English Naval Officer: Richard May

Richard May served in the Restoration navy. The Duke of York appointed him in 1665 as Captain of the Satisfaction. After the Battle of Lowestoft, he was appointed as Captain of the Dutch prize Helverston (Hilversum). Later in 1665, he commanded the Dutch prize Clovetree. In 1666, the Duke of Albemarle and Prince Rupert appointed him captain of the Gloucester. In 1668, the Duke of York appointed him to command the 4th Rate Dragon. Finally, on 18 November 1682, the Commissioners appointed him to command the 4th Rate Ruby. He died before 1689. Sources:

1. J.R. Tanner, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Naval Manuscripts in the Pepysian Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Vol.I, 1903

Zeeland Directors' ships on 17 August 1653

Pagte 162 includes a list of Zeeland Directors' ships in service on 17 August 1653. I have inluded that ships which have captain, guns, and crew listed:

Adm     Ship                  Guns Crew Commander
Mi-Dir  Gouden Leeuw          34   125  kapitein Jacob Penssen
Z-Dir   nieuw Vlissingen      34    92  kapitein Jacob Wolphertszoon
Vl-Dir  Haes                  29   104  kapitein Bastiaen Centsen
Mi-Dir  Gecroonde Lieffde     40   150  kapitein Marcus Hartman
Mi-Dir  Leeuwinne             34   127  kapitein Adriaen Vermeulen
Z-Dir   Luipaard              37   134  kapitein Cornelis Tiebij
Ve-Dir  Wapen van der Vere    37   124  kapitein Jan Olivierszoon
Vl-Dir  Dubbele Arend         29   104  kapitein Teunis Post

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Ships from David de Wildt's list

David de Wildt's list that was prepared in early 1652 to show ships that might be suitable for hiring. One of those ships was the Peereboom, owned by Tijs Tijmenszoon (Peereboom). The dimensions are: 112ft x 24-1/2ft x 11-1/2ft x 6ft. There are more ships that seem pretty obviously ones that were hired:

St. Jan Battista

118ft x 25ft x 12ft x 5-1/2ft

Hoop

121ft x 26-3/4ft x 11-1/4ft x 6ft

St. Pieter

123ft x 28-1/4ft x 13ft x 6-1/2ft

Oliphant

128ft x 28ft x 13-1/4ft x 6-3/4ft

The Amsterdam Convoyers of 1648 (28 November 1652 list)

From the 28 November 1652 list that I received yesterday, there is a list of the convoyers, funded at the peace in 1648:

Adm  Ship               Guns Commander
A    Vrijheid           46   Augustijnus Balck
A    Aertsengel Michael 40   Willem van Nieuhoff
A    Utrecht            30   Jan Roetering
A    Campen             40   Joris van der Saen
A    Zeelandia          34   Lt-Capt. Claes Marrevelt
A    Hollandia          32   Evert Anthoniszoon
A    Zutphen            28   Ewout Jeroenszoon
A    Phaisant           28   Jan Jansz Lapper
A    Bommel             30   Pieter van Braeckel
A    Groningen          40   Abraham van der Hulst
A    Graeff WIllem      40   Jan Gideonsz Verburch
A    Brack              18   Pieter van Salingen
A    Engel              26   Maerten Schaeff
A    Omlandia           30   Jacob Tronquoij, Boetius Schaeff
A    (Middleburg)       26   Jeroen Adelaer

FYI: if you send me mail, give a good subject line

Gmail's spam filter is pretty aggressive, so if you send me mail, and you do not give a good subject line, your mail may be caught in the spam filter and be deleted, because I did not recognize that it was a mail that I would want to read.

Some of the more substantial ships in May 1653

Page 116 of Witte de With's letters is pretty interesting, as some quite substantial ships are listed. These are some of them, annotated by what I know to be the correct ship names:

Adm    Ship                   Guns Crew  Commander
A      Vrijheid               50   207   vice-admiraal Witte de With
                                         on the ship of 
                                         kapitein Abraham van der Hulst
A      Vrede                  44   192   commandeur Gideon de Wildt (or Wilde)
A      Leeuwarden             34   148   kapitein Govert Reael
A      Bommel                 34   110   kapitein Pieter van Braeckel
A      Zeelandia              34   130   kapitein Nicolaes Marrevelt
A      Campen                 40   158   kapitein Willem van der Zaan (Saen)
A-Dir  Grote Sint Matheeus    42   155   kapitein Cornelis Laureszoon
A-Dir  Davit en Goliat        34   125   kapitein Claes Bastiaensz van Jaersvelt

Page 117 continues the list and has the largest ship of the lot. Page 118 has several large ship, as well:

Adm    Ship                   Guns Crew  Commander
M      Brederode              56   268   the ship of lt-admiraal Tromp

R-Dir  Prins                  38   168   kapitein Jacob Cleijdijck
N      Stad Monnikendam       36   178   schout-bij-nacht Pieter Floriszoon

Frederick Bogaert's ship in September 1652

This document that I have from the Nationaal Archief, from 20 September 1652, lists his ship as the "Engel St. Michiel", combing the two names that I have seen his ship called (Engel Michiel and St. Michiel). His ship is said to have a crew of 107 men. The ship was hired by the Amsterdam Directors in March 1652. Another, undated document that must originate from March 1652 lists Frederick Bogaert's lieutenant as Adriaen Pieterszoon. That document lists his crew as 110 men, which I believe to be a nominal number.

Ron van Maanen has the list of 26 guns carried by Ruth Jacobsz Buys' ship Hollandia

Ron van Maanen's list of Rotterdam ships has a list of 26 guns that were carried by the Hollandia 0n 8 April 1653: 2-12pdr, 12-8pdr, 6-6pdr, 4-4pdr, and 2-2pdr guns. I was thinking that this differed from the list that Carl Stapel had found, but it does not. Apparently, the 2-12pdr were iron guns, while the rest were brass ("metaal"). By the way, Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet gives the Hollandia's crew as 105 men (presumably in August 1652). Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated
2. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006

Sipke Fockes at the Three Days Battle

What we think we know is that Sipke Fockes commanded some 28 gun Amsterdam Directors' ship at the Three Days Battle other than the Sint Maria, which he had commanded since about March 1652. The Sint Maria fought in the Three Days Battle and was damaged severely. The ship survived and was listed as being repaired, after the battle. We also believe that we know that Sipke Fockes was killed in the battle and his ship was captured by the English and taken into Portsmouth. What we don't know, for sure, is the name of Sipke Fockes' ship and also who commanded the Sint Maria in the battle. The Sint Maria might have been discarded after March 1653, as the list of ships to be repaired is the last place that I have seen the Sint Maria mentioned.

I realized that there is a mystery ship involved in the Three Days Battle

The Dutch name for what the English call the Battle of Portland is the Drie-Daagse Zeeslag, or Three Days Battle. I realized that there is at least one "mystery ship" involved that we have not seen. The old book Onstelde-Zee and the Hollandsche Mercurius for 1653 both mention a ship named the Groote Sint Lucas (28 guns), commanded by Sipke Fockes that was captured by the English and taken into Portsmouth (page 21 of the Hollandsche Mercurius for February 1653). We have not seen any other references (except for the Onstelde-Zee, which could be derived from the Hollandsche Mercurius) to this ship. The First Dutch War only refers to the ship for the same reason. I wondered if the reference to the Sint Johannes and those to the Groote Sint Lucas might refer to the same ship.

A remaining mystery: the ship Sint Johannes

The Sint Johannes is a mystery ship because while the ship appears in Jan Glete's notes with very specific information, we can find no other reference to the ship. No ship that we know about has this combination of dimensions and armament. The ship Walvisch has the same dimensions but a different armament. The listing for the Sint Johannes is dated 8 February 1653. The only explanation that I can find is that ship was hired on that date and almost immediately lost at the the Three Days Battle, The trouble is that there is not obvious mention of the ship being lost, or even there being a plausible captain. Jan Glete's notes give the dimensions as 125ft x 29ft x 12-1/2ft with a height between decks of 7ft. The Sint Johannes carried 28 guns, consisting of 2-18pdr, 8-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns. I have not seen a good list of ships at the Three Days Battle, so that is why my theory still could be true. I cannot believe that Jan Glete would have such specific information, if the ship did not exist, even if it had another name.

The large and small ships named Sint Matheeus

There were two ships hired by the Amsterdam Directors named Sint Matheeus. The smaller one, had been hired in early 1652, and was originally commanded by Cornelis Naeuoogh. This Sint Matheeus carried 34 guns and had a crew of about 125 men. This ship's dimensions were 140ft x 34ft x 15ft, with a height between decks of 7-1/3ft. The ship carried 4-brass 24pdr, 14-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 4-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns. The larger ship must have been hired in 1653. The larger ship was commanded by Cornelis Laurenszoon and had dimensions of 144ft x 36ft. The larger ship was taken by the English at the Battle of the Gabbard. Witte de With said that the larger ship carried 42 guns and had a crew of 155 men, in his journal. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Directors' Ship Information 1652-1653", 2004
2. H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984
3. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "ZEELAND", undated
4. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

"For the convoy to the East" in August 1652

The list of Amsterdam ships on 5 August 1652 includes ships that were sent to the "East" for a convoy to "Muscovy". That meant going into the Sound and through the Baltic. Some of those ships were in the Baltic Squadron in December 1652, and you have to wonder if some of these other ships were there, as well:

Adm    Ship              Guns Crew Captain
A      Phesant           32   120  Jan Jansz Lapper
A      Bommel            30   100  Pieter van Brakel
A      Omlandia          30   100  ship of Jacob Troncquois
A      Sampson           26    90  Hendrick Adriaenszoon
A      Westfriesland     28   100  Hendrick Huyskens
A      Engel Gabriel     28   100  Maarten Schaeff
A      Aemilia           28   100  Willem van der Zaan
A      Patientia         25    80  Adriaen van Loenen
A      Brak              18    70  Pieter van Zalingen
A      Windhond          18    70  Dirck Pietersz Heertjes

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, "Admiralty of Amsterdam Ships on 5 August 1652", 2006

Teunis Post and the Arend

I had mistakenly called Teunis Post by the name Teunis Poort. He was originally schipper of the Vlissingen Directors' ship Arend (or Dubbele Arend) . Yes, the Dutch name is the origin of the name skipper in English. I first saw Teunis Post mentioned as having attended the council-of-war on the Brederode on 6 August 1652, after the storm in the Shetlands. By December 1652, we see him commanding the Arend, and by sometime in 1652, he was appointed kapitein of the ship.

