I am convinced that ship Huis van Nassau lost in Brazil was built to the 128ft charter

The ship Huis van Nassau was a Noorderkwartier 40-gun ship that was heavily damaged in Brazil, in an action against two Portuguese ships, where one captain caused his ship to explode rather than be captured in 1648. The other Portuguese ship was taken, so the captain was correct in thinking that his ship would be captured. He actually destroyed the 32-gun ship Utrecht and so heavily damaged the Huis van Nassau, that Witte de With decided that the ship was a constructive total loss. He took the crew off and abandoned the Huis van Nassau. The problem was that the ship was not as heavily damaged as seemed to be the case, and the Huis van Nassau sailed itself into a Portuguese port. The Portuguese repaired the ship and used it against the Dutch. From Dr. Elias's book De Vlootbouw in Nederland, it appears that the Huis van Nassau was almost certainly built to the 128ft charter, not to the smaller 125ft charter. The charter's dimensions were about 128ft x 31-1/2ft x 12ft. Sources:

1. Johan E. Elias, De Vlootbouw in Nederland 1596-1655, 1933
2. W. J. van Hoboken, Witte de With in Brazilië, 1955

The small VOC shp Anna or Sinte Anna

The small VOC jacht Anna or Sinte Anna is one of the ships for which Ron van Maanen has dimensions and a gun list:

The jacht Sinte Anna of the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC
  in service in 1665

Dimensions: 108ft x 26-1/2ft x 11-3/4ft

30 guns: 6-8pdr, 12-6pdr, 6-4pdr, 2-steenstukken
Crew: 80 men

Sources:

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 Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated but circa 1992

I am sorry to say that I probably deleted a good email caught in the Gmail spam filter

Only after it was too late to stop the deletion, I realized that an email that was being deleted was good, not spam. This happens to me all the time, sadly. I try hard not to delete good mail, but when it ends up in the Gmail spam filter bucket, it often happens. I saw a subject in a mail being deleted that mentioned Sir William Temple, and realized that I had deleted something I wanted to read. If you sent me the mail, please resend it to me, and I will be watching for it and rescue it, if it ends up in the spam filter.

The Amsterdam ship Bommel had a better armament

Many of the ship in service for the Dutch during the first Anglo-Dutch War had a small number of 12pdr or larger guns and then more 8pdr with some 6pdr and smaller. The Amsterdam ship Bommel was the exception. The Bommel had a more modern armament, with a complete lower tier of 12pdr guns. The quarterdeck was armed with 4pdrs. This was a more uniform armament. Many other ships had mixed guns on the lower deck. Many of the Admiralties of Zeeland and the Noorderkwartier seemed to have been armed with whatever guns they could find, as they had perhaps six different shot sizes, ranging from 2pdr on up to a maximum of 24pdr guns.

Another ship from 1693: the Alkmaar

Ron van Maanen has information about another ship built in 1693. This was the Noorderkwartier ship Alkmaar, probably built at Hoorn. The Alkmaar was built to the charter for 70 gun ships of 15 February 1680. The Alkmaar's dimensions were 156ft x 41ft x 15ft, with a height between decks of 7-1/2ft. Ron has the keel length, which he says was 133-1/2ft. The armament consisted of 26-18pdr, 24-12pdr, 16-6pdr, and 4-4pdr guns. He says that the Alkmaar was also called the Poort van Alkmaar, and that the ship was considered to be a 2nd Rate. Sources:

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

The Noorderkwartier ship Arnhem, built in 1693

Ron van Maanen has the details of the Noorderkwartier ship Arnhem, built in 1693 and in service until about 1721. THere are conflicting notes, one that says that the ship was built at Enkhuizen and another that says that the ship was built at Hoorn. The dimensions were 145ft x 39-3/4ft x 15ft, with a height between decks of 7-1/4ft. The ship was built to the establishment for 64 guns from 15 February 1680. The guns carried on 3 July 1702 were 24-18pdr, 22-12pdr, 10-6pdr, 4-4pdr, and 4-3pdr. Sources:

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

I am photographing materials to carry with me

I made a major effort, this afternoon, to photograph materials to carry with me on a flash drive. This week, the 2GB flash drive on sale at the local OfficeMax was a Memorex "travel drive". In preceding weeks, it was Verbatim drives. The current sale price was higher, by about $5.00.

