I'm working on the list of the Dutch fleet at the blockade of Danzig in 1656

As soon as it is finished (hopefully, later today), I will be posting the listing of the Dutch fleet that took part in the blockade of Danzig in 1656. The fleet was commanded by Jacob Wassenaer van Obdam. The list is derived from that published in Brandt's biography of De Ruyter (from 1687). I have made a few obvious corrections, but have otherwise reproduced the list. The list will be posted at AngloDutchWarsBlog.com.

Dutch captain: Adriaan Houttuijn

Adriaan Houttuijn lived from 1599 until 12 June 1666. He served the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier, although he was an Amsterdam Directors captain in 1640. He was a captain in 1653 and Schout-bij-Nacht in 1665.

In 1645, he commanded the Gouden Leeuw(24 guns) with Witte de With, in the Sound. This was the operation to force a large fleet of merchant ships through the Sound without paying the toll to Denmark. From 1646 to 1651, he was in the Venetian service, fighting against the Turks. He assumed command of the Kasteel van Medemblick (30 guns), after Gabriel Antheunissen was sacked. In 1653, he fought under Tromp at the Battles of the Gabbard and Scheveningen. In 1656, he served under Van Wassenaer in the blockade of Danzig, where he still commanded the Kasteel van Medemblick. In 1658, he fought at the Battle of the Sound. In 1659, he served as a commandeur under De Ruyter in the Sound and at Funen and Nyborg. In 1665, he commanded the Wapen van Medemblick (46 guns) at the Battle of Lowestoft. He convoyed for the VOC fleet as a Schout-bij-Nacht. At the Four Days Battle in 1666, he was killed while commanding the Prins van Oranj(66 guns).

I have a "work in progress": Dutch ships in Various Operations During the First Anglo-Dutch War

I have gradually been able to add to my unfinished work Dutch Ships in Various Operations During the First Anglo-Dutch War. I started writing this document/book in September 2001, and have gradually been able to add more detail. My lastest acquisition, Hendrick De Raedt's pamphlet about the voyage to the Shetlands in July and August 1652 has helped to be able to fill in one more piece. The paper is currently at 89 pages, but I would expect it to grow up to soemthing like 150 pages, as I am able to acquire more sources. The next target acquisition would be the "Staet van Oorlog te Water" for 1648, which apparently exists.

Dutch Captain: Govert Voorns (or Voorens)

Dr. De Boer says that "he was a problematic character from beginning to end", and was frequently exchanged in sources with Jacque Forant. He served the Admiralty of Amsterdam. In 1638, he fought with great courage, under Tromp, at Dunkirk. Right after this, he was in trouble with Witte de With, who seemed to have trouble, during this period, with many men. He left the fleet without authorization and then gave untrue reports about his activities. He received a heavy fine and was suspended. At the Battle of the Downs, Robbert Post was in Voorns' ship, the Deventer. In 1645, he worked at the Admiralty of Amsterdam. In 1647, he was assigned to Witte De With's squadron to relieve Brazil, but he died on the voyage on 5 August 1648. He had commanded the Amsterdam ship Huis van Nassau (40 guns). On 15 March 1651, his widow requested payment of pay due to him.

Dutch Captain: Sijbrant Janszoon Mol

Sijbrant Janszoon Mol commanded a hired merchantman, the Witte Olifant (28 guns). This was apparently a hired Italian ship named the Elefante Bianco in mercantile service. In August 1653, he was in Anthonis van Zalingen's squadron off of Livorno, blockading Henry Appleton's squadron. . The van de Velde drawing of the Battle of Livorno shows the taffrail with a large elephant. His ship was part of a 16-ship fleet commanded by Johan van Galen, who flew his flag on the Amsterdam ship Veerenigde Provinciën (40 guns). In the Battle of Livorno on 14 March 1653, Henry Appleton led his squadron out of the harbor at Livorno prematurely, and was faced with the entire Dutch fleet present. Appleton quickly lost the Bonaventure (44 guns) to an explosion with only 5 survivors. Almost immediately, Van Galen lost a leg and eventually died. Of the ships in Appleton's squadron, only the fast Mary escaped. The Sampson was destroyed by a fireship, while the Peregrine and Levant Merchant were taken. Appleton's flagship, the Leopard (48 guns) was overwhelmed and taken, as well. The only Dutch loss was the hired merchantman Madonna della Vigna, which was forced ashored north of the harbor. Richard Badiley's squadron exchanged fire with the 8 ships, including the Witte Olifant, and then withdrew, eventually from the Mediterranean Sea. That left the Dutch in control, and allowed them to send ships home.