Jacob Penssen's ship Gouden Leeuw

Ron van Maanen, in the "ZEELAND" document, has the details of Jacob Penssen's ship Goude Leeuw, a ship hired in 1652 by the Middelburg Directors:

The ship Gouden Leeuw, captain Jacob Penssen

Length from stem to sternpost: 124ft
Beam:                           28ft
Height between decks:            6-1/2ft

30 guns (11 February 1653):
4-24pdr, 4-12pdr, 14-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-4pdr

Crew: 120 men

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "ZEELAND", undated

Pieter Aldertszoon's ship in June 1652 was the Eenhoorn of 1625

Carl Stapel says that the ship commanded by Pieter Aldertszoon at the start of the war was the old Eenhoorn, built in 1625. Ron van Maanen makes news by saying that the dimensions of the Eenhoorn were 125ft x 29ft x 11-1/2ft with a height between decks of 6-3/4ft. At some date, perhaps July 1654, the Eenhoorn's armament was 7-12pdr, 13-10pdr, 4-8pdr, 2-6pdr, 2-4pdr, and 2-3pdr guns. The Eenoorn was last mentioned in 1655. Sometimes, the length is said to be 124ft. The size is usually listed as 220 lasts. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, personal communication about the Eenhoorn, 2006

The Rotterdam ship Admiraal Generaal (1683)

Ron van Maanen has a good bit about the Rotterdam ship Admiraal Generaal, built in 1683 and discarded in 1704. The ship, a real three-decker, was built by Mr. van den Tempel at Rotterdam. These are some details about the ship:

The ship Admiraal Generaal

Length from stem to sternpost: 170ft
Length of keel:                146-1/4ft
Beam:                           43ft
Hold:                           16ft

Height above lower deck:         8ft
Height above second deck:        7ft
Height above third deck:         6-3/4ft

84 guns:
28-24pdr, 28-18pdr, 22-6pdr, 6-4pdr

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

The Rotterdam ship Zwolle

Ron van Maanen has the details of the Rotterdam ship Zwolle, a small frigate:

The ship Zwolle, built in 1661
Length from stem to sternpost: 88ft-10in
Beam:                          22ft-10in
Hold:                           9ft-9in

Guns (16 March 1665):
16-6pdr, 2-4pdr
Crew: 68 to 75 men

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated

Ron van Maanen on Ruth Jacobszoon Buys' ship Hollandia

Ron van Maanen has an entry for Ruth Jacobszoon Buys' ship Hollandia in the list of Rotterdam ships:

Hollandia. Ship. Hired from 1652 to 1653. Armed with 26 guns. On 8 April 1653, the guns included: 2-12pdr, 12-8pdr, 6-6pdr, 4-4 pdr and 2-2 pdr. The crew was 104 men. This was a flute ship not suitable for service in the navy. One source had said that the ship was discarded in 1652, while a second source showed the ship discarded in 1653. The ship was hired by the Rotterdam Directors.

Carl Stapel says that Ron's sources are wrong, and that the Hollandia stayed in service until November 1654, when the crew was paid off. In 1654, Carl says that the ship "was used by the Groote Visserij as a convoyer". Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated
2. Carl Stapel, personal communication: "maze-dir Hollandia", 2006

A missing piece: information about the Rotterdam Directors' ship Erasmus

At the beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War, Sijmon Corneliszoon van der Meer commanded a Rotterdam Directors' ship named Erasmus. That is all we know about the ship, except that it was sunk on 17 June 1652, in a fight with English frigates. The Nationaal Archief has not yielded any information on the subject. Perhaps our only hope will be if something surfaces from a search of the notary records at the Gemeentearchief Rotterdam. Perhaps something will be found, as there were over 150 pages found by Dr. Hart, in the Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, about ships hired in Amsterdam in 1652 to 1653. These were all notary records that had been preserved and have provided information, such as dimensions and gun lists, for ships that might have remained a mystery. I have gradually accepted that I will not be the one who discovers a lot of this, since I am remote from the Netherlands, in the US. If anyone wants to dive into the GAR to find this information, I would welcome that, although I would certainly like to have copies of what is found.

Ships listed at the end of a large sheet of Amsterdam Directors' ships

At the end of a large sheet with Amsterdam Directors ships, obviously from early 1652, there are five other ships listed by name with their commanders and crews:

Boer named the Witte Raert        Boyerman Dirck Cornelisse  39 men
Boyer named Abraham Offerhanden   Sijmen Claesen Neus        28 men
Boyer named the Blinde Fortuijn   Reyer Claesen Neus         64 men
Fluyt named the Visser            Cornelis Dirckse           87 men
Fluyt named the Vergulde Roos     Jolle Symons               27 men

List of Zeeland hired ships of "The Hundred"

This is from the list of ships with the fleet on 11 July 1652 that I received yesterday. This is the list of Zeeland hired ships "of the Hundred" ships hired in 1652:

Adm    Ship               Guns Crew Commander
Z      Offerande Abrahams 24   100  kapitein Daniel Cornelisz Brackman
Z      Dolfijn            23    90  kapitein Dingeman Cats
Z      Sint Joris         28    85  kapitein Jacob Wolfertszoon
Z      Eendracht          18   100  kapitein Lambert Bartelszoon
Z      Haze               20   100  kapitein Johannes Michielszoon

Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
3. list of ships with the fleet on 11 July 1652 from the Nationaal Archief Inv. Nr. 5549

Ships mentioned on 29 April 1653 in Witte de With's journal

On page 99 of Witte de With's journal, for the date 29 April 1653, he mentions some ships:

                                                           Weeks of Weeks of
Adm    Ship             Guns Crew Commander                Victuals Water
Vl-Dir Haes             30   120  Bastiaen Centsen             4    16
Z      West Cappelle    28    95  Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge   2.5   6
Z      Eendracht        18    90  Lambert Bartelsz             3    13
Z      Haes             20    90  Jan van Hoesen               3    13
Mi-Dir Gecroonde Liefde 36   142  commandeur Michiel de Ruyter 6    16
                                  vlag-kapitein Markus Hartman

Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Middelburg dir Gekroonde Liefde", 2006
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van schepen van 20 juni 1653", 2006
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Witte de With's squadron on 4 August 1652

This is based on the latest sources and is my annotated list of Witte de With's squadron on 4 August 1652, from Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet. This is probably not news to anyone, but as I am publishing the latest version of the list, I wanted to put this out, again. There are just some minor adjustments that I added recently:

The Squadron of Vice-Admiral de With

Ships of Rotterdam

Rank            Name                          Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship               
Vice-Admiraal   Witte Cornelisz de With       R        36   162  Prinses Louise     
kapitein        Jan de Haes                   R        24   100  Gulden Beer        
kapitein        Hendrik Ernestus de Bertrij   R        24    97  Hollandia          


Ships of Amsterdam

Rank            Name                          Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                Sources
commandeur      Augustijn Balck               A        46   150  Vrijheid           
kapitein        Jan Jansz Boermans            A        28   100  Prins Willem       
kapitein        Albert de Graeff              A        32   110  Hollandia          
kapitein        Gillis Thyssen Campen         A        24    80  Goude Leeuw        
kapitein        Barent Cramer                 A        28   100  Edam               

Ships of Zeeland

Rank            Name                          Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                Sources
kapitein        Pieter Gorkum                 Z        24    85  Sandenburgh        

Ships of Medemblik

Rank            Name                          Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                Sources
kapitein        Teunis Vechterszoon           NQ       24    80  Vergulde Schel     

Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van schepen van de Maze in september 1652", 2006
4. list of Admiralty of Amsterdam hired ships from 1652 from the Wrangell Collection, 1652

Admiralty ships of the Noorderkwartier on 4 August 1652

This is derived from my document "The Dutch Fleet on 4 August 1652 as listed in Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet", from 2006. These are the Noorderkwartier Admiralty ships from that list:

Admiralty ships of the Noorderkwartier

Rank           Name                           Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship               
SBN            Pieter Florisz (Florissen)     NQ       32   120  Monnikendam        
kapitein       Pieter Allertszoon             NQ       24   100  Waepen van Hoorn
kapitein       Cornelis Pietersz Taenman      NQ       28   105  Prins Maurits      
kapitein       Arent Dirkszoon                NQ       24    95  Monnikendam        
kapitein       Gerrit Femssen                 NQ       30   110  Wapen van Enkhuizen
kapitein       Gerrit Nobel                   NQ       24    95  Wapen van Alkmaar
kapitein       Reynst Cornelisz Sevenhuysen   NQ       29    75  Roode Leeuw        
kapitein       Thys Thymesz Peereboom         NQ       24    80  Peereboom          
kapitein       Gerrit Munt                    NQ       28   109  Huis van Nassau

taken by the English

kapitein       Jan Warnaertszoon Capelman     NQ       28    95  Alkmaar            

down due to being hurt (his ship taken on 22 July 1652)
kapitein       Willem Ham                     NQ       24    80  Sampson            

kapitein       Pieter Schellinger             NQ       30   110  Stad van Medemblik

Ships of the Admiralty of Zeeland with Tromp's fleet on 4 August 1652

This is the latest version of the list of ships serving with the Admiralty of Zeeland on 4 August 1652, from Hendrick de Raedt's list, and annotated from the best information available. These are the primary sources, along with some other communications from Carl Stapel:

Admiralty’s ships of Zeeland

Rank           Name                         Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship
Vice-admiraal  Johan Evertsen               Z        38   160  Hollandia
               Vlag-kaptein Philips Joosten
commandeur     Cornelis Evertsen de Oude    Z        30   120  Wapen van Zeeland
kapitein       Gillis Janszoon              Z        28   100  Zeeridder
kapitein       Claes Jansz Sanger           Z        26   110  Middelburg
kapitein       Adriaen Kempen               Z        30   120  Amsterdam
kapitein       Adriaen Bankert              Z        26   100  West Cappelle
kapitein       Adriaen Jansz den Oven       Z        14    56  Zeeuwsche Jager


Admiralty’s ships to be deducted from the hundred

Rank           Name                         Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship
kapitein       Lambert Bartelszoon          Z        18   100  Eendracht
kapitein       Johannes Michielszoon        Z        20   100  Haze              
kapitein       Jacob Wolfertszoon           Z        28    85  Sint Joris
kapitein       Daniel Cornelisz Brackman    Z        24   100  Offerande Abrahams
kapitein       Dingeman Cats                Z        23    90  Dolfijn

Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006

Noorderkwartier Directors' ships on 4 August 1652

This is my annotated list of Noorderkwartier Directors' ships with Tromp's fleet on 4 August 1652:

Directors’ ships of Hoorn

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                
kapitein           Jacob Pieterszoon Hoeck (Houck)  Ho-Dir   30   110  Sampson             
kapitein           Pieter Adriaenszoon van Blocker  Ho-Dir   28   105  Liefde              
 
Directors’ ships of Enkhuizen

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                
kapitein           Gijsbert Malcontent              En-Dir   28   110  Maagd van Enkhuizen
kapitein           Jacob Claesz Duijm               En-Dir   28   108  Vergulde Zon        

Director’s ship of Medemblik

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                
kapitein           Jan Pieterszoon Eenarm           Me-Dir   30   110  Sint Jeronimus      
(he actually had died in April 1652 and was succeeded in command by Jan Pieterszoon Deught)


Directors’ ship of Edam

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                Sources
kapitein           Jan Frederikszoon Houckboot      Ed-Dir   30   110  Vergulde Maen       

Directors’ ship of Monnikendam

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                Sources
kapitein           Jacob Claeszoon Boot             Mo-Dir   32   115  Zwarte Beer         