The Amsterdam ship Gelderland, built in 1683

Ron van Maanen has data for the Amsterdam ship Gelderland that was built at Amsterdam in 1683 by Jan van Rheenen:

The ship Gelderland, built in 1683

Dimensions: 156ft x 40ft x 15ft

72 guns: 26-18pdrd, 26-12pdr, 18-6pdr, and 4-3pdr

Crew: 375 to 400 men

Sources:

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

The Stad Groningen en Ommelanden and the Sevenhuijsen are in an early December 1652 list

I have pages that give the dimensions and lists of guns for Friesland and Groningen ships dating from very early December 1652. There is a page for the Stad Groningen en Ommelanden that names the ship, as well having the dimensions and list of guns carried. The Sevenhuijsen page (which shows in a number of lists) lacks the ship name. A list dating from 28 November 1652 had mentioned a 36 gun ship, but lacked a name for the ship. That was not Hendrick Jansz Camp's ship, the Wapen van Nassau, but some other ship. The detailed list, with dimensions and gun lists, explains that entry in the summary list. That 36 gun ship was apparently the Sevenhuijsen, but was not ready for service, yet, and had not been christened Sevenhuijsen. The dimensions are correct, however, for that ship.

Yet another template switch

I had to switch templates again for the usual reason: the "pre" tags with long information were too wide for a layout with the sidebar on the right. This layout is more limited than I would like: I like more color, but this is what works.

Was the jacht Jager the ship that went to Brazil?

Ron van Maanen has information about the Amsterdam jacht Jager. I wondered if this was the Jager that was in Brazil and returned in June 1652. Ron says that the Jager was built in 1650 and was last mentioned in 1655. The dimensions were 70ft x 22ft x 11ft. The armament varied between 8 and 12 guns and the crew consisted of 40 men (at least nominally).

I hope you don't mind my major look change

I was forced to switch to a new style Blogger template, as I had stopped being able to fix the template that Violet had made for me, in the style of KentishKnock.com. I was sorry to have to do that, but when things get totally mashed, the way they had ended up recently, I thought it time to make the change.

The Rotterdam ship Kalmar Sleutel was one of the 36 ships of 1651

I was surprised to see that the Rotterdam ship Kalmar Sleutel was one of the 36 ships of 1651. Something like 35, 36 (the usually quoted number), or 37 ships were funded for service in 1651, as the threat of war seemed imminent. Ron van Maanen's list "Oorlogsschepen" van de admiraliteit van de Maze in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw says that the ship was 20 years old in 1652, and was engaged in fishery protection, which we knew. From the 28 November 1652, we know that the Kalmar Sleutel (or Calmer Sleutel) was one of the "Hundred Ships" of 1652. The Kalmar Sleutel was included in David de Wildt's list of ships that seemed suitable for hire in February 1652, with the same dimensions seen elsewhere (102ft x 25ft x 11ft, with a height between decks of 6ft). The Kalmar Sleutel had been commanded by Dirck Vijgh, on 22 July 1652, when the ship was sunk in action with English frigates, while protecting the Dutch fishing fleet. We also know the list of guns: 8-8pdr, 6-6pdr, 6-4pdr, and 4-3pdr guns (from a list of ships of the admiraliteit van Rotterdam, dated 27 September 1652).