In 1658, the city of Amsterdam fitted out two merchant ships for the war against Sweden (as per Jan Glete). They were the Waeg and the Cogge, both of 40 guns. The Waeg had a crew of 107 sailors and 30 soldiers. The Waeg was commanded by Sijbrant Janszoon Mol, and was assigned to Lt.-Admiral van Wassenaer's division. He took part in the Battle of the Sound, where the Dutch soundly defeated the Swedish fleet, with the loss of Witte de With and his flagship Brederode, which had run aground and been severely raked.

Dutch Captain: Barend Rees

In May 1673, Barend Rees commanded the Rotterdam ship Wassenaer (60 guns and a crew of 239 sailors and 46 soldiers). On 6 June, he was in Cornelis Tromp's squadron and took part in the second Schooneveld battle. He very likely had been in the first battle, as well. At the Battle of the Texel, he was in Jan de Haan's division in Cornelis Tromp's squadron. He still commanded the Wassenaer (now 59 guns and a crew of 223 sailors and 17 soldiers). On 24 May 1673, he was under Lt-Admiral van Nes. By 8 June 1674, he was in De Ruyter's division in the expedition to Martinique. Barend Rees commanded the Utrecht (36 guns and a crew of 128 sailors and 41 soldiers). In 1688 he participated in the voyage taking Willem III to invade England. Barend Rees commanded the Honslaardijk (48 guns and a crew of 190 men) in Schout-bij-Nacht Jan van Brakel's squadron.

Dutch Captain Ruth Maximiliaan

Captain Ruth Maximiliaan started the Second Anglo-Dutch War in command of a Lisbon trader Catherina (about 40 guns). At the action at Bergen, when an English squadron attempted to attack Pieter de Bitter's Retourvloot, Ruth Maximiliaan's ship was in a tight spot, in line between the Walcheren and Slot Hooningen. The harbor mouth was so narrow that there was only room for 7 ships, including the Catherina. In the fierce battle, the Catherina was holed underwater and had to be run ashore to keep from sinking. At the Four Days Battle, where he commanded the Rotterdam warship Wassenaer (56 guns), Ruth Maximiliaan took part in the fight with John Harman's ship Henry. The Dutch were convinced that she must have been sunk, although the Henry survived to fight another day. On the second day of the battle Captain Maximiliaan played a major part in sinking the Black Eagle (the former Friesland ship Groningen). Ruth Maximiliaan was killed at the St. James's Day Battle from 4-5 August 1666 (July 25-July 26 Old Style). Frank Fox called him one of De Ruyter's best captains.

The Friese Admiralty at Dokkum website

I need to give a better link to the Friesland admiralty at Dokkum website, as I was not aware of the correct access page that has links to the other pages. Now, if there would be websites of comparable quality for the other admiralties, we would be able to fill in most of the knowledge gaps we have about the Dutch navy from 1628-1654. I would like to discuss a few issues that I found when examining the Friese website ship list, as I have some questions that I have regarding several of the ship and captain associations. Still, the site is a great source of information and has advanced my knowledge of Friese ships and captains in the First Anglo-Dutch War (and the 1630's and 1640's, as well).

Dutch Captain: Cornelis Cruijck

Cornelis Adriaanszoon Cruijck (from Schiedam) was a captain for the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC). He took command of the Vogelstruis from Douwe Aucke. The Vogelstruis belonged to the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC.

He was present at the start of the Battle of Portland, in De Ruyter's squadron. Forty of his crew were also from Schiedam. De Ruyter's ships combined their attacks so that four or more ships was board a single English ship. De Ruyter, himself, boarded, was repulsed, and then reboarded and took the large hired merchantman Prosperous (42 guns). In the intense fighting on the first day, Captain Cruijck was killed, his crew was decimated, and the ship was heavily damaged aloft. That night, the English took the Vogelstruis. The ship was so heavily damaged that the English made her a hulk, rather than trying to return her to service.

