland). I had not seen the Wapen van Nassau mentioned from May 1653 and beyond, except in this one page. This was a substantial ship that was 132ft long. The Wapen van Nassau had been hired by the Admiralty of Friesland in 1652 and had fought in the Battle of Dungeness and the Three Days Battle.

Noorderkwartier ships and captains on 14 July 1653

I recently got a copy of a list from 14 July 1653. The list corrected some misapprehensions on my part about which captains commanded the Noorderkwartier ships:

Adm   Ship            Guns Crew Captain
N     Herder          30   108  Jan Backer
N     Lastdrager      28   103  Gerrit Munt
N     Witte Eenhoorn  30    94  Jan Heck
N     Harderin        24    90  Claes Cornelisz Hen (Vale Hen)
                          (actually, only 38 on board)

Tromp's fleet on 31 May 1652

One recent acquisition was a list of captains in Tromp's fleet on 31 May 1652, two days after the Battle off Dover. Jan Thijssen commanded the van, with mostly Zeeland Directors' ships. Pieter Florissen commanded the rear with Noorderkwartier and Directors' ship from the north holland port cities. Tromp commanded the main body, mostly with Amsterdam Directors' ships.

Cornelis Taenman's ship Prins Maurits

One of our recent finds was the dimensions and gun list for Cornelis Taenman's ship Prins Maurits (32 guns). The ship was just 116ft long, but was wide, perhaps with a 30ft beam. I don't have the image immediately to hand, but I believe that the gun list included some 24pdr guns. The Prins Maurits was in the rear guard after the Battle of Scheveningen (Ter Heide) and was sunk off the Maas Mouth. The water was shallow, so the mast heads were above water when the ship was resting on the bottom. The gun expert, Nico Brinck (from Terschelling) was involved with raising some guns. They didn't realize the identity of the ship, but it was obvious to me which ship it was, from the report of the ship's loss.

Ships mentioned in early May 1653

I recently received some pages that mention some Dutch ships, in early May 1653, that include some guns and crew figures. I have supplied some missing information:

Adm    Ship                   Guns Crew Commander
A-Dir  Gulden Pelikaan        28   110  kapitein Bartel Tijmensz Soudaen
A-Dir  Walvisch               30   110  kapitein Abraham Verlet
A-Dir  Burch                  34   125  lt-commandeur Hendrick Arensz Glas
Ho-Dir Sampson                30   110  kapitein Jacob Houck
F      Stad Groeningen en
            Ommelanden        38   120  kapitein Joost Hendricksz Bulter
Ho-VOC Sint Willeboort        27   120  kapitein Edick Jacobszoon

Witte de With after the Three Days Battle

One striking feature of the correspondence from March 1653 to May 1653, is that Vice-Admiraal Witte de With was actively involved in planning and operations within a few weeks after the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland). The worst aspect of his absense from the fleet from December to March 1653 was that we lack the detailed fleet lists that he would have recorded. From April to November 1653, there are many good fleet lists, a few with ship names, even. The earliest such list that I had seen was in September 1652, after he had taken command of the fleet, when Tromp had been sacked for leading the fleet into the storm in the Shetlands. By April 1653, Witte de With commanded a raiding squadron, with his flag on the Amsterdam ship Leeuwarden (36 guns). That grew into a small fleet with three squadrons. Jan Jansz Lapper, in the Phesant (32 guns), commanded the van of 9 ships, Witte de With commanded the center with 13 ships, and Leendert Haexwant commanded the rear with 10 ships. This included some newly commissioned ships, such as Pieter de Bitter's ship Mercurius.

The Maagd van Enkhuizen

The ship Maagd van Enkhuizen (or Maeght van Enkhuijsen) was apparently rearmed before her loss in the Three Days Battle (probably on 28 February 1653). This was the Enkhuizen Directors' ship commanded by Gijsbert Malcontent. Marco Schuffelen told me that his name sounded French. Anyway, I have page that lists a radically different gun list than I had seen in late 1652. The ship now had a lower tier of 12pdr guns, supplemented by 8pdrs and a smaller number of 4pdr guns. The ship had been armed with 4-18pdr, with the rest of the lower tier being 9pdr guns. I had heard that many ships had been rearmed, but I had not seen the new gun lists, prior to this.

More about Adriaan Banckert's ship Hollandia, in March 1653

I have been studying this one list of Zeeland ships that has detailed gun information, dating from about March 1653. Adriaan Banckert commanded the Hollandia, which Jan Evertsen had previously used as his flagship. I am not sure if he used the Hollandia in the Three Days Battle (or the Battle of Portland) or not, but I suspect that he did. I was interest to see some more details of the guns carried. For example, the four 24pdr guns were described as German half-cartouwen. They were about 4250 lbs each. The four 18pdr guns were French half-cartouwen. If the figures are correct, they were only about 2400 lbs each.

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