A ship named Hollandia, hired in 1642

The ship Hollandia, hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam, was one of the larger ships. Carl Stapel had sent me copies of pages with the data on these ships. These are the details for the Hollandia. This is one of the few ships that I know how the guns were arranged:

The ship Hollandia, hired in 1642

Length from stem to sternpost: 122ft
Beam:                           28-1/2ft
Hold:                           11-1/4ft
Height between decks:            6-1/2ft

28 guns: 
Lower tier: 2-bronze 12pdr, 14-iron 8pdr, 2-24pdr,
            2-iron 12pdr
Upper tier: 2-12pdr, 2-bronze 8pdr, 2-iron 3pdr

Digital cameras and copies of handwritten documents

I am in the process of photographing all the copies that I have from documents and papers from Jan Glete, the Nationaal Archief, Carl Stapel, and Eric Ruijssenaars (from the Nationaal Archief). One that that I have found is that copies are generally high resolution and contain information that is not visible when looking at the paper. I have a 6.2 megapixel camera, and photographs of copies have some interesting properties. I have copies of handwritten notes from Jan Glete that were done in pencil. I found that when I have a high resolution image that I can enhance the picture digitally, so that the missing pieces are visible. They were not totally missing, but were very light on the copy. There are also copies that I received from Carl Stapel that have dark spots on them. In this case, I can adjust the image so that I can read the writing obscured by the dark spot. The trick in both cases is to adjust both brightness and contrast. If I were using a different graphics editor, I would be able to adjust intensity, as well. For the copies of pencil notes, I reduce brightness and contrast.

The Sevenwolden-handwritten

I have a very poor copy of a document that seems to date from later in June 1652. The document is the one that is very similar to an English intelligence report published in The First Dutch War, Vol.V, from Thurloe. I took the captain's name and the ship name for the Zevenwolden. The spelling in 1652 was Sevenwolden. Frederick Stellingwerff was apparently a "commandeur" of the sort who was a luitenant in command of a ship. This is the image:

The ship is described as "The Seven Wolden"

The mysterious captain Belevelt

A list that I received yesterday, in the photographs that arrived by email, shows again a captain named Belevelt, among the captains of the Admiralty of Friesland. The list has the following information:

Admiralty ships from Friesland
                            Crew Guns
Captain Belevelt             
Captain Wichelma            108  29
Captain Degelcam             77  28 
Captain Adriaen Bruijnsvelt 103  28   

Witte de With's journal, dating from 17 September 1652 has the same figures as these. Carl Stapel wondered if Captain "Belevelt" might be some corruption of Joost Bulter's name, although I am less sure. The other ships are the Frisia, possibly the Gelderland, and the Breda.

A 31 gun armament for the ship Sint Maria

The classic armament listed for the Amsterdam Directors' ship Sint Maria, the ship commanded by Sipke Fockes in 1652, was 4-brass 12pdr of the state, 8-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr. The 31 gun list adds 1 6pdr to reach five, some 4pdrs, and more 3pdrs to reach 31 guns. The crew in this entry was 102 men.

Jan Pouwelszoon's ship Neptunis in 1652

Jan Pouwelszoon commanded the ship Neptunis, of the Admiralty of Zeeland. I have a list that indicates that the Neptunis was one of the 36 ships funded for service in 1651, as tensions were increasing with England over trade. I had thought that I had seen in some published source that the Neptunis (or Neptunus) was a ship 120ft long, but I have a document that shows that the ship was just 110ft long and at one point had 26 guns. The guns included 2-18pdr and 4-12pdr, and then the rest were 6, 8, and 9pdrs. The broadside weight was quite light. This was Michiel De Ruyter's flagship at the Battle of Plymouth, in 1652.

Ron van Maanen's entry for Pieter Gorcum's ship Sandenburgh

I have a page that has good data for Pieter Gorcum's ship that I have seen called the Sandenburgh. The page that I have calls his ship a "Galias", as in the "Galias Sanderburgh". Ron van Maanen's entry for that ship calls it the "Zandberg". The "Zandberg" was said to have been in service from 1653 to 1654 and was captured by the English. The length is stated to be 100ft, which I know to be accurate. The "Zandberg" is described as being part of the "fishery patrol". In 1653, the "Zandberg" was 9 years old (so the ship would have been built in 1644). In a list that I have dated 28 November 1652, the Sanderburgh is described as one of the convoyers funded for service at the peace in 1648. Zeeland had eight ships that had been funded for service as convoyers, at least one of which were no longer in service by 28 November 1652 (the Hasewint, 28 guns).

