Tuesday, February 13, 2007

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.