An unexpected question about William Haddock I realized that I had another source to research the career of Captain William Haddock. This is R. C. Anderson's List ofEnglish Naval Captains 1642-1660, which is Society for Nautical Research Occasional Publications No. 8, London, 1964. This small publication says that William Haddock commanded a hired merchant ship, the Hannibal, from 1652 to 1656. I started to look further, after I found that William Haddock commanded the Hannibal as a captain, in Vice-Admiral of the Red James Peacock's division at the Battle of the Gabbard (12-13 June 1653 N.S.). On 27 December 1653, he was still in command of the Hannibal. How could William Haddock have gone from a Vice-Admiral of the White to a simple captain? R.C. Anderson's explanation is that there was a Richard Haddock. Richard Haddock started this period, in 1642, commanding the 2nd Rate Vanguard. From 1643 to 1644, Richard Haddock commanded the small 3rd Rate Antelope. Later in 1644, he commanded the purchased ship John. By 1648, Richard Haddock commanded the 2nd Rate Unicorn. By 1652, he was back in the Vanguard, as a Vice-Admiral. Why is The First Dutch War (and other sources that rely upon it) so different? The explanation may be the death of Dr. Gardiner and a new editor, C. T. Atkinson, who was not familiar with the material. This could be another manifestation of that situation. I have found numerous mistakes like this, so why not another? Another piece of evidence can be found on page 269 of Vol.I, The First Dutch War. On 13 June 1652, "Captain Haddock the younger be appointed captain of the ship Hannibal in place of Tatum deceased". Immediately following that entry, there is an entry appointing Captain Harrison as captain of the Vanguard, as of the same date. I am now looking at page 17, Vol.II of The First Dutch War, and see that again, a "Captain Haddock" is appointed as captain of the Vanguard (26 July 1652 New Style). The next day, he was appointed as Sir George Ayscue's Vice-Admiral. Now I look at page 239, in Vol.II, and see that there is a quote "old Capt. Haddock in the Vanguard". I now assume that this refers to Richard Haddock (the old captain Haddock, not the young captain Haddock, William). The next piece of evidence is found on page 22 of Vol.IV of The First Dutch War. The list of English ships thought to have been at the Battle of Portland includes William Haddock as the captain of the Hannibal. I'm not sure that I would want to use Oppenheim's History of the Administration of the Royal Navy as a source for that (unless I am mis-reading the footnote). A related piece of evidence is a "List of the Merchant Ships appointed for the Straits, being part in the Harbour and part in the Road", also in Vol.IV, on page 280. This list includes the Hannibal, 44 guns, commanded by William Haddock. I am certain that R.C. Anderson has the story right, and that William Haddock was not the Vice-Admiral, but it was Richard Haddock. The evidence is overwhelming, in my view.