A list dating from 6 December 1652 shows that Crijn Cornelisz Mangelaer commanded the Wapen van Zierickzee

I have a list of captains, groups by admiralty or directors, that shows that Crijn Cornelisz Mangelaer commanded the Zierickzee Directors' ship Wapen van Zierickzee on 6 December 1652. That assures that he commanded the ship in the Battle of Dungeness on 10 December. The Wapen van Zierickzee carried 34 guns and had been commanded by Cornelis Rocusz Fincen up until later in the year. Sources:

1. Lijst van schepen onder de vlagge van Tromp, 6 December 1652, Nationaal Archief, Collection Johan de Witt
2. Hendrik de Raedt, Lyste van de schepen van Oorloge onder het beleyt Admirael Marten Harpersz. Tromp, 1652

Jacob Wolphertszoon's ship was called a Scots frigate

I was interested to see that, in the list of ships of the Admiralty of Zeeland in late 1652, Jacob Wolphertszoon's ship, the Sint Joris (St. George) was described as a Scots frigate. The Sint Joris was a very small ship, just 90ft in length, with a main armament of 6pdr guns.

Friesland ships on 6 May 1653

On 6 May 1653, according a Witte de With's letters (E8811), there were three Friesland ships with the fleet. Two were ships of the Admiralty of Friesland and one was a Harlingen Directors' ship:

Adm    Ship             Guns Crew Commander          Length Beam Hold Ht betw Decks
F      Postpaert        30   106  kapitein Kodde     118ft  28ft 11ft 7ft
F      Graef Willem     24    85  kapitein Koenders  129ft  28ft 12ft 6-1/2ft
Ha-Dir Sint Vincent     28   110  kapitein Kleijntje 113ft  26ft 12ft 6ft

Sources:

1. David de Wildt, "Notitie van de Scheppen die tegen Wordich int lant sijn", 22 February 1652
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
3. Witte de With, letters from 1653 to 1658, Archive E8811 from the Riksarkivet, Stockholm

Dutch ship armaments in 1652

One of the most astonishing features of the Dutch warships in 1652 is that so many were small and carried very light armaments. I was surprised at how many Dutch ships built as warships and how many hired ships had main batteris of 8pdr guns, but when we look at Zeeland ships, in particular, there are many with 6pdr guns as the main armament, with a very few firing heavier shot. The conventional wisdom is that Dutch ships mainly had lower tiers of mostly 12pdr guns and that made them inferior to the English ships. While information about the English ships is very scarce for 1652 and 1653, what we do know indicates that many 5th Rates were armed with demi-culverins as their main armament (9pdr guns). We can see that from the 1660's, when better information is available. In the last few months, dating from when I received the Amsterdam list from Jan Glete, from the Wrangell Collection at the Riksarkivet at Stockholm, there have been overwhelming examples that indicate that many or most smaller Dutch ships had main batteries of 8pdr guns. Now, the latest information about Zeeland ships shows that many 24 and 26 gun ships had mostly 6pdr guns, supplemented by a smaller number of 8pdr and larger guns.

The Witte Eenhoorn

Ron van Maanen seems to call the ship Hoorn, the Witte Eenhoorn. I had wondered why I could not find the Hoorn in his list, but this is why. He gives the dimensions as 120ft x 27ft x 11ft x 6-1/2ft. He says the ship was 150 lasts (similar in concept to the English burden or gross tonnage). Ron says that the Witte Eenhoorn was built in 1636, or perhaps was fitting out from 1636 until 1638. The Hoorn carried between 30 and 32 guns and had a crew that varied between 80 and 110 men. Presumably, this is the ship that was commanded by Pieter Aldertszoon during the First Anglo-Dutch War. I suspect that the ship Eenhoorn commanded by Pieter Aldertszoon on 12 June 1652 was the same ship as the Hoorn that he was later said to command. Sources:

1. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992
2. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "De vloot van Maarten Harperts Tromp op 12 juni 1652", 2006