We estimate the Vogelstruis' dimensions to have been 160ft x 38ft x 18ft and she carried 40 to 44 guns. The large retourschepen such as the Vogelstruis were heavily armed. They often had 4-brass 24pdrs and a lower tier filled with 18pdrs. The upper tier would be 12pdr with 8pdr on the quarterdeck. We can't be sure how the Vogelstruis was armed, however. We do know that she had a crew of about 200 men.

I have two new theories about Friese ships

I have been immersed into thinking about Frisian ships today (thanks to finding the website). Now, I wonder again if the ship purchased in 1652 as the Groenewold actually served as the Zevenwolden? There is no sign of the Groenewold, except for the mention in the "Staet van Oorlog te Water" for 1654 and in "Vreugdenhil". Now, the Zevenwolden was lost at Scheveningen, but as I have indicated, the Groenewold shows in the "Staet" for 1654 and in Dr. Elias' book in a list from 1655. There is also a listing for Claes Jansoon Sanger and the West Cappel in both 1654 and 1655. Of course, the West Cappel was also taken and burnt at Scheveningen.

The other thing I wonder about is the Groningen. The Friese website says that Hendrick Janszoon Camp commanded the Groningen at Dungeness, and that it was the same 36-gun ship that fought at the Battle of the Sound in 1658 (as well as participating in the rest of the First Anglo-Dutch War). If that is correct, than the ship was built prior to 1653, unlike what Dr. Weber said in his book about the Four Days Battle. The ship is often shown with a smallish crew, so perhaps this was the ship from the March 1653 list that had 110 men in the crew and the Zevenwolden was the one with a 140 man crew.

We shall see how this develops, as I continue to gather more information.

Website for the Historische Vereniging Noordoost Friesland

I highly recommend the website of the Historische Vereniging Noordoost Friesland (”homepage van 'De Sneupers'). My friend Andrew, in Russia, discovered the site, and had drawn my attention to some of the text. The site has information that I have not seen anywhere else, in the published sources available to me. I will have to modify my view of Friesland ships in the First Anglo-Dutch War, given the information contained in the site. There are pages with comperhensive lists of Frisian captains and ships. This site confirms, yet again, what Frank Fox has told me: the information that we want exists; we just need to be persistent and find it.

Dutch captain Rombout van der Parre during the First Anglo-Dutch War

Thanks to the website of the Historische Vereniging Noordoost Friesland, we know more about some Frisian ships and captains (thanks to Andrew who found the site). I immediately noticed that the site adds to what is known about some captains and ships. For example, there is the following about Rombout van der Parre:

• Fought under De Ruyter at the Battle of Plymouth on 26 August 1652, where he commanded the Albertina (24 guns)
• Before the Battle of the Kentish Knock, he was sent home, due to his ship being unfit due to damage from the Battle of Plymouth
• Fought at the Battle of Dungeness (near the Singels) under Tromp in the Albertina
• Fought in the Battle of Portland (28 February to 2 March 1653) in the Albertina
• Commanded the new ship Oostergo (54 guns)

Dutch captain: Jan Thyssen

The information that I have about Jan Thyssen (Tijssen) is from the First Anglo-Dutch War up until 1659. In May 1652, he joined Tromp's fleet with a squadron of 7 Vlissingen and Middelburg Director's ships. This brought the fleet up to a strength of 42 ships. He fought at the Battle off Dover on 29 May 1652, and had gone into the Downs prior to the battle. In August, he sailed with the fleet to the Shetlands, and survived the storm. Hendrik de Raedt's pamphlet says that Commandeur Thyssen commanded a Middelburg directors' ship carrying 32 guns and a crew of 110 men. He seems to have been absent from the Battle of the Kentish Knock. Jan Evertsen's journal from 30 November 1652 says that Michel De Ruyter flew his flag from Jan Thyssen's ship (which we know was the Witte Lam). We are reasonably sure that De Ruyter used the Witte Lam as his flagship for the battles of Portland and the Gabbard. In late July 1652, Commandeur Thyssen and four ships lying there were intended to join the fleet. He must have been at the Battle of Scheveningen, as he and his mastless ship, the Liefde, were lying in the Goeree Gat.

The last time that I have seen Jan Thyssen mentioned was in 1659, when he commanded the Zeeland ship Dordrecht (40 guns) with De Ruyter's fleet in the Sound.