Rotterdam ships on 4 August 1652

This is based on my annotated list of ships from Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet for 4 August 1652. This is the list of Rottedam ships:

States ships of the Admiralty of Rotterdam (the Maze)

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                
Luitenant-admiraal Tromp                            R        54   270  Brederode           
kapitein           Cornelis Engelen Silvergieter    R        22    94  Overijssel          
kapitein           Jan van Nes Oude Boer Jaep       R        30   130  Gorcum              
kapitein           Leendert Haecxwant               R        22    90  Utrecht             
kapitein           Dirck Juijnbol                   R        30   131  Schiedam            
kapitein           Hendrick Jansz de Munnick        R        30    95  Wapen van Holland


Rotterdam Admiralty’s Hired Ships to be deducted from the hundred

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                
kapitein           Corstiaen Eldertsz               R        26   105  Roskam              
kapitein           Quirijn van den Kerckhoff        R        26   110  Maria              
kapitein           Corstiaen Corstiaenszoon         R-Dir    38   110  Prins               


Directors’ ships of Rotterdam

Rank               Name                             Adm/Dir  guns crew Ship                
kapitein           Ruth Jacobsz Buys                R-Dir    26   105  Hollandia           
kapitein           Jan de Liefde                    R-Dir    36   125  Jonas               
kapitein           Jacob Cleijdijck                 R-Dir    30   120  Meerman             
kapitein           Isaac de Jongh                   R-Dir    29   110  Sint Pieter         

Adriaen de Zeeuw’s ship is damaged and is lying in the Meuse.
kapitein           Adriaen de Zeeuw                 R-Dir    28   122  Sint Pieter         

Sijmen Corneliszoon’s ship is sunk (sunk by English frigates in the Channel in June)
kapitein           Sijmen Cornelisz van der Meer    R-Dir    ?    ?    Erasmus             

The Noorderkwartier ship "Golden Bell"

In The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, the ship commanded by Teunis Vechterszoon was called the Scheletje. Witte de With's journal calls the ship Schel, in September 1652. After Teunis Vechtersoon's death on 26 June 1653. Claes Valehen had been his lieutenant, and he was appointed to command the ship after that. A pamphlet was printed in 1652, based on Hendrik Ernestus de Bertrij's journal. The pamphlet mentions a ship named the Vergulde Klok. That must be the same ship as the Vergulde Schel, which other documents call the Schel. Schel and Klok both mean "bell". This discussion also draws upon personal communications from Carl Stapel.

The storm in the Shetlands in early August 1652 was a bigger disaster than published sources indicate

The storm that devastated the Dutch fleet in the Shetlands in early August 1652 is usually described as a disaster and Lt-Admiral Tromp lost his fleet command as a result, because he was blamed for taking the fleet there. We have a pretty accurate list of ships from Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet and have a list of ships that survived the storm, although the list is probably not complete. Published sources indicate that Barent Pietersz Dorrevelt's ship, the Amsterdam, and Isaac de Jongh's ship, the Sint Pieter, foundered in the storm. Carl Stapel has found a letter from Gerrit Munt that says he saw five ships capsize in the storm and sink. I had known that there were some Amsterdam Directors' ships that were not mentioned after the storm. Carl found that four were missing after the storm, an apparently had foundered, as well. This is the list of six ships believed to have been lost in the storm. Many others were severely damaged and many were discarded rather than repaired, such as Gerrit Munt's ship, the Huis van Nassau (28 guns):

Adm   Ship             Guns Crew Captain
A     Amsterdam        34   125  Barent Pietersz Dorrevelt
R-Dir Sint Pieter      29   110  Isaac de Jongh (or Jonge)
A-Dir Neptunis         36   125  Gerrit van Lummen
A-Dir Sint Salvador    34   120  Mattheeus van Corneliszoon
A-Dir Prinses Roijael  28   110  Maarten de Graeff
A-Dir Groote Alexander 28   100  Jan Maijkers

Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. Carl Stapel, personal communication "missing a-dir ships", 2006

The Onstelde-Zee seems to be the source of "Prins te Paard" in the Van de Velde paintings book

Michael Robinson, in his Van de Velde paintings book had called Corstiaen Corstiaenszoon's ship Prins te Paard, and attributed that to Dr. Ballhausen, as I recall. The page in the Onstelde-Zee book from 1654 that I mentioned seems to be about that same ship, which it describes in the old Dutch equivalent of Prins Willem te Paard (Prince William on Horseback). The Prins Willem referred to in this case would seem to be Prins Willem II, husband of Mary Stuart, sister of Charles II and James II. Willem II and Mary were the parents of the "the young prince" Willem III, future husband of James's daughter Mary. Without having access to a good reproduction of the entire drawing of the battle thought to be Dungeness, we really can't be sure what annotation there might be about that ship. I had tentatively accepted the Prins te Paard name, but was somewhat skeptical about it. Witte de With's journal definitely calls that ship simply the Prins, not Prins te Paard. Other documents from 1652 and 1653 also seem to just call the ship Prins. That does not mean that the ship's "real name" might not have been Prins te Paard, or even Prins Willem te Paard, but simply that the usual usage was just "Prins". Sources:

1. Dr. Carl Ballhausen, Der Erste Englisch-Hoellandische Seekrieg 1652-1654, 1923
2. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.V
3. Jodocus Hondius, Onstelde-Zee, Oft Zee-Daden, 1654
4. Michael S. Robinson, Van de Velde Paintings, Vol.I, 1990
5. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

I now can make sense of the Onstelde-Zee

Given the new information from the last few months, what is written in the Onstelde-Zee (1654) about the Three Days Battle (or Battle of Portland) makes much more sense. On page 80, after talking about the sinking of Cornelis Jansz Poort's ship Kroon (Kroon Imperiael) and Isaac Sweer's ship Engel Gabriel, captains Kleydijk and Regermorter are mentioned. The information is now obviously pretty accurate. Jacob Kleijdijk commanded the Rotterdam Directors' ship Meerman (30 guns) in the battle and Johannes van Regermorter commanded the Middelburg Directors' ship Leeuwinne (30 guns). Captain Kleijdijk's ship was sunk and Captain Regermorter saved some of the crew. The ship seems to be called Leeuwen on this page. Page 80 also mentions that Captain van den Kerckhoff's (or Kerckhoven) had 7 men dead and had taken six shot underwater, so that his ship had 5 feet of water in the hold.

On page 82, a ship is mentioned called the Prins Willem te Paard (called Prins Willem te Peert) referred to the Prins, commanded by Corstiaen Corstiaensz de Munnick, a Rotterdam Directors' ship. The sunk Meerman is described as having 4 brass guns and 24 iron guns (not accurate, but apparently based on having 4-24pdr and 28 smaller). The Leeuwinne is called Leeuwin (the modern spelling, except mangled as Leewin or Leewwin) on the bottom of page 82. The ship is correctly identified as the one that rescued men from Captain Kleijdijk's crew.

On page 83, at the top, the Poort van Troijen is mentioned as having been sunk. I would guess that this referred to Abraham van Campen's ship Arke Troijane, sunk in the battle and the captain killed. On mid-page, the ship Burght is mentioned as having mastered an English ship. I would now guess that this referrs to the Burgh (or Nassouw van den Burgh) commanded by Hendrick Adriaansz Glas. At least one source other than the Onstelde-Zee refers to this ship as the Burcht.

I think that I had misunderstood the Onstelde-Zee, before I had learned more about the ships and captains.

Sources:

1. Jodocus Hondius, Onstelde-Zee, Oft Zee-Daden, 1654
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Directieschepen van de Maze d.d. 6 maart 1653", 2006
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
4. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Armaments of some of the hired Rotterdam ships in 1652

Some of the ships hired by Rotterdam in 1652 had very light armaments:

                    Crew             Guns carried
Adm Ship         Guns Sailors Soldiers 24pr 18pr 12pr 8pr 6pr 4pr 3pr 2pr
R   Roskam         26 80      20                  4    6  10   6
R   Gulden Beer    24 80      20                       6   8   4   6
R   Sphaera Mundi  28 80      20                  2    6   8   6   4   2
R   Hollandia      24 70      27                       4  10   8       2
R   Maria          24 89      25                       6   8       8   2?
R   Kalmar Sleutel 20 90                               4   6                                   6   4

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van schepen van de Maze in september 1652", 2006

Dutch warship armaments in 1652

I have seen written in published sources that in 1652, most Dutch warships had a lower tier of 12pdr guns. Now that we have a good deal of information about Dutch ships for 1652 to 1654, we know that is not really accurate. Many of the big Amsterdam Directors' ships hired in 1652 and 1653 had many 12pdr guns in the lower tier, but most lacked a complete lower tier. Instead, they seem to have been a mix of 12pdr and 8pdr guns. Some of the larger ships had several 18pdr or 24pdr guns, as well. I have really good information about some of the regular warships employed by the Admiralties of Amsterdam , Rotterdam (the Maze), and Zeeland:

                      Gun lists
Adm   Ship            Guns Crew Date 36pr 24pr 18pr 15pr 12pr 8pr 6pr 5pr 4pr 3pr 2pr
A     Star            28    90                            6   12   8           2
A     Edam            28    90                            6   14   8
A     Campen          40   120  1652            4        16    2  18
A     Gouda           28    90                            4   12  10       2
A     Westfriesland   28    90                            4   16   6           2
A     Aemelia         28    90                            4   14   8       2
A     Achilles        28    90  1630                      4   12           8       2
Adm   Ship            Guns Crew Date 36pr 24pr 18pr 15pr 12pr 8pr 6pr 5pr 4pr 3pr 2pr
R     Brederode       54   245  1645   4   12   8        20       10
R     Prinses Louise  36   162  1646        2            30            4
R     Gorcum          30   120  1639                 2   16        6   6
R     Rotterdam       30   125  1639        2  18              8           2
R     Dolfijn         32   100  1634        4            16        8   2   2
Z     West Cappelle   28   100  1638              2-16pr 12        8       6

A challenge for someone

If someone wanted to write a book about the Dutch navy in the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652 to 1654), they might well take on the challenge to do a work comparable to Dr. Ballhausen's book for that period. Dr. Ballhausen's book is essentially two books in one volume. The first is called Der Erste Englisch-Höllandische Seekrieg 1652-1654, and the entire volue was published in 1923. The work is ambitious and was obviously prepared after an extensive review of the literature, some of it quite obscure and rare. The work is flawed, however, by the fatal lack of original source documents from places such as the Nationaal Archief in The Hague. The work also suffers from some creative analysis, where conclusions are reached without adequate support. Still, R. C. Anderson praised Dr. Ballhausen's account in of the First Anglo-Dutch War in the Mediterranean Sea. Dr. Ballhausen attempts to provide fleet lists for major operations and battles. These are often partly accurate, but overall they are not very useful, due to too much guessing having occurred. In many ways, the problem with reproducing that book is the difficulty of getting information about the English navy in the war. An easier task might be to just address the Dutch navy, ships, and naval officers in the war, and that alone would be useful.

Is someone looking to make a "pre-emptive strike" publication about the First Anglo-Dutch War?

