The Amsterdam ship Achilles

There are many questions that have yet to be satisfactorily answered about Dutch ships and captains during the First Anglo-Dutch War. I have been looking at my notes from the "Staet van Oorlogh te Water voor den Jaere 1654" that contributed largely to Vreugdenhil's part of Lists of Men of War. The first ship is the Amsterdam ship Achilles.  We know the dimensions, in Amsterdam feet and that the ship carried 30-40 guns. What we don't know is what role this ship played in the First Anglo-Dutch War. Apparently, she still existed in 1654, but was about to be discarded, as she was gone by 1655.

 

What we believe was the other Amsterdam ship named Achilles was noted in lists and accounts of the First Anglo-Dutch War. The "other" Achilles doesn't appear in Dr. Elias' book, Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen, and hardly appears in The First Dutch War. I had wondered if the two ships might have been confused, but the ship that appears in The First Dutch War is clearly the other ship, which was the smaller of the two. Dirck Schey was her captain.

 

This is what was listed in the manuscript, which is not very useful.

 

Admiralty:             Amsterdam

Ship:                       Achilles

Date:                      

Captain:                

Guns:                     

Length:                  131 feet

Beam:                     29 feet

Hold:                      13 feet

Brass Guns:          

Iron Guns:            

 

More last calculation examples

These are some example last calculations. I have some snippets of Java and Smalltalk code that do these. I worked this out in early 2003, when I was studying this topic, after reading Ab Hoving's book about Witsen and his article in the book, The Heyday of Sail. Probably not many people know this, but the "patriarch" of the Dutch fleet in the First Anglo-Dutch War, the Noorderkwartier ship Eenhoorn, built in 1625, was measured at 200 lasts (measured is perhaps too strong a term). More likely, she was estimated to be 200 lasts. My 200 last example is for the Eenhoorn. All the dimensions are in Amsterdam feet of 283 mm and the notation is: Length x Beam x Depth in hold. The divisor is the "Last factor" that is chosen to make the "lasts" figure a round number that is plausible.

l2b = ratio of length to beam

l2d = ratio of length to depth (in hold)

116.0 x 26.5 x 11.5 / 235.6733333333    150 lasts

120.0 x 27.5 x 12.0 / 232.9411764706  170 lasts

122.0 x 28.0 x 12.5 / 237.2222222222   180 lasts

125.0 x 29.0 x 13.0 / 235.625  200.0 lasts

145.0 x 33.25 x 14.75 / 237.0447916667  300 lasts

134.0 x 31.0 x 13.5 / 233.6625  240 lasts

125.0 x  30.0 x 12.5/233.0  200 lasts

118.0 x 28.0 x 12.0/233.0    170 lasts

116 x 25 x 12.5 => const=242, l2b=4.64  l2d=1/9.28  150 lasts

112.0 x 25.5 x 11.5/233.0   140 lasts

109.0 x 25.0 x 11.0 / 233.0 130 lasts

103.0 x 24.0  x 10.5/233.0   110 lasts

100.0 x 23.0 x 10.0/233.0   100 lasts

80.0 x 18.0 x 8.0/233   50 lasts

The Seventeenth Century

This is a section of a paper that I started in 2000, about the Line of Battle.

Seventeenth Century

 

The Seventeenth Century features the transition from Elizabethan galleons to ships of the line, differing only in size from those that fought at the Battle of Trafalgar.  The ship of the line was invented by Charles I, when he commissioned the building of the 100-gun ship, the Sovereign of the Seas (later known as the Sovereign or Royal Sovereign).  Prior to the construction of the Sovereign, ships would be built with the heaviest guns in the chase, for end-on fighting, with lesser guns on the broadside.  The Sovereign, having her heaviest battery facing the sides, thereby asked to be fought in a line.  The evolution of English armaments was to increase the numbers and strength of the broadside, so that by the commencement of the First Anglo-Dutch War, at the Battle off Dover, ships would be fighting so as to be able to fire on the broadside.  From that point on, the English built increasingly more heavily armed ships, with both two and three tiers of heavy guns.  George Monck formally initiated the use of a single, line of battle at the Battle of the Gabbard. 

The experience of the First Anglo-Dutch War taught the Dutch the need for more powerful ships, able to stand against the larger English ships.  By the time of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch had a fleet better equipped to fight, although still comprised of smaller, more lightly armed ships.  The war began with a debacle at Lowestoft, but the Dutch recovered.  They bested the divided English fleet at the Four Days Battle.  At the St. James Day Battle, they tried to fight the English, using the same single line, and were soundly defeated, although they only lost two ships to the one English.  The Dutch found that they still could not fight, yard arm-to-yard arm with the English.

