The list of Zeeland ships from 1655

I just consulted this list of Zeeland ships from 1655. You will be hard-pressed to find mention of many of the more significant Zeeland ships. I already knew the answer, but I was looking for a sign of the ship Meermin listed by Vreugdenhil as number 41. The only mention that I have seen of a ship named Meermin (or Meerminne with the old spelling) was as an alternate name for the Zeeridder.

The Dutch ship Patientia

Jan Glete's list of the ships hired by Louis Geer to help the Swedes includes a ship named Patientia. The dimensions and guns suggest that this was the same ship hired in 1652 and then paid off. I would suggest that the Patientia was also the same ship hired in 1645 by the Nieuwe Directie van Amsterdam to be part of Witte de With's fleet. Jan Glete gives the dimensions as a length of 126ft and a beam of 26-1/2ft, very similar to the dimensions of the Patientia in 1652, although the Patientia is mentioned as 130ft in 1652.

Some datapoints: 1636, 1641, and 1645

We have three good lists from 1630's and 1640's. One is from 1636, from Dr. Graefe's book De Kapiteinsjaren van Maerten Harpertszoon Tromp (1938). Another is from a list dated 1641 of Amsterdam ships and captains. The third is the list of Witte de With's fleet in 1645. There is also some useful information in Dr. De Boer's book Tromp en de Armada van 1639. The question is always, "are these the same ship?"

I wish that I knew more about the Spanish Dunkirkers

Since a great many of the Dutch naval operations in the 1620 to 1640's involved the Spanish Dunkirkers, I would like to know more about the men and ships that operated from Dunkirk and Ostende. This Wikipedia article has some nice background information but no specifics.

In 1629, there were many 5pdr and 10pdr guns in the Dutch service

We are used to seeing the gun calibers that were used by the Dutch after 1648. These were mostly 3pdr, 4pdr, 6pdr, 8pdr, 12pdr, 18pdr, 24pdr, and a few 36pdr guns. In 1629, there were many 5pdr and 10pdr guns in service. For example, the Goude Raven carried 4-10pdr and 10-5pdr as part of its armament. There were also a few 15pdr and 20pdr guns used in the Dutch service.

Estimating dimensions for old Dutch ships

The ship lists of old Dutch ships only give the size in lasts. I have been running wild, estimating dimensions for the ships, mostly prior to 1648, for which I have not seen dimensions. I have gun lists for many of the ships, so I have the basis for wargame pieces with the estimated dimensions and gun lists. One issue is that many of the published last figures are incorrect for the ships like the Brederode.

My Sevenwolden wargame piece

This is my wargame piece for the Friesland ship Sevenwolden (38 guns) that served in 1653 and was sunk at the Battle of Scheveningen on 10 August 1653.

A small English warship, circa 1652

This represents my first attempt in several years to make an English ship wargame piece. The ship is 100ft long on the gun deck. A representative ship would be the Hector, taken from the Royalists in 1644 and sold out of the service in 1656. The specifications for this ship are (as estimated):

Ship: Hector, 5th Rate prize
22-30 guns
LGD: 100ft
LK:   80ft
Beam: 25ft
Hold: 10ft
LK x B x D:         200 tons
LK x B x D x (4/3): 266 tons
LK x B x (B/2)/94 : 265-45/47 tons (burden)

Guns probably sakers (5-1/4pdr) and minions (4pdr) 
 (say 16-sakers and 8 minions)

I am in desperate need of better gun information for English ships in 1652 to 1654, if someone has some better information). I would settle for some representative gun lists.

A mistaken idea that I had in the past

Perhaps 15 years ago, before I had very much knowledge and information about Dutch warships in 1652-1653, I could only imagine what the ships were liked. From The First Dutch War, I knew that Michiel De Ruyter's flagship Neptunus in 1652 was said to be armed with 28 guns. I imagined that if there were so few guns, that the ship might carry larger guns on the lower tier. I got that idea from a book about sailing warships from the late 16th to the 18th Century that showed an armament for a Dutch ship from about 1600. The ship had perhaps 18 guns, but there were mostly larger guns, perhaps 18pdr. I had thought that the Neptunus might be armed like that: 18pdr on the lower tier and 6pdr and 8pdr on the upper tier and quarterdeck. In fact, the Neptunus was quite small and lightly armed. You have to wonder how De Ruyter survived the Battle of Plymouth in such a modest ship.

Wargame pieces

If you wanted to make Dutch wargame pieces for the First Anglo-Dutch War, you would have the field pretty well covered if you had standard pieces of 116ft, 120ft, 125ft, 128ft, and 130ft. There were a very few larger ships. You would need lengths such as 132ft, 134ft, 136ft, 141 or 142ft, and 144 or 145ft long ships. The large East Indiamen were much longer than that. The smallest might be 155ft or 160ft and many were 170ft. The idea that the largest were 182ft or so is controversial.

Noorderkwartier ships

The idea that Noorderkwartier ships that served in 1652 were the same ones that had served since at least the 1630's is appealing. If it is true, then we know a great deal about some ships that would otherwise be a mystery. We have Dr.Graefe's book, we have De Sleutels van de Sondt, and we have what we know about the Dutch navy in 1652. The dates are from my analysis of those from Ron van Maanen. This list could be enhanced more, but this was what I could quickly do.

