The Friesland ship Groningen

The dimensions published in Pepys' list for the Groningen and Edam got switched, by a copyist. That was Frank Fox's assessment quite a long time ago. Dr Weber incorporated that insite into his book De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666 published way back in 1984. I had noticed this anomoly, as well, but only in the last five years. The Edam (Black Bull in English service) had Dutch dimensions of 120ft x 28ft x 11ft. The Groningen was a much larger ship: 132ft x 31ft x 14-1/2ft. Yet, the dimensions reported by Pepys for the Groningen were 86ft x 28ft-4in x 12ft. The Edam's English dimensions were 103ft x 30ft x 13ft-6in. Clearly, there was something wrong, as we knew the Edam's Dutch dimensions from the 1654 list. Remember that Dutch dimensions were in Amsterdam feet of 11inches (283mm). The length was that from stem-to-sternpost and the beam was that inside the planking. The depth was that to the side of the main deck, not the center. English dimensions were the length on the keel, the beam outside the planking, and the depth from the top of the keel to the underside of the center of the deck, in English feet (305mm).