Discussion devoted mainly to the Anglo-Dutch Wars (at sea), including ships, battles, and persons. Our website, kentishknock.com, is the primary outlet for artwork, research results, and more formal analysis and commentary. Copyright (c) 2003-2007 James C. Bender
Friday, June 02, 2006
Thoughts about some Dutch ships
Almost certainly the ship Huis van Nassau was one of the 128ft, 250 last ships built by the Admiralty of Amsterdam. The Maan, built in 1643, had dimensions of 128ft x 31.5ft x 12ft. Another ship from which we might be able to extrapolate is the Noorderkwartier ship Eenhoorn (or Witte Eenhoorn) built in 1625. She survived the First Anglo-Dutch War from 1652 to 1654, so she was very long-lived. She had dimensions of 125ft x 29ft x 12ft (the hold is an estimate). She was of 200 lasts. So we might ask if there were other ships built by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier in the mid to late 1620's and of 200 lasts. There was at least one: the Hollandsche Tuin, commanded by Jan Eliaszoon in 1628. She carried 28 guns and had a crew of 85 men. Another possibility is the Neptunis (24 guns and a crew of 85 men). She also was listed as being of 200 lasts. It is difficult to assess how useful it is to know the Eenhoorn's armament, as what we know dates from 1654: 7-12pdr, 13-10pdr, 4-8pdr, 2-6pdr, 2-4pdr, and 2-3pdr. It seems that she had an armament composed of guns that happened to be available, as it is quite an odd collection.