A document from 1652 that lists information for the Sphera Mundi

I have this photo of a document from 1652 that has an entry for the Rotterdam ship Sphera Mundi. This is apparently the ship commanded by Reynout Venhuijsen (apparently a shortened version of Sevenhuijsen) on 22 July 1652, with the fishery protection squadron. By the fall, Marinus de Clercq was appointed as captain of the Sphera Mundi. The document says that the crew consisted of 80 sailors and 20 soldiers. The ship carried 26 guns: 2-12pdr of the "landt", 6-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 6-4pdr, 4-3pdr, and 2-2pdr guns. Carl Stapel had told me about Reynout Venhuijsen (or Veenhuijsen). The document was one photographed for me by Eric Ruijssenaars, at the Dutch Archives Research Bureau.

Quirijn van den Kerckhoff's hired ship in 1652

One photograph of a page that I received today shows information about Quirijn (Kryn) van den Kerckhoff's hired fluitschip. The ship is called the Marij (Maria) in this document. The crew is given as 80 sailors and 20 soldiers, which sound like nominal, rather than actual numbers. The ship carried 24 guns: 6-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 8-3 or 4pdr, and 2-8pdr "van 't lant". The Maria fought in the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland), where Quirijn van den Kerckhoff was incorrectly said to have been killed. The Maria seems to have been discarded after the battle.

The Fasant van Medemblick?

This document, which seem to date from June 1653, probably following the Battle of the Gabbard, appears to mention a ship of the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier named Fasant van Medemblick. I was puzzled by the captain's name, but now I think the name is "Capt. Roetjes". I would interpret that as the name of Jan Rootjes. Witte de With's journal for 8 July 1653 lists kapitein Rootjes as commanding a ship of 32 guns with a crew of 110 men. The reference is following other captains that were definitely of the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier, such as Gerrit Munt and Jan Heck. One question is if this is actually supposed to say "Radbout van Medemblick". If the word is meant to be that, the word is missing a "d". The writer was fairly careful in writing, but the letters are formed according to a particular system. I had originally thought that that captain's last name was "Boetjes", as the first letter is not open at the bottom. Both the first letter of the name is not open at the bottom. The ship name first letter is also ambiguous. Both letters have a cross bar! That is what was confusing. The ship name seems to have 6 letters: "F" or "R", followed by "s" or "b", "a" or "o", then "n" or "u", followed by a "t". I suspect that the name is, in fact, "Radbout", not "Fasant". The handwritten word seems to be missing the "d" from Radbout.

The Rotterdam component of the First Anglo-Dutch War building program

On page 157 of De Vlootbouw in Nederland, Dr. Elias has the numbers of ships and lengths for the First Anglo-Dutch War building program. This is usually describe as two 30-ship programs, but Dr. Elias divides it into four segments. I have listed the Rotterdam ships to be built:

  I     1-131-1/2ft ship
 II     none
III     1-150ft ship, 2-134ft ships, and 2-130ft ships
 IV     1-150ft ship and 4-130ft ships

We know most of the ship names:

  I   131 or 132ft ship: ?
III   150ft ship:  the Eendracht (58 guns)
      134ft ship:  the Prins Maurits (44 guns)
      134ft ship:  the Prins Willem (44 guns)
      130ft ship:  the Prins Hendrick (44 guns)
      130ft ship:  the Utrecht (44 guns)

IV    150ft ship:  the Groot Hollandia (60 guns)

I have no candidates for the 131 or 132ft ship. Dr. Elias has a chart titled "Lijst der Oorlogsschepen in Emplooi en aan den wal op 15 Juli 1655. This list was apparently in the Nationaal Archief, Secrete Loketkas, No. 993 (probably an obsolete number) and in another list of all ships oof 100ft and more.