In November, we saw evidence that someone is researching Witte de With in the archives. Now, there is evidence that the research is also covering the First Anglo-Dutch War and Michiel Adriaansz De Ruyter. The possible explanation is that 2007 is an anniversary year for De Ruyter (1607/2007). I speculated that one scenario is that someone is doing a crash research project that covers the First Anglo-Dutch War, with aim of publishing before anyone else can complete their research. I can imagine that Dr. Ballhausen's book was done in a rather "crash" way. He certainly used many obscure published sources, but seems to have ignored the archives for some reason. In this case, if someone had some clues about where to look, and was able to devote his full time to the project, perhaps with help, he could make some rapid progress. I am used to seeing a more leisurely pace of research. That is apparently Frank Fox's modus operandi. In my case, the pace has been greatly influenced by the availability of sources. I have tended to move in spurts, as I discovered new sources. I can imagine, though, that the published sources, such as Dr. Elias's books De Vlootbouw in Nederland and Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, along with the Navy Records Society publication The First Dutch War, might be sufficient for them to learn rapidly enough to proceed quickly. The contemporary published sources, such as the Onstelde-Zee and the Hollandsche Mercurius would also be helpful.

The Sint Joris, hired in 1652

Ron van Maanen says that the ship Sint Joris, hired by the Admiralty of Zeeland, was owned by Paulus van Molter and Andries Rennij. Carl Stapel found a few details about the ship, which was commanded by Jacob Wophertszoon from 1652 until sometime in 1653. The ship carried 28 guns and had a crew of 85 sailors. The guns included 2-brass of unknown size, 2-iron 9pdr, 6-iron 8pdr, 8-iron 6pdr, 6-iron 4pdr, and 4-iron 3pdr guns. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "ZEELAND", undated
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006

The Zeeland ship Dordrecht, built in 1653

Ron van Maanen has some more details about the Zeeland ship Dordrecht built at Middelburg by Frans Jasperssen and Jan Joppen in 1653. Both of the builders were from Dordrecht. On 21 July 1654, the Dordrecht was measured at 300 lasts. These are the details:

The ship Dordrecht

Captains:
   1659 Jan Tijssen with De Ruyter's fleet in the Sound
06/1665 Adriaan van Haaze at the Battle of Lowestoft
08/1665 Adriaan van Haaze with De Ruyter's fleet
06/1666 Adriaan van Cruiningen at the Four Days' Battle
08/1666 Adriaan van Cruiningen at the St. James's Day Battle
   1671 Dirk Jobsz Kiela
08/1673 Willem Hendrickszoon at the Battle of the Texel

Length from stem to sternpost: 130ft
Beam:                           34ft
Hold:                           13-1/2ft
Height between decks:            7ft

Guns:
30/03/1665  4-24pdr, 2-18pdr, 14-12pdr, 12-8pdr,
             8-6pdr, 2-4pdr, 2-3pdr, and 2-2pdr
   06/1666  2-24pdr, 4-18pdr, 16-12pdr, 12-8pdr, and 16-6pdr
      1667  4-24pdr, 4-18pdr, 26-12pdr and 8pdr, 18-6pdr, 4pdr, and 3pdr

Crew:
06/1666  148 sailors and 52 soldiers

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984
3. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript, the "Zeeland" document, undated

In 1665, the Dutch were piling on light guns to have a greater number of guns on ships: for example, the Rotterdam ship Vrede

I had already noticed this phenomenon: in 1665, the Dutch added many light guns to ships to have a greater number, rather than a greater broadside weight. The Rotterdam frigate Vrede was an illustration of this point. I had thought, when I saw that the ship carried 40 guns in the Battle of Lowestoft, that the ship must be 130ft long. In fact, the Vrede was a small frigate: 111ft x 27ft-3in x 12ft x 6ft-6in. On 16 March 1665, the Vrede carried 40 guns: 18-12pdr, 14-6pdr, 4-4pdr and 4-2pdr guns. On 13 June 1656, the Vrede had carried a much more modest armament: 4-12pdr, 6-8pdr, 14-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "'Oorlogsschepen' van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw", undated (the "MazeNieuII" file)

The ship Haes in 't Veldt

Carl Stapel was able to find information about the ship Haes in 't Veldt, which had been with Michiel De Ruyter's fleet in the Battle of Plymouth and also fought in the Battle of the Kentish Knock. After the last battle, the ship was unable to sail, so it was discarded. The Haes in 't Veldt was hired by the city of Middelburg, not the Directors. These are the details of the ship:

The ship Haes in 't Veldt, kapitein Leendert den Haen

Length from stem to sternpost: 116ft
Beam:                           25ft
Hold:                            ?
Height between decks:            5-3/4ft

30 guns (all iron):
8-12pdr, 14-6pdr, 5-4pdr, and 3-3pdr

Crew: 85 sailors and 25 soldiers (at the Battle of the Kentish Knock)

Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Haes in het Veldt 1652", 2006

My updated Dutch warlosses list for the First Anglo-Dutch War is now available

I finally finished my update to the list of Dutch losses in the First Anglo-Dutch War at AngloDutchWarsBlog.com. This is at least much better than what was out there from a year ago. The list is both more accurate and more complete. I have fixed numerous problems that I realized were there. Much of the new information comes from Witte de With's journal that I acquired from the Riksarkivet in Stockholm and from what Carl Stapel has found at the Nationaal Archief in The Hague.

What would be good to find

What would be great to find would be the armaments of the Dutch ships in the Battle of the Sound in 1658. Extra credit would be given for finding the dimensions and gun lists for the ships Waag and Cogge, both hired by the Stad van Amsterdam. I really would like to see an authoritative list fo guns for the Brederode with 59 guns on board. Frank Fox says that when you see the odd number of guns, that means that there was a gun firing through a port in the upper stern on the centerline. In Frank's book, Great Ships, there is a diagram of a large English ship that shows guns firing directly aft. There are groups of three guns, with the middle gun on the centerline. Frank says that the English stern structure was thick, so that guns firing aft had to be long to clear the hull. He also had told me that the Dutch often used heavier guns in the chase, that would either fire on the broadside, or be switched to fire out of ports firing either aft, or around the curve in the hull, forward.

Carl Stapel on the Liefde and Schellinghout

I was aware that the Schellinghout (also known as the Vergulde Sonne) was lost at the Battle of the Gabbard (or Nieuwpoort). Carl Stapel says that the ship was lost on 13 June 1653, the second day of the battle. He also confirms what I had suspected: the Liefde (or Lieffde) was lost in a storm in January 1653. A letter from Lt-Admiraal Tromp had reported that the Liefde was missing after the storm, along with some other ships. He expected that the ship had gone into some port and had just not reported in, yet. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910
2. Carl Stapel, personal communication "Hoorn dir Lieffde en Staeten van oorlog te water", 2006

Pieter Adriaansz van Blocker's ship Liefde

Pieter Adriaansz van Blocker commanded the ship Liefde, hired by the Hoorn Directors. In June through August, he was with Tromp's fleet and took part in the voyage to the Shetlands. He fought in the Battle of Dungeness on 10 December 1652 and may fought in the Three Days Battle from 28 February to 2 March 1653. An interesting feature of the ship is the lenght-to-beam ratio of 5.0. This is what we know about the ship:

The ship Liefde, kapitein Pieter Adriaansz van Blocker
 hired by the Hoorn Directors

Length from stem to sternpost: 135-1/2ft
Beam:                           27ft
Hold:                           13-1/2ft
Height between decks:            6-1/4ft

28 guns:
4-brass 18pdr, 8-12pdr, 6-8pdr, 6-8pdr, 6-6pdr, 2-4pdr, and 2-3pdr

Crew: 105 men

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006

The Middelburg Directors' ship Gouden Leeuw

The Middelburg Directors' ship Gouden Leeuw, served from 1652 until early November 1653, when the ship was lost in a storm off the Texel, along with many other ships. Jacob Penssen commanded the ship throughout this period. Ron van Maanen found the detailed information about the Gouden Leeuw, as did Carl Stapel, more recently:

The ship Gouden Leeuw, kapitein Jacob Adriaansz Penssen

Length from stem to sternpost: 124ft
Beam:                           28ft
Hold:                            ?ft
Height between decks:            6-1/2ft

30 guns: 4-brass 24pdr, 2-brass 12pdr, 14-iron 8pdr, 6-iron 6pdr, and 2-iron 4pdr

Crew: 95 sailors and 25 soldiers

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, "De Dutch in Danish Waters", undated. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006

The Friesland ship Postpaert (Postpaard)

The ship Postpaert (Postpaard) was hired at Amsterdam by the Admiralty of Friesland on 24 September 1652. Isaac Codde commanded the Postpaert through the Battle of Scheveningen. The ship is not mentioned from shortly after the battle. The Postpaert haed 7 dead and 16 wounded in that battle. Carl Stapel has all the good information about the ship, which is mentioned in The First Dutch War, without mention of guns or crew. Thse are the details:

The ship Postpaert, kapitein Isaac Codde (or Kodde)

Dimensions: 118ft x 28ft x 13ft  Height between decks: 7ft

Guns (17 April 1653): (all iron) 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 10-6pdr, and 2-2pdr

Crew: 3 April 1653: 120 men
      1 May 1653:   106 men

Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Postpaard 1653", 2006
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

An annotated list from May 1653

One list from Witte de With's journal from May 1653 actually has the names of most of the ships, along with the gun and crew numbers. I have completed the list from other sources:

Adm    Ship                  Guns Crew  Commander
N      Stad Monnikendam      36   178   Schout-bij-Nacht Pieter Floriszoon
N      Hoorn                 30    95   kapitein Claes Aldertszoon
A-Dir  Sampson               30   112   luitenant-commandeur Jacob Albertsz Pool
A      Amsterdam             30   120   kapitein Pouwels Egbertsz Sonck
A-Dir  Moorinne              28   107   kapitein Cornelis Cornelisz Jol
A-Dir  Elias                 34   107   kapitein Frans Fransz Sluijter
A-Dir  Gideon                34    95   kapitein Dirck Jansz Somer
A-Dir  Nassouw van den Burgh 34   119   kapitein Hendrick Glas
N      Peereboom             24    86   kapitein Tijs Tijmensz Peereboom
A-Dir  Gulden Pelicaen       30   120   kapitein Bartimeus Soudaen
N      Profeet Samuel        30   ?     kapitein Reijnst Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen
Mo-Dir Zwarte Beer           32   104   kapitein Jan Olij
F      Stad en Ommelanden    28   110   kapitein Joost Bulter
A      Jonas                 26   110   kapitein Joris Collerij
A-Dir  Walvisch              30   104   kapitein Abraham Verleth

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van schepen van 31 mei 1653", 2006
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The Amsterdam ship Doesburg

The Amsterdam ship Doesburg was built in 1655. The ship as 130ft x 32ft x 13ft in size. The Doesburg was chartered to Denmark from 1666 to 1667, and is not mentioned after 1667. The ship carried 48 guns: 4-18pdr, 18-12pdr, 20-8pdr, and 6-3pdr on 31 March 1665. Ysbrandt de Vries commanded the Doesburg for the Battle of Lowestoft. The Doesburg was ain Egbert Meeuwssen Kortenaer's Third Squadron. For the battle, the Doesburg carried 48 guns and had a crew of 200 men (which sounds like a nominal number). Sources:

1. Frank Fox, A Distant Storm: the Four Days' Battle of 1666, 1996
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

The ship the Beurs van Amsterdam

the Beurs van Amsterdam fought in the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665. The ship was an East Indiaman that served with the Admiralty of Amsterdam. The ship was later returned to the VOC.The ship carries a substantial armament for the dimensions. Ron van Maanen has the details:

The ship Beurs van Amsterdam  1654, kapitein Cornelis Muts

Length from stem to sternpost: 130ft
Beam:                           31-1/2ft
Hold:                           12-3/4ft
Height between decks:            7ft

52 guns: 4-18pdr, 20-12pdr, 18-6pdr, 10-3pdr

Crew: 213 men

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

Some ships from the 8 July 1653 list on page 150 of Witte de With's journal

On the next page, the ships are generally not from Amsterdam, but on page 150 they all seem to be. This is the list that I have tried to annotate. The list only has captains, crew, soldiers, and guns,along with weeks of victuals and water:

Adm   Ship        Guns Sailors Soldiers Commander                     Victuals Water
A     Hollandia     30   110      32    kapitein Evert Anthonisz         17        7
A     Bommel        34   101       9    kapitein Pieter van Braeckel     21        7
A     Morgenstar    26    58      42    kapitein Albert Claesz de Graeff 17       11
A     Overijssel    30   114            kapitein Jan van Campen           7        7
A     Groningen     40   135      25    kapitein Gillis Thijsz Campen    17        7
A     Gulden Reael  30   114            kapitein Adriaen van Loenen      13       13
A     Windhond      18    77       8    kapitein Dirck Pietersz Heertjes  8        8
A     Brak          18    73      12    kapitein Jan Admirael             6        6
A     Pelicaen      24   110            kapitein Jan Overcamp            17        9
                    34   116      24    lt-commandeur deluige?           17        6
A-Dir Engel Gabriel 28   110            kapitein Adriaen van den Bos     17       17

The one unknown is the second to last ship. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Noorderkwartier ships with Tromp's fleet on 15 July 1652

One document, of which I have a copy, lists the captains in Tromp's fleet on 15 July 1653. The ships are grouped by admiralty or directors. This is the list of Noorderkwartier ships and captains, which I have annotated:

Adm   Ship              Guns Crew Commander
N     Monnikendam       36   138  Schout-bij-Nacht Pieter Florisz
N     Prins Maurits     28    86  kapitein Cornelis Pietersz Taenman
N                       24    74  kapitein Arent Dircksz
N     Stad Medemblik    26    95  kapitein Pieter Schellinger
N     Enkhuizen         30   110  kapitein Gerrit Femssen
N     Wapen van Alkmaar 30    93  kapitein Gerrit Nobel
N     Roode Leeuw       29    75  kapitein Reijnst Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen
N     Peereboom         29    81  kapitein Thijs Tijmensz Peereboom
N     Huis van Nassau   28   109  kapitein Gerrit Munth
 

Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van alle kapiteins 1652 in het Noorderkwartier", 2006
2. a document from the Nationaal Archief dated 15 July 1652

A page dated 18 March 1652

The page dated 18 March 1652 has more Amsterdam Directors' ships:

The ship, the Princes Roijael, 8 April
(the ship commanded by Marten de Graeff, with
lieutenant Abraham de Koninck)
Dimensions: 127ft x 27ft x 12-1/2ft x 6-3/4ft

The ship, the Croon Imperiael, 24 March
(the ship commanded by Cornelis Jansz Poort)
Dimensions: 130ft x 30ft x 12-1/2ft x 7ft
Guns: 2-brass 24pdr, 10-brass 12pdr and 6 iron 12pdr,
       2-brass 6pdr and 10-iron 6pdr, and 4-3pdr

The ship groote Liefde, 5 April
(the ship commanded by Brian van Seelst)
Dimensions: 132ft x 29ft x 13-1/2ft x 6-1/2ft
Guns: 2-24pdr, 18-12pdr, 14-6pdr, and 4-3pdr

The ship, the groote Fortuijn, 6 April
(the ship commanded by Frederick de Coninck)
Dimensions: 141ft x 31ft x 14-1/2ft x 7ft
Guns: 4-brass 24pdr, 16-12pdr, 11-6pdr, and 4-3pdr

The ship, the Engel Michiel, 29 April
(the ship commanded by Frederick Bogaert)
Dimensions: 120ft x 27-3/4ft x 13ft x 6-3/4ft

Page dated 12 March 1652 with DIrectors' ships

There is a page dated 12 March 1652, with information from later dates. These are all Amsterdam Directors' ships:

The ship Sint Matheus, 16 April 
 (the ship commanded by Cornelis Naeuoogh)
  140ft x 34ft x 15ft x 7-1/3ft

The ship Davit en Goliad, 29 April 
 (the ship commanded by Claes Bastiaansz van Jaersvelt)
   130ft x 32ft x 12ft x 7ft

The ship Nassouw, 29 April
 (the ship commanded by Lambert Pietersz, whose
   lieutenant was Dirck Jansz Somer)
   130ft x 32ft x 12ft x 7ft

The ship Sint Salvador, 12 April
  (the ship commanded by Matthijs Cornelisz)
   130ft x 30ft x 13-1/2ft x 6-1/2ft

The ship, the Engel Gabriel, 16 April
 (the ship commanded by Bastiaan Bardoel, whose
  lieutenant was Cornelis Cornelisz Jol)
   124ft x 28-1/2ft x 13-1/2ft x 6-3/4ft

The ship, the Neptunis, 15 April
 (the ship commanded by Gerrit van Lummen)
   138ft x 32ft x 13ft x 7ft
     34 guns: 14-12pdr, 12-8pdr, 4-6pdr, and 4-3pdr
    

Ron van Maanen has details of the Friesland ship Sint Nicolaes

I was skeptical what this ship was the one that was lost in a collision in 1652, but that seems to be correct. Ron van Maanen has details of a 116ft ship named Sint Nicolaes that he identifies as the ship lost in the collision in August 1652, while returning from convoying a ship to the Somme. This is what Ron has on the ship:

The ship Sint Nicolaes, kapitein Andries van den Bouckhorst
hired by the Admiralty of Friesland

Length from stem to sternpost: 116ft
Beam inside the planking:       26ft
Hold:                           12-1/4ft (or 12ft)
Height between decks:            5-1/2ft (or 5-3/4ft)

23 guns
crew: 85 sailors

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.II, 1900
3. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Zeeland", undated

Andries Fortuijn's ship, the Eendracht

Andries Fortuijn commanded the Zeeland ship Eendracht until the ship was sunk at the Battle of Scheveningen, on 10 August 1653. Ron van Maanen has the ship's armament on 29 March 1653: 2-9pdr, 6-8pdr, 2-7pdr, 8-6pdr, 4-4pdr, and 2-3pdr, for a total of 24 guns. The Eendracht, commanded by Andries Fortuijn had been in Michiel De Ruyter's fleet at the Battle Plymouth, in August 1652. Sources:

1. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.II, 1900
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Zeeland", undated

The Zeeland ship Dolfijn

Ron van Maanen, in his undated document "Zeeland", has some information about the Zeeland ship Dolfijn, which in 1652 and into early 1653, was commanded by Dingeman Cats. The Dolfijn had been part of a squadron of 10 ships sent to Brazil and which returned in June 1652. The Dolfijn was apparently retained in service and served for the rest of 1652 and into early 1653, before being paid off. Dingeman Cats commanded the ship with the fleet in 1652 for the voyage to the Shetlands ("Hitland") in July to August 1652, and later operations. The armament was 26 guns and the crew was 85 men. The list of guns carried included: 14-8pdr, 8-4pdr, 2-3pdr, and 2 of unspecified size, but perhaps 2pdr. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Zeeland", undated

Captains attending Witte de With's council of war on 25 October 1653

On page 118 of The First Dutch War, Vol.VI, there is a list of the captains, and others, attending the council of war on board Witte de With's flagship Huis te Zwieten on 25 October 1653:

Witte Cornelisz de With
Gerrard Demmer
Jacob Junius
Adriaen Nicolaesz Kempen
Pieter van Brakel
Jan Gideonsz Verburgh
Jacob Cleijdijch
Jan Wagenaar
Michiel Adriaansz de Ruijter
Pieter Florisz
Frans Crynsz Mangelaer
Pieter Marcusz
Willem van der Saen
Abraham van der Hulst
J. van der Werff (Jan Adriaansz van der Werff)
E. Meessen (Egbert Meeuwssen Kortenaer)
Jacob Cornelisz Swart

Zeeland Directors' ships in Witte de With's fleet in September 1653

Page 175 from Witte de With's journal for 11 September 1653 gives the list of Zeeland Directors' ships with his fleet:

Adm    Ship             Guns Crew Commander
Z-Dir  Gouden Leeuw     34   126  kapitein Pensen
Z-Dir  Haes             30   110  kapitein Bastiaan Sentsen (Sempsem)
Z-Dir  Luipaart         37   130  kapitein Cornelis Tiebij
Z-Dir  Gecroende Liefde 34   128  kapitein Marcus Hartman
Z-Dir  nieuw Vlissengen 39   145  kapitein Jacob Wolphertszoon
Z-Dir  Leeuwinne        34   110  kapitein Vermeulen
Z-Dir  Dubbele Arent    28   108  kapitein Teunis Poort

Sources:

1. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Amsterdam Directors' ships with the fleet in May 1653

I should be able to "make news" with the list of Amsterdam Directors' ships with the Dutch fleet in May 1653. The list in Witte de With's journal for May 1653 only has captains, guns, and crew, and no ship names, except perhaps in one case:

Adm   Ship                        Guns  Crew   Commander
A-Dir Sint Matheeus               42    155    Cornelis Lourensz
A-Dir Faam                        28    108    Jacob Swart
A-Dir Rooseboom                   30    107    Bartholomeus van Rietbeeck
A-Dir Blauwe Arent                28    110    Hendrick Claesz van Streeck
A-Dir Gulden Valck                28    111    Cornelis Jansz Brouwer
A-Dir Davit en Goliat             34    125    Claes Bastiaansz van Jaersvelt
A-Dir Sampson                     28    110    Cornelis Cornelisz de Groot
A-Dir Engel Michiel               28    110    Frederick Bogart
A-Dir Sint Pieter                 28    109    Gerrit Schuijt
A-Dir Catarina                    28    110    Jan Jacobsz Kop
A-Dir Moorinne                    28    107    Cornelis Cornelisz Jol
A-Dir Elias                       34    107    Frans Fransz Sluijter
A-Dir Gideon                      34     95    Dirck Jansz Somer
A-Dir Nassouw van den Burgh       34    119    Hendrick Adriaansz Glas
A-Dir Gulden Pelicaen             30    120    Barend Tijmensz Soudaen
A-Dir Moor                        34    116    Adriaan Cornelisz van Ackersloot

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Directors' Ship Information 1652-1653", 2004
2. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van schepen van 31 mei 1653", 2006
4. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

I was cut off from the Internet a work, yesterday, and then things went down hill after that

I would have liked to have blogger, yesterday, but the first problem was that for most of the day at work, we were cut off from the Internet. After that, I had a two hour trip home and then things went downhill from there. I hope to rectify the omission today.