Dutch captain: Matthijs Gilliszoon

Apparently, Matthijs Gilliszoon's full name was Matthijs Gilliszoon Kampen. He served the Admiralty of Amsterdam. He died on 19 February 1649. He was promoted to captain in 1637 and Schout-bij-Nacht and then Vice-Admiral in 1647. In1639, he served under Tromp in the Battle of the Downs. In 1643, he had served under Tromp in the blockade of Dunkirk. In 1647, he commanded the ship Huis van Nassau (40 guns) as Vice-Admiral in the relief fleet sent to Brazil. They had been sent with inadequate resources to restore the Dutch position in Brazil, which had deteriorated after Prince Maurice had left the country. In 1648, Matthijs Gilliszoon's ship was disabled and abandoned in the battle near Bahia. A Portuguese captain blew up his ship, rather than being defeated, and destroyed the Utrecht (32 guns) and disabled the Huis van Nassau. The Huis van Nassau, after being abandoned, ended up in the harbor of Bahia, where it was taken by the Portuguese and refitted for use against the Dutch. In 1649, Matthijs Gilliszoon was killed in the land battle near Guararapes in Brazil. Sources:

• Mollema's "Honor Roll"
• W.J. van Hoboken, Witte de With in Brazilië

Dutch Captain: Cornelis Barentszoon Slordt

Cornelis Barentszoon Slordt is not mentioned in Mollema's "Honor Roll", still played a part in the actions at sea during the 1650's. I will give as much information as I have found:

Cornelis Barentszoon Slordt served the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier. The earliest reference to him that I have found is on 16 November 1650, Joris van Cats found Captain Slordt and his ship, the Jonge Prins (28 guns) in the harbor of Cadiz. Captain Slordt spent the next three years as part of the Dutch Mediterranean squadron. He took part in the Battle of Monte Christo (Elba) in September 1652, under the command of Johan van Galen. On 14 March 1653, he took part in the Battle of Livorno (Leghorn), were Johan van Galen was mortally wounded. At the end of the battle, Captain Slordt's ship was one of 7 ships that exchanged fire with Richard Badiley's squadron, which withdrew without serious fighting. We next see Captain Slordt at the Battle of the Sound in 1658, where he commanded the Caleb (40 guns). The last mention of Captain Slordt was at the Battle of Lowestoft, where he commanded the Jozua (50 guns). Perhaps he was killed at Lowestoft, but I don't have a definitive reference.

New information thanks to a reader

Two questions have been answered, thanks to a reader, Andrew. He pointed out a quote: "In Augustus 1652 Andries Douwesz. Pascaert onder Adm. M.H. Tromp kruisend bij Shetland eilanden op het schip Prins Willem, 28 stukken". The questions that have been answered are:

"Who was Captain Pascaert" (mentioned in the passage about the Shetlands)

"What ship was commanded by Andries Douweszoon?"

There are conflicting reports about whether Andries Douweszoon Pascaert reported to the Admiralty of Friesland or to the Harlingen Directors. Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet says that he reported to the Harlingen Directors, and that his ship carried 28 guns and had a crew of 105 men. Another reference gives the figures as 30 guns and a crew of 100 men. Andrew gives the figures as 28 guns and a crew of 90 men. In any case, Captain Pascaert took part in the Battle of the Gabbard and was courtmartialed and cashiered for his actions in the battle.

Little-known Dutch warships in the First Anglo-Dutch War

I noticed that Dr. Elias lists Cornelis van Houtten as being at the Battle of the Kentish Knock. His ship was the Witte Lam. She carried 28 guns (12-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr), a crew of 96 and had dimensions of 127ft x 27-1/4ft x 12-1/2ft.

In another case, three captains operated in the Baltic from November 1652. They were Adriaan van Loenen, Gerrit Schuyt, and Cornelis Janszoon Brouwer. The latter two are more obscure, as you would not have seen their names associated with a ship in the published literature.

Gerrit Schuyt commanded the Rozeboom. She was the ship, later commanded by Bartholomeus van Rietbeeck, which was captured by the English at the Battle of the Gabbard. She had a crew of 96 men and carried 28 guns (12-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr) with dimensions 118ft x 27ft x 12-1/2ft.

Cornelis Janszoon Brouwer's ship was the Valck. The Valck has not appeared in the published literature (by name). She carried 28 guns (12-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr), in 1652 had a crew of 95 men. Her dimensions were 132-1/2ft x 26-1/6ft x 12-3/4ft.