Ship                Lasts Date Guns Crew 1637               1645                1652
Eenhoorn              200 1625 32   110  Jan Keert de Koe                       Allert Tamessen
Eendracht             300 1622 31   110  Jan Bleecker       
Eendracht             300 1639 41   140                                         Jacob de Boer
Hollandsche Tuin      250 1632 32    90  Lambert Halffhoorn  
Hoop                  150 1622 26                           SbN Halffhoorn
Koninck David         250 1632 34   100  Claes Ham
Medemblick            170 1640 26    80                     Gabriel Anthonisz   Gabriel Anthonisz
Sampson               240 1625 28    92                     kapt Schellinckhout Willem Ham
Wapen van Alkmaar     150 1638 24    80                     Jan Cappelman    
Wapen van Holland     200 1639 28    90                                         Herman Munnekes
Wapen van Hoorn       150 1636 24    87                     Claes Tesselaar
Wapen van Monnikendam 150 1640 26    80                     Arent Dircksz       Arent Dircksz
Wapen van Nassau      250 1631 38   100  Hilbrant Quast  

A question about the jacht Jaeger

The Jaeger, or Zeeuwsche Jaeger, was apparently built as a binnenjacht. The Jaeger played a significant role, especially with De Ruyter's fleet in the Channel, in 1652 into 1653. The entry in Vreugdenhil's list (No.350) gives a length of 60ft, which is too short. The Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654 (July 1654) gives a length of 80ft. Given that Vreugdenhil would ordinarily use the data from the Staet, it is curious that he gave the wrong length. My question is: how was the Zeeusche Jaeger rigged? Was it a three-masted ship?

Progress report

The good news is that I am making progress on my new set of Dutch ship wargame pieces. Through the means of digital editing, I am making new ship drawings to the right scale. The best way is to do a detailed pencil drawing and then scan and print it. I would take that and ink it and color it with pencils. I then scan again and do editing. That takes too long, at least it takes longer than I have. This ship is a 128ft long ship to my own design.

I am making some new Dutch ship wargame pieces

I finally am making some progress on new Dutch ship wargame pieces. I am using a combination of Paint and the GIMP for graphic editing. I am working at a scale of 120 x 120 pixels per inch. My scale is set so that five pixels are two Amsterdam feet (what I said first one incorrect: five pixels = 1 foot). The ship drawings are really just symbolic, and not intended to be very realistic. I just don't have the time to do that sort of work. I am trying to mass-produce some new ship pieces based on what I have learned in the last two years.

Pieter Aldertszoon's ship up to early August 1652

The answer to the question "What ship did Pieter Aldertszoon command in the period from the beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War up to early August" is answered in one letter that names captains and ship names. Pieter Aldertszoon is said to command the ship "Stadt Hoorn", or probably the same ship that he commanded up until the Three Days Battle in 1653, when he was killed.

Gunports on Dutch warships

From the Van de Velde drawings, we know something about gunports on Dutch ships in the period of 1639 to 1654. The Gorinchem is from a drawing of the ship in 1665. I would welcome corrections, as I am particularly uncertain about the Brederode. The picture of the Rotterdam is in Dr. M.G.de Boer's book, Tromp en de Duinkerkers, opposite page 49. The picture is so indistinct that I can't count ports.

Adm  Ship            Built Gunports
R    Aemilia         1632  13 on lower tier, 12 on upper tier, 6 on quarterdeck
A    Star            1644  10 on lower tier, 4 on quarterdeck
A    Vrijheid        1651  12 on lower tier, 9 on upper tier, 4 on quarterdeck
R    Prinses Louijse 1646  10 on lower tier, 6 on upper tier, 4 on quarterdeck
R    Gorinchem       1639  9 on lower tier, 8 on upper tier, 4 on quarterdeck
A    Fazant          1646  9 on lower tier, 6 on upper tier (2+4), 4 on quarterdeck
A    Leiden          1647  9 on lower tier, 5 on upper tier at rear, 2 on quarterdeck
A    Vrede           1650  12 on lower tier, 10 on upper tier, 3 on quarterdeck
R    Brederode       1645  12 on lower tier, 10 on upper tier, 5 on quarterdeckj
F    Groningen       1653  10 on lower tier, 10 on upper tier, 4 on quarterdeck
A    Edam            1644  10 on lower tier, 7 on upper tier (2+5)
R    Rotterdam       1639  10 on lower tier, unk on upper tier, 3 on quarterdeck

When did the Dutch fire on Deal?

The Dutch seemed to have fired on Deal, sometime during the period of 1639 to 1667. As far as I can tell, there were opportunities during the Battle of the Downs, in 1639, during the fight on 29 May 1652 (new style date) and on 3 July 1652 (old style date). There may have been other possible occasions, but I am not sure about them. Does anyone know?

The Friesland ship Groningen

I was just looking at the page from April 1653 (apparently) that mentions the ship Groningen, of the Admiralty of Friesland, at Sardam, presumably under construction, that would replace the Graaf Willem and Waterhond. The dimensions given, 132ft x 31ft x 14ft x 7ft, are those given in Van Foreest and Weber's book.

Jan van Campen in 1652 and 1653

In 9 June 1652, Jan van Campen was listed as being off Cape St. Vincent in command of the three-masted jacht Windhond. After returning home, he seems to have been responsible for fitting out the new ship Campen (40 guns). By September, he was appointed to command the ship Overijssel (26 guns) that had been commanded by Abraham van der Hulst. Ships and captains were shuffled in August and September 1652. Jan van Campen commanded the Overijssel through the rest of 1652 and 1653.

Pieter van der Does in 1599

I just had an inquiry about Pieter van der Does and the Dutch raid on the Canary Islands in 1599. I was able to find the image that I had seen before and several short paragraphs, but no ship list or anything of that sort of specificity. Is there a good source of information about this incident?