At the beginning of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch came close to pulling off a coup, when the caught the combined Anglo-French fleet at anchor in Southwold Bay.  Despite the loss of the Earl of Sandwich, and his ship, the Royal James, the English salvaged the battle, under the leadership of the Duke of York.  In subsquent battles, the Dutch fought, outnumbered, to save the country from invasion.  The Anglo-French fleet was not as well led, after the Duke of York was again removed from command.  In the succeeding battles, mostly fought off the shallows off Zeeland, the Dutch fought in squadrons, prevented invasion, and preserved their forces.  They mounted a maximum effort, and pulled together a fleet comparable to that of the Allies, and won the Battle of the Texel, which knocked England from the war.

The war continued, with the Dutch facing the French, alone.  The remaining battle were fought in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.  After the death of Michiel De Ruyter, the Dutch naval effort came close to collapse.

When the next war came, the English and Dutch were united under William II and Mary II against the French and Louis XIV.  The War of the English Succession ended with James II in exile in France, bringing to an end, the Seventeenth Century.  The next round began the Eighteenth Century.

A question about the Zeeuws Archief

I would like to obtain information from the Zeeuws Archief, particularly about Director's ships during the First Anglo-Dutch War. I had an indication of what is there:

"At the Zeeuws Archief you can find information about 'director's ships' in the accounts in the archives of the Rekenkamer van Zeeland (Zeeland auditor's office) (Zeeuws Archief, Arch. Rekenkamer II, inv. nrs. 1179a en 1179b)."

The Wapen van Dordrecht in 1658

Another ship from Ron van Maanen's list from 1658 was the Admiralty of the Maas ship (Rotterdam), the Wapen van Dordrecht, with 42 guns, and a crew of 130 sailors and 30 soldiers in 1658. The ship was built in 1655, had a length of 127ft-7inches (from stem to sternpost), and a beam inside the planking of  32ft-5in (=uitwatering). The hold was 13ft-3in. I have not seen this, previously, but we actually have draft measurements. The draft aft was 16ft-4in and forward was 14ft-5in. The  height  of the upper deck above the main deck was 7ft-4in. The Wapen van Dordrecht was last mentioned in 1665.

An example of my notes about English ships (the Ark Royal)

This is rather off-topic, but I thought it was a good illustration of the sort of material that I have, essentially in the form of notes, for English ships. The Ark Royal was a notable ship, having been Lord Howard's flagship during the Armada campaign. At the time I took these notes, I recorded the shot size, rather than the classic names. For example, a 5.25pdr is a saker. A 9-pdr is a demi-culverin. A 24-pdr is a cannon perrier.

1587

Ark Royal

-----

1587  Deptford DY  Peter Pett   (Oppenheim, p.121)

Rebuilt in 1602

-----

Galleon, 55 guns, 694t   (Colledge, p.38)

4-42pdr, 4-32pdr, 12-18pdr, 12-9pdr, 6-5.25pdr, 17 smaller guns

Deptford DY, 1587

Rebuilt in 1608 as Anne Royal

-----

Listed in 1588 as 800t, crew 425  (Archibald, p.329)

-----

1599

4-32pdr, 4-cannon (actually 24pdr), 12-18pdr, 12-9pdr,

     6-5.25pdr, 4-port pieces (7-port piece chambers), 

     2-fowlers (4-fowler chambers), 46 guns total  (Archibald, p.330)

-----

1603   (Oppenheim, p.157)

4-32pdr, 4-24pdr, 12-18pdr, 12-9pdr, 6-5.25pdr, 2-fowlers, 4-port pieces

-----

1602   (Oppenheim, p.124)

LK=100ft, B=37ft, D=15ft, Burden=555t, Tons and Tonnage=692t, crew=400

wt of armament=50t

-----

Listed in 1603 as 800t, crew 400  (Archibald, p.331)

-----

Listed in 1604 as 800t, crew 400  (Archibald, p.331)

-----

This is an example of my Dutch captain notes (Hendrick Adriaanszoon)

This is a typical listing for a Dutch captain in my notes that are part of what is now a 50-page Word document. There is good coverage for the First Anglo-Dutch War, and I have expanded somewhat beyond that, as this listing shows.