The storm off the Shetlands in August 1652

This is my first attempt at translating note 1 on page 130 of Vol.II of Dr. Elias' book, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen:

According to the Hollandsche Mercurius, we lost at the Shetlands no more than 4 or 5 ships. In reality, our losses were a lot heavier. Before the storm, Tromp's fleet numbered 92 warships, 1 supply ship, 7 fireships, and 3 galliots. From that, on 5 and 6 August, Tromp collected 40 warships, 1 fireship, and 1 galliot. With captains Balck and De Lieffde came 40 warships, the supply ship, and 1 fireship. Previously, the warship of Captain Pascaert and the fireship of Captain Bondt had separately arrived. So that in total returned 81 warships, 1 supply ship, 3 fireships, and 1 galliot. One galliot was taken by Blake. For the Shetlands 11 warships therefore must have remained (among which included 1 admiralty ship of Amsterdam, the Amsterdam, Captain Barend Dorrevelt, "with people and ship" were lost, and 2 of the defective Friesland admiralty ships, which both as given as "to ahve stranded"), 4 fireships, and 1 galliot.

I want to attempt to determine the lost warships, which I firmly believe included at least several of the ships belonging to the Amsterdam Directors.

Dutch captain: Willem van Nieuhoff

This is based on my translation of the entry for Willem van Nieuhoff in Mollema's "Honor Roll" which I have augmented with additional information:

Willem van Nieuhoff died on 3 March 1653, and had served teh Admiralty of Amsterdam. He had been promoted to captain in 1636. In 1639, he had distinguished himself against 4 Dunkirkers. He was rewarded with a gold medal. He also fought at the Battle of the Downs. He was in Commandeur Denijs' squadron on the South side of the Downs, to block that exit for the Spanish fleet. In 1645, he commanded the Wapen van Goes under Witte de With in the Sound. In 1653, he died on board the transport ship Aartsengel Michiel (40 guns) in the Mediterranean Sea.

A possible ship-captain association

Dr. Ballhausen identifies Jacob Claeszoon Boet's ship as the Leeuwin on page 436 of his book. Captain Boet commanded a ship of the Monnikendam Directors with 32 guns and a crew of 115 men. I am not ready to absolutely say this is true, as Dr. Ballhausen is often wrong about this sort of identification. He attributes this to page 82 of the Onstelde-Zee (1654). I just happen to have a photocopy of this book (thanks to the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota). All that passage says is:

"Maar 't Schip den Meerman met 24 Yzere en 4 Metale stukken tussen 2 Engelse grote Bengels beklemt, worde na een langh geveght in de gront geschoten; daar op quam 't Ship de Leewwin met 28 Yzere en 4 Metale stukken, den eenen Engelsman van aghteren aan ter zyden dight aanboort leggen, dat het volk van den Meerman ziende leepen over de Engelsman, en salveerden haar in de Leewin."

I have maintained the exact spelling from the passage, even though it differs, even within the same passage. The mapping to more modern Dutch is fairly obvious. The bottom line is that I don't see anything to tie the Leeuwin to Captain Boet, except that the number of guns matches. The passage does suggest that the Leeuwin's armament was 32 guns: 4-brass and 28-iron guns.

Dr. Ballhausen suggests that the Meerman was commanded by Simon Corneliszoon van der Meer (Rotterdam), and gives her armament as 4-brass and 24-iron guns, as indicated by the passage above.

Dutch captain: Augustijn Balck

Mollema's "Honor Roll" only has a short listing for Augustijn Balck:

Augustijn David Balck died on 28 February 1653, and we don't know his birth date. He served the Admiralty of Amsterdam, and was promoted to captain in 1636. He distinguished himself at the Battle of the Downs in 1639. In 1648, he accompanied the ambassador to Archangel. In 1653, he was killed at the Battle of Portland.

