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 James C. Bender, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Ships 1600-1700", 2006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.