Hendrik Adriaenszoon

 

His ship was one of ten, from Amsterdam, lying ready to sail for the convoy to the East, as noted on July 26, 1652 [1DW1, p.388]

Sometime in early 1653, Hendrich Adriaenssen was captain of the Amsterdam ship, Sampson, which had 26 guns and a crew of 90 men.  The ship is listed as lying off of Amsterdam. The list had a notation that the ship "is lying in the Vlie, to prevent the Baltic and Greenland traders from sailing out; afterwards will act as convoy." [1DW4, p.310]

In 1659, Hendrik Adriaanszoon commanded the ship, Gelderland, which was part of the fleet commanded by De Ruyter, operating off Denmark.  The ship had a crew of 190 men and carried 40 guns. This was a ship belonging to the Amsterdam Admiralty. [Grove, p.xv]

In 1664, Hendrik Adriaanszoon commanded the Amsterdam Admiralty ship, Damiaten, which had a crew of 135 men and carried 32 guns.  He was part of De Ruyter's fleet that operated against English outposts. [Reis, p.23]

The Great Charity (Groote Liefde) of 1653

I believe that this is the ship that became the English Great Charity. There is some uncertainty, in that when comparing these dimensions with the reported English dimensions, as measured, there are some discrepancies. I am pretty sure that this is the ship, as the Great Charity was captured in 1653. We know that the Groote Liefde was one of the ships taken by the English at the Battle of Portland. The information that I have listed here is from a manuscript from the Dutch archives. We believe that "boven" is the height of the upperdeck above the main deck (and the hold).  I have seen the Van de Velde drawing of the Great Charity, but can't find where I saw it. If anyone knows the source, I would be greatful to know.

 8 November 1652   (Nationaal Archief  1.03.02 Inv. nr. 8)

Groote Liefde

 

Captain Bruijn van Seelst

Length:  132 feet

Beam:     29 feet

Hold:      13-1/2 feet

Boven:   6-1/2 feet

38 guns:  2-24pdr brass of the State, 18-12pdr, 14-6pdr, 4-3pdr

Crew:  114

There is also a wealth of information in the 1654 list

Another source that Vreugdenhil just skimmed, lightly, is the "Staet van Oorlogh te Water voor den Jaere 1654" that includes a great deal of armament information. It also has some useful information about captains. Sadly, it lacks any useful crew size data, for some reason. Even the older lists, at least for Rotterdam, and to a certain extent, Amsterdam and the Noorderkwartier, have armaments, crews, and size in lasts for many ships. I have lists for 1628, 1629, 1631, and 1633, although I have barely looked at them (as they are not as high a priority as the First Anglo-Dutch War).

Amsterdam Directors' ships

I was just looking over my document that is essentially a transcription from documents from the Nationaal Archief from 1652 and 1653. I may also have some information from Jan Glete's notes that Rick van Velden was not able to find. On the other hand, Rick found some documents that Jan Glete did not see, twenty years ago.

I am still seeking the right vehicle to publish this information, as it would fill a critical need. I am amazed at how much was omitted in Vreugdenhil's list from 1938. Of course, he also clearly saw some things that I have not seen. For example, there is obviously material from 1648 to 1652 that he has included from some source. The main problem is that he omitted a lot of interesting data, such as armaments, as his is just a summary list. My "directors" list has crew and armament, as well as the height of deck above the hold (boven).

I just received a nice surprise

Today, I received a letter from Jan Glete that has copies of paper written by Ron van Maanen, and passed on to Prof. Glete about 1991. The paper is titled "De Dutch in Danish Waters". Part 1 is called "The Dutch Fleet in 1658 and 1659". That is what I received.

There many nuggets in this paper. For example, the Cogge appears to have been a merchant ship that had been hired by the Danes in 1657, and returned to the Dutch before Christmas. There are also some dimensions actually measured, not just the designed measurements. This is just a sample. As much as possible, I have preserved Mr. van Maanen's words and spelling that are in this table:

Ship	Eendracht
Admiralty	Maas (Rottedam)
Built	1653
Length (Designed)	150 feet
Length (Measured)	152 feet
Length (keel as designed)	121 feet
Beam (uitwatering)	37 feet-4 inches
Beam	38 feet
Depth of hold (below overloop, after measurement)	14 feet-8 inches/ 15 feet-3 inches
Height verdeck	7 feet-9 inches
Guns	58-72
Crew in 1658	240 sailors and 75 soldiers

Michiel De Ruyter's squadron at Scheveningen (amended)

As I am working on building Dutch OOB's for the Gabbard and Scheveningen, I have been reading through the published sources. I believe that I missed one ship that was in De Ruyter's division within his squadron. I will try to format the information better, this time.