Updated version of the June 1653 document

I have a list of ships and some of the captains for ships from about June 1653. There is a very similar list in The First Dutch War, Vol.V, that is from Thurloe's state papers, Vol.I, page 287. This the updated version of that list, slightly reformatted. The reference to the Noorderkwartier ship Fasant van Medemblick is still a mystery,but I think that the captain is Jan Rootjes. The document that this is from is Nationaal Archief 1.03.02 inv. nr. 3 II. The list is ordered by Admiralty/Directors:

Admiralty of Amsterdam

Commander:                      Ship                Guns Crew
kapitein Jan van Campen         Overissel           30   114
kapitein Overcamp               Pelicaen            24   110
kapitein van den Bos            Engel Gabriel       28   110
kapitein Ary van Loenen         Goude Reael         28    73
kapitein Evert Anthonissen      Hollandia           32   110
kapitein Gillis Thyssen Campen  Groningen           40   175

Noorderkwartier

Commander:                      Ship                  Guns Crew
kapitein Jan Heck               Eenhoorn                    80
kapitein Gerrit Munt            Lastdrager            32    60
kapitein Jan Backer             Harder                31    80
(the capatain is called "Capt. de Harder")
kapitein Roetjes                Fasant van Medemblik        90
(I now believe that the document has "Capt. Roetjes")

Directors of Amsterdam

kapitein Sijmon Dootjes         Keurvorst van Keulen  34   149

Friesland

Commander                           Ship             Guns Crew
commandeur Frederick Stellingwerff  Zevenwolden      34   133
kapitein Bruijnsvelt                Breda            32   116
kapitein Wagenaar                   Graaf Hendrik    34   121

Fireships

Commandeur Claeszoon           Cleyn Hoop
Commandeur Cornelis de Joris   Groot Hoop
Commandeur Schoonevelt         Fortuijn
Commandeur Warnaer Crimp       Son

Galliots

schipper Trommel
schipper Reynst Corneliszoon       

I doubt the existence of a Groote Sint Lucas

I really doubt that Sipke Fockes commanded a ship named Groote Sint Lucas in the Three Days Battle. The more I think about the issue, the more I think that he just commanded the Sint Maria. I have a handwritten document from January 1653 that lists his ship as the Sint Maria, the same ship that he had commanded since March 1652. I still can't explain the reference that says that his ship was captured and taken into an English port, from published sources only, so far. I assume that the report is incorrect or else gives the wrong ship name. There is still the issue that there are the documents giving the damage to the Sint Maria and that the ship would be repaired.

The truth about the Groote Sint Lucas is still a mystery

The Hollandsche Mercurius for 1653 and the Onstelde-Zee from 1654 indicate that Sipke Fockes commanded a ship named Groote Sint Lucas (28 guns) and that ship was captured by the English. I had always assumed that was a mistake and that he still commanded the Sint Maria and that was the ship captured. Sipke Fockes was killed on the first day of the Three Days Battle. The piece of information that threw the issue into doubt was that there are documents showing that the Sint Maria was in hand, after the battle, needing repairs. The Sint Maria does not appear to have served further, at least not with the Dutch fleet. We have seen no sign of any ship named Groote Sint Lucas in any document from late 1652 or early 1653. That is what still causes me to think that there was no Groote Sint Lucas. I don't know that I have seen an independent English source that lists the Dutch ships taken to Dover and Portsmouth during and after the Three Days Battle (as the Dutch called the Battle of Portland). If we could find such a source, that would sway my opinion. Either that or finding a mention of a Groote Sint Lucas in handwritten Dutch documents would finally resolve the issue to my mind.

31 May 1653 in Witte de With's journal

I was rather surprised that the ship Milde Maarten was commanded by Claes Jansz Sanger on 31 May 1653. I knew that Johan Evertsen was on board the Milde Maarten around this date, but I had thought that perhaps Jan Matthijsz was captain, as he was later in the year. Page 128 of Witte de With's journal (document E8812)lists these two ships: the Milde Maarten with 26 guns and a crew of 110 men and the Leeuwinne, with 30 guns and a crew of 120 men. This was the ship that had been commanded by Johannes van Regermorter, who was killed on 28 February 1653, in the Three Days Battle. In the rest of the 31 May journal entry, on the next page (which I had not printed before tonight), the Brederode, flagship of Lt-Admiral Tromp, is listed as having 56 guns and a crew of 268 men. With that is Jacob Cleijdijck's ship Prins, with 38 guns and a crew of 168 men.