"Multi-source fusion" intelligence analysis in 1652 and 1653

In the modern intelligence world, they talk about "multi-source fusion". To me, that means taking information from as many sources as possible, and then correlating that information, looking for patterns and recognizing when you have learned something new. The same approach applies to studying 17th Century naval history. One thing that I have found is that making guesses is very perilous. I find that when Carl Stapel (or I, even), find new information, that is likely to overturn assumptions made, often of long standing. I have had particularly bad luck in doing analysis about Zeeland ships. One thing that I did not realize, in general, that many captains were moved to different ships fairly frequently. A few commanded the same ship for the entire First Anglo-Dutch War, but most changed ships at least once. One example if Dingeman Cats, who commanded the ship Dolfijn (only mentioned in Vreugdenhil's list as number 101) at the start of the war, and moved to command of the Liefde, by May 1653.

My one project for Saturday was a list of Witte de With's fleet in April 1653

While the main fleet was disbanded and ships were repairing after the Three Days Battle, Witte de With assembled a small fleet, little more than a large squadron, and conducted operations. One of those operations was the raid on Scarborough, with 18 ships. My project for Saturday was to annotate a list of Witte de With's fleet in April 1653. I had at least one error that Carl Stapel corrected for me. I had thought that the ship commanded by luitenant-commandeur Pieter Jacobsz might have been the Gelderland, but he supplied the correct information. Pieter Jacobsz was Jan de Haes's luitenant, and the ship was the Beer:

Witte de With's fleet in April 1653

Van Squadron

Adm    Ship          Guns Crew Commander
A      Phesant       32   110  vice-commandeur de Lapper
A      Dolfijn       30   110  kapitein Schatter
A-Dir  Valck         28   111  kapitein Brouwer
R      Beer          23    94  lt-commandeur Pieter Jacobsz
A-Dir  Sampson       28   110  kapitein de Groot
N      Prins Maurits 32    97  kapitein Taenman
Z      Amsterdam     32   116  kapitein Kempen
A      Westfriesland 28   110  kapitein Huijskens
F      Postpaert     30   106  kapitein Kodde

Center Squadron

Adm    Ship              Guns Crew Commander
A      Leeuwarden        34   158  vice-admiraal de With
                              vlag-kapitein Reael
A      Graaf Willem      40   155  kapitein Verburgh
R      Overijssel        24    98  kapitein Vijgh
A      Omlandia          32   109  kapitein Schaeff
A      Prins Willem      30   106  kapitein Boermans
A-Dir  David en Goliat   34   125  kapitein Jaersvelt
A      Leiden            30   107  kapitein Kroeger
A      Bommel            34   110  kapitein Braeckel
R-VOC  Wapen van Nassouw 32   124  kapitein van der Werff
A      Zutphen           26   120  kapitein Hillebrandt Jeroensz
Ha-Dir Sint Vincent      28   110  kapitein Kleijntje
A-VOC  Gerechtigheid     34   105  kapitein Evert Swart
Z      Goes              26    97  kapitein Kuijper

Rear Squadron

Adm    Ship            Guns Crew Commander
R      Utrecht         22    98  commandeur Haexwant
A-Dir  Sint Pieter     28   109  kapitein Schuijt
A-Dir  Engel Michiel   28   110  kapitein Bogart
A-Dir  Blauwe Arend    28   110  lt-commandeur Hendrick Heij
                            (kapitein Dirck Pater's luitenant)
A-VOC  Huis van Nassau 34   112  kapitein van Strijp
Z      Sandenburgh     24   100  kapitein Gorckum's luitenant
*                      30   120  lt-commandeur Bontecoe
En-Dir Vergulde Zon    28   115  kapitein Jacob Duijm
A-VOC  Mercurius       36   110  kapitein Bitter
A-Dir  Catarina        28   110  kapitein Kop

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.VI, 1930
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Blogger has been down for hours

I had wanted to write this evening, but Blogger only now came back up.

Noorderkwartier ships with the fleet on 17 August 1653

On 17 August 1653, a week after the Battle of Scheveningen, there were quite a few Noorderkwartier ships with the fleet:

Adm Ship                  Guns  Crew  Commander
N   Monnikendam           34    146   commandeur Pieter Florisz
N   Harder van Enkhuizen  34    146   kapitein Jan Backer
N   Schel                 24    110   kapitein Claes Cornelisz Hon (or Hen)
N   Eenhoorn              32    155   kapitein Jan Heck
N   Enkhuizen             32    122   kapitein Gerrit Femssen
N   Peereboom             24     87   kapitein Thijs Thijmensz Peereboom
N   Tobias                30    119   kapitein Jan Ham
N   Wapen van Monnikendam 28    127   kapitein Arent Dircksz
N   Lastdrager            32    110   kapitein Gerrit Munt
N   Kasteel van Medemblik 28    126   kapitein Arent Dircksz Houttuijn
N   Hoorn                 30    113   kapitein Claes Aldertsz

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Schepen van oorlog in de Wielingen juni 1653", 2006
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Rotterdam ships from the First Ango-Dutch War building program that were renamed

Until I was reading Ron van Maanen's document on the ships of Rotterdam from 1600 to 1800, I had not realized just how many of the ships that were built in the First Anglo-Dutch War building program were renamed:

New Name        Old Name       Guns  Date
Eendracht       Prins Willem   58    1653
Prins Hendrick  Holland        42-44 1653
Prins Maurits   Gelderland     39-53 1653
Prins Willem    Eendracht      42-44 1653
Utrecht         Prinses Amalia 26-48 1653

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated

I think that Dr. Ballhausen was confused about the Zierikzee Directors' ship and Frans Mangelaer

After looking at Dr. Ballhausen's book, I am guessing the he was confused about the Zierikzee Directors' ship, as he had Frans Crijnsz Mangelaer as the luitenant of this ship, and that relates to why he called the ship the Liefde. In August 1652, we definitely know that Frans Mangelaer commanded a ship named Liefde (30 guns) in Michiel De Ruyter's fleet that was engaged in convoying in the Channel. Since Dr. Ballhausen mistakenly puts Frans Mangelaer as luitenant, I am suspicious about his analysis in this case. Carl Stapel says that Cornelis Mangelaer was schipper of the Wapen van Zierikzee, and that by late December 1652, he commanded the ship.

The Zierikzee Directors' ship in 1652 and 1653

Dr. Ballhausen called the Zierikzee Directors ship "Liefde" (page 433). Carl Stapel found, however, that the ship was actually named the Wapen van Zierikzee. The ship carried 34 guns. The Wapen van Zierikzee had been commanded by Cornelis Rocusz Fincen up to December 1652. He was relieved of his command and his schipper, Cornelis Mangelaer commanded the ship through the Three Days Battle (Portland) in 1653. Right now, there is no evidence of the Wapen van Zierikzee after that period. Cornelis Mangelaer was one of 17 Zeeland ship commanders who took their ships to Zeeland after the Three Days Battle. Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.IV, 1910
2. Dr. Carl Ballhausen, Der Erste Englisch-Höllandische Seekrieg 1652-1654, 1923
3. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
4. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Zierikzee directie Lieffde ofwel Wapen van Zierikzee", 2006

The Rotterdam frigate Delft, built in 1659

Ron van Maanen has the details of the Rotterdam frigate Delft, built in 1659 and captured by the English at the Battle of Lowestoft, in 1665:

The frigate Delft, built in 1659

Length from stem to sternpost: 111ft-3in
Beam:                           27ft-3in
Hold:                           11ft-2in (or 13ft)
Height between decks:            6ft-6in

36 guns (16 March 1665):  8-12pdr, 22-8pdr, 2-6pdr, and 4-2pdr

Dr. Weber gives the dimensions as: 111ft-3in x 27ft-3in x 10ft-4in

Ron van Maanen says the dimensions are in Maas feet, although that seems improbable. The English length of 94ft does seem quite long for a Dutch length of 111ft-3in. My estimate of the English length on the keel is 84ft. The beam and hold are quite plausible, using my system for converting between the two measurement systems. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships and the Relationship Between English and Dutch Measure", 2003
2. H.A. van Foreest and R.E.J. Weber, De Vierdaagse Zeeslag 11-14 Juni 1666, 1984
3. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

You can now download volumes of The First Dutch War from Google Book Search

I discovered, yesterday, that Google Book Search now makes the volumes of The First Dutch War that are not still under copyright available for download as pdf files. Finding them is a bit tricky, but it is really a great thing. That, along with Granville Penn's book about William Penn are a great help to research, as they are "searchable". For some reason, you can't just search for "The First Dutch War", but have to search for content. For some reason "robert blake 1652 dover" got me to Vol.III of The First Dutch War. I got to Vol.II by searching for "Michiel De Ruyter". I found Vol.I by using "sir george ayscue 1652".

Lieutenants who commanded in 1653

Of the list of lieutenants, these are ones who commanded Amsterdam Directors' ships in 1653:

Adm    Ship          Guns Crew Commander
A-Dir  Moorin                  Cornelis Cornelisz Jol
A-Dir  Koning David            Dirck Hendricksz Vogelsang
A-Dir  Gideon                  Ulrich Claesz de Jager
A-Dir  Gideon                  Dirck Jansz Somer
A-Dir  Rozeboom                Bartholomeus Rietbeeck

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Directors Ship Information", 2004
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Lieutenants of Amsterdam Directors' ships in early 1652

There is an undated list of ship names, captains, lieutenants, and crew numbers from early 1652, possibly from March. Many of the lieutenants commanded Directors' ships in 1653. From this list, we can see that Cornelis Cornelisz Jol was a different man from Cornelis Hoola, despite what Dr. Ballhausen said. At this date, Cornelis Hoola commanded the Leiden. I might be tempted to further change the readings of some of the handwriting, but I don't have time at present:

No. Ship              Captain                  Lieutenant              
1   d'Alexander       Jan Maijkers             Foitus Erlirst          
2   Blauwen Arent     Dirck Pater              Hendrick Hendricksz Hen 
3   St. Salvador      Matthijs Cornelisz       Jan Jansz Lons          
4   de Faem           Jacob Swart              Afweris Kriekie         
10  St. Matheus       Cornelis Naeuoogh        Jan Arensen             
20  Gideon van Sardam HectorBardesius          Ulrich Claesz de Jager  
13  Prins Maurits     Nicolaes de Witt         Marten Juriaensen       
6   Arche Troijane    Abrahamvan Campen        Court Bruijnse          
9   Croon Imperiaal   Cornelis Jansz Poort     Gerrit Drommont         
7   St. Francisco     Stoffel Juriaensz        Jacob Moesman           
8   de Valck          Cornelis Jansz Brouwer   Bartolomeus Riesbeeck   
11  de Roosenboom     Gerrit Schuyt            Barent Philipsen        
5   Princes Roijael   Marten de Graeff         Abraham deKoninck       
    de Neptunis       Gerrit van Lummen        Jan Danielsz van Luijck
    Davit en Goliad   Claes van Jaersvelt      Godefred van Beringer
    Elias             Jacob Sievors Spansennis Frans Francen
    Nassouw           Lambert Pietersz         Dirck Jansz Soomer
    Engel Gabriel     Bastiaen Bardoel         Cornelis Cornelisz Joll
    't Witte Lam      Cornelis van Houten      Jan Jansz van de Ridderstraet
    Swarte Leeuw      Hendrick de Raedt        Robbert Pietersz
    St. Maria         Sipke Fockes             Pieter Jansen
    de Groote Liefde  Bruijn van Seelst        Elaes Cornelisz
    de Groote Gulden Fortuijn 
                      Fredrick de Coninck      Dirck Hendricksz Vogelsang
    de Engel Michiel  Fredrick Boogaert        Adriaen Pietersz

The ships in the Fishery Protection Squadron in 1652 are still something of a mystery

The Hollandsche Mercurius and The First Dutch War, Vol.I, both have the list of ships in the Fishery Protection Squadron that was attacked and eliminated on 22 July 1652. I still am not totally convinced that the list published is accurate. There is reason to believe that the squadron consisted of 15 or 16 ships. There are still many ships in the squadron which have not been found in archival documents. Enough have been found to indicate that the list may, in fact, be accurate, as it is given. We already know that the Marcus Curtius was also taken on 22 July, but is not in those other lists. There are several ships that we have complete information about, including the Marcus Curtius, the Juffrouw Catharina, and the Kalmar Sleutel. The last is from Ron van Maanen's lists, while the others are in the list of Amsterdam ships hired, from the Wrangell Collection. Sources:

1. Pieter Casteleyn, Hollandsche Mercurius, 1652
2. Dr. S.R. Gardiner, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol.I, 1898
3. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated
4. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
5. list of Admiralty of Amsterdam hired ships from 1652 from the Wrangell Collection, 1652

Two Rotterdam ships named Gelderland

I have had a reader ask me about the ship Gelderland that was built to replace the ship lost in 1629. I had not realized that the larger ship was probably the ship built as the replacement, as early as 1632. These are the details from Ron van Maanen's document "Mazenieuii", about the ships built for Rotterdam:

Gelderland, built in 1628 and lost in 1629

26 guns  crew 85 men

160-180 lasts

Guns: 2-18pdr, 2-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 4-6pdr, 2-4pdr,
   and 2-steenstukken with four chambers (there were two chambers
   per gun, as these were old-style breechloaders)


Gelderland, built somewhere between 1632 and 1634
 last mentioned in 1659

Dimensions in Maas feet:           118ft x 28ft x 12-1/2ft
Est. dimensions in Amsterdam feet: 128-1/2ft x 30-1/2ft x 13-1/2ft

40 Guns on 16 November 1652:  18-18pdr, 12-12pdr, 8-6pdr, and 2-4pdr

Crew: varied from 85 to 140 sailors

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated (MAZENIEUII)

Dutch ships in service on 9 June 1652

I was surprised to learn from Carl Stapel, that on 9 June 1652, the Dutch had 186 ships in service. This is a considerably larger number than I had thought, which was about 112 ships. 46 these ships were away from home waters, with as many as 15 ships in the Mediterranean Sea under the command of Joris van Cats. He flew his flag on the new Jaarsveld (44 guns). Another 16 ships were in the fishery protection squadron in the North Sea. 10 ships were still in Brazil, but actually on the return voyage to the Netherlands. 5 more were off the coast of Spain near Cape St. Vincent. Of the 100 ships to be hired by the Admiralties, there were only 38 in service. All 50 of the Directors' ships were in service by this date. Source:

1. Carl Stapel, personal communication "Memorie schepen 9 Juni 1652", 2006

Google Book Search

Google Book Search now has even more good resources available online. There are the British State Papers Domestic for the Commonwealth for 1652 to 1653. You can actually download the PDF file for this book, which is amazing. Frank Fox had highly recommended this book to me. The first three volumes of The First Dutch War are searchable, online. I wish that the rest were available, but they are held up by the copyright issue. I have previously mentioned that Granville Penn's book about William Penn is available, and that is a good primary source. Now, Corbett's booklet about the Earl of Darmouth's van de Velde drawings from the Navy Records Society can be read online.

Another try at Witte de With's squadron in August 1652

This list of Witte de With's squadron in August 1652 is based on the latest information:

Adm Ship            Guns Crew Commander
R   Prinses Louise  36   150  Vice-Admiraal Witte de With
R   Beer            24    91  kapitein Jan de Haes
R   Hollandia       24    97  kapitein Hendrick Ernestus de Bartrij (or Bertrij)
A   Vrijheid        44   150  commandeur Aucke Balck
A   Westfriesland   28   100  kapitein Jan Jansz Boermans
A   Hollandia       30   110  kapitein Albert Claesz de Graeff
A   Gouden Leeuw    24    80  kapitein Gilles Matthijsz Campen
A   Edam            28   100  kapitein Barent Cramer
Z   Sandenburgh     24    85  Pieter Gorcum
N   Schel           24    80  Teunis Vechterszoon

Sources:

1. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "vlootlijst van schepen van de Maze in september 1652", 2006

The Purmerland

The Hoorn Directors hired the ship Purmerland in 1653. The Purmerland took part in Witte de With's voyage to Norway to bring back merchant ships that had been trapped there by the threat of English cruisers and privateers. Andries Sybrantszoon commanded the ship. Ron van Maanen lists the dimensions of the Purmerland as 127ft x 29ft. He says that she carried between 30 and 34 guns and had a crew of 95 to 150 men. The one place that Ron van Maanen gives guns and crew don't make sense to me, as he wrote that Andries Sybrantsz's ship carried 18 guns and had a crew of 75 men. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The Amsterdam ship Duivenvoorde

The Amsterdam ship Duivenvoorde was built in 1655. The ship was burnt at the Four Days' Battle in 1666. Ron van Maanen has details about the ship:

The ship Duivenvoorde

Length from stem to sternpost:  130ft
Beam:                            32ft
Hold:                          unknown

48 guns on 31 March 1665:
4-18pdr, 18-12pdr, 20-8pdr, and 6-3pdr

Witte de With had referred to Pieter Gorcum's ship as a jacht

In September 1652, in The First Dutch War, Vol.II, Witte de With referred to Pieter Gorcum's ship as a jacht. Carl Stapel and Ron van Maanen both give the ship, the Sandenburgh, a length of 100ft. This is the same length as the Japonder van Dordrecht (or Dordrecht) and the Friesland jacht Waterhond. Both were also 100ft long and were three-masted jachts. The Japonder carried up to 17 guns and the Waterhond carried 16 guns. The Sandenburgh was more heavily armed, with 24 guns and had a crew of 90 men in September 1652. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, personal communication "Dates of ships of Zeeland", 2006
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The Middelburg and Vlissingen Directors' ships all had substantial 8pdr batteries

Amsterdam Directors' ships all had a good 12pdr battery. For 28-gun ships, the armament was often 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns. The Middelburg and Vlissingen Directors' ships all had a modest 12pdr battery, except for the Witte Lam, which was often Michiel De Ruyter's flagship from later in 1652. The others had either 2 or 4 12pdr guns, although they would usually have either a few 18pdr or 24pdr guns, as well. The rest had either 10, 14, or 18-8pdr guns. They also had a few 6pdrs, and often had 2 or 4-4pdr guns. Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Directieschepen van Zeeland in 1652", 2006

One ship that I have not seen mentioned: Sint Johannes, an Amsterdam Directors' ship from 1653

A ship, the Sint Johannes, was listed on 8 February 1653, and the details were given, but I have not recognized that this ship is mentioned in any source that I have seen (certainly not in Ron van Maanen's list). This must be an Amsterdam Directors' ship, and I have the details:

The ship Sint Johannes

Length from stem to sternpost:  125ft
Beam inside the planking:        29ft
Hold:                            12-1/2ft
Height between decks:             7ft

28 guns:
2-18pdr, 8-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Directors' Ship Information 1652-1653", 2004

The ship Nieuwkasteel

One of the ships for which we knew the name, captain, and nothing else, was the ship Nieuwkasteel, commanded by Claes Aldertszoon. The Nieuwkasteel was in service in 1652, and then disappears from the published literature. The ship does not seem to have served with the fleet, as there is no mention of the captain's name in the lists that I have for 1652. Carl found that the ship was listed as the Nieuw Casteel, with 19 guns and a crew of 65 men. The captain was Claes Alderts. The ship was paid off, sometime in 1652. The guns and crew indicated to Carl that this was probably a jacht, which would make sense. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Captains", 2004
2. Carl Stapel, personal communication, "lijst alle capiteins 1652 in het Noorderkwartier", 2006

Some Dutch ships from 1641-1642

Ron van Maanen has the details of some Dutch ships from 1641 to 1642. They are the sort of hired ship that was used to fight the Dunkirkers in this period:

Adm Ship                Guns  Crew    Length    Beam     Hold    Height between decks
N   Drie Helden Davids  36    91-100  140ft     29ft     12ft      4-1/2ft
A   Engel Gabriel       28    80      142ft     26-1/2ft 13ft      7ft
N   Gouden Leeuw        24    74-90   112ft     26ft     12-1/2ft  6-1/2ft
N   Graaf Maurits       20-22 55-60   120ft     26ft     11-1/2ft  5-3/4ft
N   Hoop                28    79-80   140ft     26ft     12ft
A   Neptunus            20    59-60   105ft     24ft     10-1/2ft  6-1/2ft
A   Pelikaan            30-32 94-100  136ft     29-1/2ft 14ft      6ft-7in
A   Prins               36-38 116-120 142ft     29-1/2ft 13-1/2ft 
A   Prins van Portugaal 24-26 70      124ft     26ft     11-1/2ft  6ft
M   Roode Leeuw         36-37 118-120 134ft     34ft     14ft      5 or 7ft
A   Sint Andries        36    106-120 136ft     29-1/2ft           6-3/4ft
A   Sint Jacob          26    87-90   123-1/2ft 28-1/2ft           6-1/4ft
N   Sint Maarten        30    100     147ft     28ft     14ft     
M   Tijger              20    54-60   120ft     26ft     11-1/2ft  6ft
M   Witte Engel         30    80-94   130ft     26ft     12-1/2ft  6-1/2ft
A   Zwaan               30-32 89-100  134ft     28-1/2ft 13-1/4ft  6-1/2ft

Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

The Zeeuwsche Jager in May 1653

Captain Lourensz Crijnsz commanded the Zeeuwsche Jager in May 1653. I had, at one point, that that the Zeeuwsche Jager had been converted to a fireship for the Battle of the Gabbard, but that seems not to have been the case. A member of the Crijnssen family (or Crijnszoon) commanded the jacht in mid-1653. In May, the Zeeuwsche Jager carried 14 guns and had a crew of 54 men. Carl Stapel found that the Zeeuwsche Jager's largest guns were 6pdrs. Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Ron van Maanen lists a ship he calls "Leeuwin"