In 1639, he commanded a convoyer, and was in Commandeur Denijs's squadron on the south side of the fleet at the Battle of the Downs [C. R. Boxer, Tromp's Journal 1639, p.189]. Many of those captains present from Amsterdam fought in the First Anglo-Dutch War:

Jacob Troucquois

Jan de Lapper

Jan van Galen

Augustijn (Aucke) Balck

Willem van Nieuhoff

Evert Anthonissen

David Janszoon Bondt

Claes Bastiaanszoon van Jaarsvelt

At the beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War, Captain Balck was in Witte de With's squadron. On July 5, 1652, he attended a council of war on Tromp's flagship, prior to sailing for the Shetlands. His ship, the Vrijheid (46 guns), was one of 16 from Amsterdam on the voyage. On October 1, 1652, he commanded a convoy to "Muscovy", and sailed from the Vlie. He had 11 warships and two galliots. I believe that the list of ships and captains were:

Sampson (26 guns) Hendrick Adriaanszoon

Vrijheid (46 guns) Augustijn Balck

Bommel (30 guns) Pieter van Brakel

Windhond (18 guns) Dirck Pieterszoon Heertjens

Westfriesland (28 guns) Hendrik Huyskens

Fazant (32 guns) Jan Janszoon de Lapper

Patientia (24 guns) Andries van Loenen

Hoop (unknown guns) Boëtius Schaeff

Omlandia (30 guns) Jacob Troucquois

Aemelia (28 guns) Willem van der Zaan

Brak (18 guns) Pieter van Zalingen

Because of the convoy, Captain Balck was absent from the Battle of the Kentish Knock. He was present, though, at the Battle of Dungeness, where he was still in Witte de With's squadron (although Witte de With was absent, and his squadron was commanded temporarily by Michiel de Ruyter. He was also present at the Battle of Portland, where he was killed on the first day.

Dutch naval officer: David Vlugh

This is my translation and editing of the entry in Mollema's "Honor Roll" for David Vlugh:

David Vlugh was born in 1611 and died on 7 June 1673. He served the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier. He was a lieutenant in 1639, a captain in 1665, and Schout-bij-Nacht in 1666.
He fought at the Battle of the Downs in 1639 as a lieutenant. From 1640 to 1642, he served as a lieutenant in the blockading fleet before Dunkirk. In 1658, he was a skipper in the merchant marine, and commanded a supply ship for De Ruyter, in 1659, with the expedition to the Sound. In 1665, after the Battle of Lowestoft, he was promoted to captain of the Wapen van Nassau (60 guns). In 1666, he distinguished himself in the Four Days Battle and the St. James's Day Battle. In 1667, he commanded a "holding squadron" in the Wapen van Utrecht (72 guns) under Van Ghent, during the Raid on Chatham. In 1672, he commanded the Wapen van Enkhuizen (72 guns) at the Battle of Solebay. In 1673, he commanded a squadron before the Thames, and was killed at the First Schooneveld Battle.

Dutch Captain: Cornelis Janszoon Poort

Cornelis Janszoon Poort served the Directors of Amsterdam, from early 1652 until he was killed in March 1653. He commanded the ship Kroon Imperiaal. Her dimensions were: 130ft x 30ft x 12-1/2ft, with a height between decks of 7ft. On 27 March 1652, she was listed as having 38 guns: 20-12pdr, 14-6pdr, and 4-4pdr. On 19 April and 8 November 1652, she was listed as having 34 guns: 2-brass 24pdr, 16-12pdr (of which 10 were brass), 12-6pdr (of which two were brass), and 4-3pdr. A list from early 1653 has essentially the same list, but is less sure about which guns were brass. The Kroon Imperiaal's crew was consistently listed as 125 men.

What we know for sure is that Captain Poort was with Tromp on his voyage to the Shetlands, during July-August 1652, was with Captain Balck convoying ships to the Baltic in the fall, and then was at the Battle of Dungeness in Witte de With's squadron (de With, himself, was not there). Captain Poort was Witte de With's Rear-Admiral. In March 1653, he was at the Battle of Portland, where he was killed and his ship sunk.

Dutch captain: Barend Hals

Barend Hals served the Admiralty of Amsterdam. Frank Fox does not list him as being present at the Battle of Lowestoft. In August 1665, Captain Hals commanded the frigate Wapen van Leiden (38 guns). He seems to have missed all the major battles of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. On December 25 1666 (Old Style) his ship, along with the Elias and Klein Harder, were captured by the English. The Leiden (as it was more usually called) was burnt.

Barend Hals served in the Third Anglo-Dutch War, and played a more active role. He started the war in command of the frigate Asperen (30 guns), and was present at the Battle of Solebay. His ship had 3 killed and 14 wounded in the battle. In 1673, he had moved to the Gideon (60-62 guns), and fought in the Schooneveld battles and the Battle of the Texel.