De Ruijter apparently flew his flag on the Witte Lam, at both the Battle of the Gabbard and Scheveningen. I remember seeing, in Salt in Their Blood, that the Lam had 40 guns and a crew of 145 men. In the published list from 1652, near the beginning of the war, Jan Tijssen's ship only carried 32 guns and had a crew of 110 men. We know the composition of his squadron at Scheveningen by the orders he gave to the individual captains.  These are documented in The First Dutch War, Vol.V. Asterisks (*) denote estimates. The ships are in the order that they are mentioned, except that we include De Ruyter's ship.

Captain/Admiral	"Admiralty"	Ship
Michiel De Ruyter	Vlissingen Directors	Witte Lam, 40 guns
Dingeman Cats	Zeeland	Gekroonde Liefde, 23 guns
Hendrick Kroeger	Amsterdam	Leiden, 28 guns
Lt-Commander Anthonis Fappenlain (or Anthonis Foppenthey), Lieutenant of Tijs Tijmenszoon Peereboom	Noorderkwartier	Peereboom, 24 guns
Jan Olivierszoon	Veere Directors	Unknown ship, 38 guns
Gillis Janszoon	Zeeland	Zeeridder, 28 guns
Adriaan Corneliszoon van Ackersloot	Amsterdam Directors	Moor, 34 guns
Frans Mangelaar	Zeeland	Liefde, 30 guns
Evert Pieterszoon Swart	Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC	Gerechtigheid
Bastiaan Centen (Senten or Centsen)	Zeeland	Haes
Jan Pieterszoon Strijp	Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC	Huis van Nassau
Markus Hartman	Zeeland	Gekroonde Liefde, 34 guns
Jakob Wolfertszoon	Zeeland	Unknown ship, 28 guns*
Jakob Swart (possibly Jacob Cornelisz. Swart)	Amsterdam Directors	Faam, 28 guns
Pieter de Bitter	Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC	Mercurius, 36 guns*

That would give De Ruijter's squadron a strength of 15 ships, which is plausible., although I would have guessed his squadron to be larger.

The Dutch Admirals at the Battle of the Gabbard

I am working on the Dutch orders of battle for the Gabbard and Scheveningen. I am posting what I have for the Gabbard, now. (Also, I have updated the Dutch warship losses for the First Anglo-Dutch War at AngloDutchWarsBlog.com)

Witte de With's squadron:

 

Admiral:                Witte de With

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
9	Vrijheid	1651	Abraham van der Hulst	46	150	134	34	13.25

 

Vice-Admiral:                Jan Janszoon Lapper

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
2	Fazant	1646	Jan Janssen Lapper	32	120	120	29	12

 

Rear-Admiral:                Jacob Kleijdijck

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
56	Prins te Paard	1652	Jacob Cleydyck	38	110

 

 

Maarten Tromp's squadron:

 

Admiral:	Lt.-Admiral Maarten Tromp
No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
47	Brederode	1645	Lt.-Adm. Maarten Tromp	54	270	144	35	14.75

 

Vice-Admiral:                Gideon de Wildt

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
8	Vrede	1650	Gideon de Wildt	44	150	131.5	32.5	13.3

 

Rear-Admiral:                Abel Roelants

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
52	Prinses Louise	1646	Abel Roelants	36	110*	120	28.36	12.55

 

 

Pieter Florissen's squadron:

 

Admiral:                Pieter Florissen

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
66	Monnikendam	1644	Vice-Adm. Pieter Florissen	36	138	120	28.5	11

 

Vice-Admiral:                Gillis Thyssen Campen

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
18	Groningen	1641	Gillis Tijssen Campen	42	140	128	31.5	13

 

Rear-Admiral:                Claes Bastianszoon van Jaersvelt

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
32	David en Goliat	1652	Claes Bastiaanszoon van Jaarsvelt	34	125	130	32	12

 

 

Michiel De Ruyter's squadron:

 

Admiral:                Michiel De Ruyter

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
97	Witte Lam	1652	Michiel de Ruyter	40	140

 

Vice-Admiral:                Adriaan den Oven

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
87	Neptunus	1652	Adriaan Janszoon den Oven	28	130

 

Rear-Admiral:                Markus Hartman

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
99	Gekroonde Liefde	1653	Markus Hartman	36

 

 

Jan Evertsen's squadron:

 

Admiral:                Jan Evertsen

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
90	Hollandia	1652	Vice-Adm. Jan Evertsen	38	160	120	29

 

Vice-Admiral:                Cornelis Evertsen de Oude

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
89	Wapen van Zeeland	1652	Cornelis Evertsen de Oude	30	120

 

Rear-Admiral:                Adriaan Kempen

No.	Name	Date	Captain	Guns	Crew	Length	Beam	Depth
85	Amsterdam	1652	Adriaan Kempen	30	120*