I was looking over my comprehensive list and comparing it with Ron van Maanen's "Zeeland" list (I have no idea about the origin of the file name). Ron lists a ship he calls "Leeuwin", which was hired by the Middelburg Directors. I had initially thought that this referred to the ship Gouden Leeuw, commanded by Jacob Adriaansz Penssen, but now I think that this was the ship commanded by Johannes van Regermorter at the Three Days' Battle. Apparently, this is the ship that was brought home to Zeeland after the battle by Claes Janszoon. The first time that I had associated Leeuwinne (the archaic spelling) with Johannes van Regermorter was when I was studying Witte de With's journal for May 1653. The Leeuwinne is one of the few ship names listed. Ron van Maanen has dimensions that are apparently for this ship: 120ft length, 27-1/2ft beam, and a height between decks (Ron would argue against this characterization of the number, but it still seems right) of 6-1/4ft. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Zeeland", undated
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Amsterdam Directors' ships in Witte de With's fleet in September 1653

The list of ships and captains with Witte de With's fleet in September 1653 is quite informative. One of the groups of ships is that of the Amsterdam Directors:

Ship                  Guns Crew Captain
Moorinne              30   110  Cornelis Cornelisz Jol
Swarte Leeuw          30   123  Hendrick de Raedt (Aug 1653)
Hercules              27   104  Sijmon Veeneman
Engel Michiel         28    99  Dirck Bogart
Sint Pieter           28   110  Gerrit Schuyt (Aug 1653)
Moor                  36   140  Adriaan Cornelisz van Ackersloot
Coninck Davit         28   104  Dirck Hendricksz Vogelsanck (Vogelsang)
Walvis                32   118  luitenant-commandeur de Beringe (Aug 1653)
Sampson               28   100  Cornelis Cornelisz de Groot
Hollandsche Thuijn    36   140  Herman Walman (Aug 1653)
Ceurvorst van Ceulen  32   124  Sijmon Dootjes
Faam                  28   128  Jacob Swart
Gideon                34    95  Dirck Jansz Somer (May 1653)

Sources:

1. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

An interesting reference in Witte de With's journal for May 1653

On page 113 of Witte de With's journal for May 1653, there is an interesting reference to a ship that I have not heard of before. Under the heading of Directors' ships of Amsterdam, there are two entries. The second is obvious enough, Capn Rietbeeck, which refers to Bartholomeus van Rietbeeck, who commanded the ship Rooseboom at this date. The first entry is the interesting one. It says, in Dutch, as best as I can tell:

Capn. Jacob Swart
t'schip de Matenives

The "n" could be a "u", but that does not make any sense (although I can't say that what I wrote does, either). I had briefly thought that the "v" was part of an "r", until looked at the entries nearby, such as Lt-commandeur Marevelt. Sources:

1. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The Admiralty of Zeeland employed an odd set of gun calibers

From what I have seen from Ron van Maanen's lists, and from what Carl Stapel recently saw, I can tell that the Admiralty of Zeeland had ships equipped with some very different gun calibers, as well as many of the usual types:

24pdr
20pdr  carried by Amsterdam
18pdr
16pdr  carried by West Cappel
15pdr  carried by Hollandia
12pdr
10pdr  carried by Neptunis, Amsterdam, one of the Zeelandias
 9pdr
 8pdr
 7pdr  carried by Goes, Sandenburgh, Eendracht (24 guns)
 6pdr
 5pdr  carried by Zeeuwsche Jager, Wapen van Zeeland
 4pdr
 3pdr

Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006

Vice-Admiral De With's squadron on 30 April 1653

Page 70 of the letters of Witte de With gives a listing of his squadron, as of 30 April 1653. This is somewhat different from that which raided Scarborough earlier in April. This is the list, suitably annotated:

Adm     Ship                Guns  Crew    Commander
A       Leeuwarden          34      158   Witte de With
                                         Govert Reael, flag captain
Vl-Dir  Gekroonde Liede     36      142   commandeur De Ruyter
                                         Markus Hartman, flag captain
R       Utrecht             22       98   commandeur Leendert Haexwant
Z       Neptunus            28      114   Adriaan Jansz den Gloeyenden Oven
A       Omlandia            30      109   Maarten Schaeff
A       Graaf Willem        40      155   Capt. Verburgh
R       Overijssel          24       98   Dirck Vijgh
N       Prins Maurits       32       97   Capt. Taenman
Z       Amsterdam           30      120   Adriaan Kempen
F       Postpaert           30      106   Isaak Kodde
Z       Hollandia           38      127   Adriaan Bankert
Mi-Dir  Gouden Leeuw        30      110   Jacob Adriaansz Penssen
Ha-Dir  Sint Vincent        28      110   Ariaan Heeres Kleijntje
A-VOC   Gerechtigheid       34      105   Evert Pietersz Swart?
En-Dir  Vergulde Zon        28      115   Jacob Duijm

Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van schepen van 20 juni 1653", 2006
3. Witte de With, letters from 1653 to 1658, Archive E8811 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The entry in Witte de With's journal for 31 May 1653

In an entry in Witte de With's journal for 31 May 1653, there is some interesting information, which I have annotated from Carl Stapel's paper:

The vice-admiraal Johan Evertsen was in the ship
of "Capt. Claes":
Adm    Ship          Guns Crew Captain
Z      Milde Maarten 26   110  Claes Jansz Sanger (with Johan Evertsen)
Mi-Dir Leeuwinne     30   120  perhaps the luitenant of the late 
                                   Johannes van Regermorter

Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van schepen van 20 Juni 1653", 2006
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Ron van Maanen's dimensions for the Wapen van Nassouw seem very odd

We now know that the ship provided by the Rotterdam Chamber of the VOC was named Wapen van Nassouw (Nassau). The ship was commanded by Jan Arensz van der Werff, and carried 32 guns and had a crew of 124 men in May 1653. The dimensions given by Ron van Maanen are pretty extreme: 130ft x 43ft x 12ft. The beam is very out of line with typical practice. A more reasonable beam would be 33ft, not 43ft. The VOC ships that served with the fleet in 1653 were generally cruisers. For example, Pieter de Bitter's ship Mercurius had dimensions of 123ft x 30ft x 12ft. The large East Indiamen built by the Middelburg Chamber of the VOC were typically 170ft x 38ft x 18ft. For a much shorter ship to have a beam of 43ft is without precedent among the ships that served with the fleet. By the way, Ron has the guns carried by the Wapen van Nassouw: 12-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 8-6pdr, and 2-3pdr. Sources:

1. James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, undated
3. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Johan Evertsz de Liefde's ship Jonas in 1652 and 1653

Ron van Maanen's document about Rotterdam ships, "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw (undated) gives the armament of Johan Evertsz de Liefde's ship Jonas, a ship hired by the Rotterdam Directors in 1652. This is new information to me, although I have only seen some of the armaments for Rotterdam ships in 1652 for a few days. Ron says that on 1 October 1652, the Jonas carried: 14-12pdr, 4-8pdr, 10-6pdr, 6-4pdr, and 2-3pdr guns.

Claes Jansz Sanger's ship in 1652 to early 1653

I have new information from Carl Stapel, from archival sources, that has caused me to rethink what I had thought I knew about Claes Jansz Sanger's ship. There is a list of De Ruyter's fleet, misplaced in Vol.VI of The First Dutch War, that calls Claes Jansz Sanger's ship the Galjas van Middelburg. Carl found that in a list from March 1653, that Claes Jansz Sanger commanded the ship Middelburg (28 guns). Claes Jansz Sanger was said to have commanded the ship West Cappelle when it was sunk at the Battle of Scheveningen, and I had assumed that he had commanded the same ship for the entire war (as some captains did). Instead, I would now say that he commanded the Middelburg from earlier in 1652 up to at least March 1653, including the Three Days Battle (Portland). Sources:

1. C. T. Atkinson, Ed., The First Dutch War, Vol. VI, 1930
2. Johan E. Elias, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons zeewezen, Vol.V, 1928
3. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006

VOC Ships with the Dutch fleet in May 1653

There seem to have been six VOC ships with the Dutch fleet in May 1653:

Adm    Ship                 Guns  Crew  Captain
R-VOC  Wapen van Nassouw    32    124   Jan Arensz van der Werff
A-VOC  Huis van Nassau      34    112   Jan Pietersz van Srijp
A-VOC  Gerechtigheid        34    105   Evert Pietersz Swart
A-VOC  Mercurius            36    110   Pieter de Bitter
Ho-VOC Sint Willeboort      27    120   Erich Jacobszoon
Mi-VOC Swarte Bul           32    104   Willem Folckertszoon

I you rely upon the current published sources, you would not know this sort of information. Right now, the best information is in the various archives, including the Riksarkivet in Stockholm and the Nationaal Archief in The Hague. Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van schepen van 31 mei 1653", 2006
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

The armament of the three-masted jacht Brak

A minor point, but one that I had not known, is that the armament for the Amsterdam three-masted jacht Brak (and probably the Windhond, as well) was 4-8pdr, 12-4pdr, and 2-3pdr. I still do not understand the wide use of the 2-3pdr guns, but they were usually found on all the Amsterdam Directors' ships and others, as well. They were less like to appear on older States' ships. The Brak and Windhond were very similar ships. They both were 115ft long and had beams of only 23ft. Their hold measurements differed slightly, although Ron van Maanen credits them both with 10-1/2ft holds. Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992

Corstiaen Corstiaenszoon

Lists in 1652 call the captain of the ship we now know was named the Prins, "Corstiaen Corstiaensz". New information found by Carl Stapel seems to indicate that he might have had a last name of "de Munnicq". I have found "Corstiaen" and "Christiaen" frequently being used interchangeably in 17th Century Dutch. Carl found a reference to "Christiaen de Munnicq" as captain of the ship Prins, with 38 guns. The ship is the Rotterdam Directors' ship, so I would surmise that the captain's full name was "Corstiaen Corstiaensz de Munnicq" (or substitute "Christiaen" for "Corstiaen"). (CORRECTED)

The two Noorderkwartier Directors' ships with the fleet in September 1653

There were two Noorderkwartier Directors' ships with Witte de With's fleet in September 1652. Witte de With's journal lists them:

Adm    Ship            guns  crew  Captain
Me-Dir Koning Radbout  28     98   Jan Rootjes
Ho-Dir Sampson         30     95   Jacob Pietersz Houck

I suspect that the Sampson listed in Ron van Maanen's list with dimensions of 132ft x 27ft x 13.5ft, with a height between decks of 6-1/4ft is this ship. He seems to have confused the Sampson (24 guns) commanded by Willem Ham in 1652 with Jacob Pietersz Houck's ship. Ron says that there was a ship mentioned in 1653 with these dimensions, so it must be Capt. Houck's ship. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Witte de With, journals from 1652 to 1658, Archive E8812 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm