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.