More from the March 1653 Dutch list

More guesswork than I would like has gone into this, as I have already listed the really obvious ships previously. Some of these are certain, though, such as the Eendracht: Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier

• Eendracht, 40 guns crew 140
• Monnikendam, 36 guns crew 140
• Prins Maurits, 32 guns crew 130

Admiralty of Friesland

• Groenewold, 38 guns crew 110 (one of these two has a smaller crew)
• Zevenwolden, 38 guns crew 140
• Breda, 30 guns crew 110

Lionel Lane

We know something about Lionel Lane's career from 1650 to 1654. His commands:

1650 Garland

1651-1653 Victory

1653 Triumph

1654 Sovereign

At the Battle of Dungeness, Lionel Lane was commended for helping Robert Blake, in the Triumph, to escape through the Dutch fleet. On December 14, 1652, he was present at a council of war where decisions were made about the sort of fleet which should be prepared to meet the Dutch. At the Battle of Portland, he was Vice Admiral of the Blue, in William Penn's Blue squadron. After Portland, circa April 1653, his ship was lying at Portsmouth with the Generals and the core of the main fleet. At the Battle of the Gabbard, Lionel Lane was again William Penn's Vice Admiral, this time in the White squadron. On September 3, 1653, Lionel Lane was listed as captain of the Triumph, but as of November 17, 1653, he had still not reported aboard. On January 17, 1654, Lionel Lane was ordered to finish preparing the Triumph, so that when the Sovereign was ready in about three months, he could move to her. I have no further record of Lionel Lane's career, after that note.

The main sources are: R.C. Anderson, "List of English Captains 1642-1660" (Society for Nautical Research) The First Dutch War, Vols III-VI (Navy Records Society) The Letters of Robert Blake (Navy Records Society)

Dutch Captain: Hendrik Gotskens

Hendrik Gotskens served the Admiralty of Amsterdam. In 1659, Hendrik Gotskens was in the Sound under De Ruyter. He commanded the Raadhuis van Haarlem (40 guns). In December 1659, he was in Kiel, along with Commandeur Sweers and otherships, as well as with the Danish Rear-Admiral Rootsteen.

In 1665 Hendrik Gotskens commanded the Vrede (48 guns) in Lt.-Admiral vanWassenaer's First Squadron at the Battle of Lowestoft. At the Four Days Battle, he was in De Ruyter'sdivision, where Captain Gotskens commanded the Wapen van Utrecht (66 guns). When Baron van Ghent's ship, the Gelderland (64guns), was damaged by the wind, he went on board the Wapen van Utrecht as an observer. On the fourth day, after the council of war, Cornelis Tromp moved his flag to the Wapen van Utrecht so that Isaak Sweers would be free to use the Gouda as his flagship, as he assumed command of Abraham van der Hulst's division, after van der Hulst was killed. Hendrik Gotskens, still in the Wapen van Utrecht, was again in De Ruyter's division at the St. James Day Battle.

Dutch Captain: Jacob van Bergen

Jacob van Bergen served the Admiralty of Amsterdam. He was killed on 7 June 1673 at the second Schooneveld battle, while commanding the Prins te Paard (55 guns). He was succeeded in command by Adam van Brederode, who commanded the Prins te Paard at the Battle of the Texel on 17 August 1673 (new style). At the Second Schooneveld, the Prins te Paard had a crew of 188 sailors and 57 soldiers.

the Amsterdam ship Star built in 1644

In De Vlootbouw in Nederland, there is a van de Velde drawing of the Amsterdam ship Star. The ship was a two-decker, as were most Dutch ships of this size. The Star's dimensions were: 120ft x 28ft x 12ft. In 1652, she was commanded by Jacob Paulussen Cort. Her crew was 95 men. The drawing shows that she had ten ports per side on the lower deck. The upper deck was only armed aft, at this time. There were four ports to a side , aft of the quarterdeck break. There was one port on either side on the poop, from the height of the port above the upper tier. The look of the stern indicates that there may have been a centerline port in the stern, aligned with the doors in the sides of the quarter galleries. There were also stern ports, one on either side of the rudder on the lower deck. The Star survived in service until 1677, when she was burnt. I would hazard a guess that it was in an action in the West Indies that turned disastrous for the Dutch. It probably was at Tobago in February 1677, when the French attacked the Dutch in port and burned them.