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
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
"Good Lists" of Dutch ships
I was thinking that there were two good lists of Dutch ships from 1652 and 1653, but there are really more than that. The ones that I was thinking of were this really extraordinary list of Zeeland ships from December 1652 and then the list of ships from about June 23 1653, after the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort) from 12 to 13 June 1653. There are actually more than that. The list of Amsterdam ships that Jan Glete had sent me in August 2006 is really good, as it lists all ships hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam during early 1652. The list dates from September 1652, as best as I can tell. There are also other Amsterdam lists that have only gun lists, in some cases, and at least one other that has dimensions. There are many lists of Friesland ships that cover the Admiralty of Friesland and ships hired by Groningen that are usually considered as serving under the Admiralty of Friesland. The only Friesland ships not well covered in what I have are the two Harlingen Directors' ships, the Vergulde Pelicaen and the Sint Vincent. I actually may have the dimensions of the Sint Vincent. If I have the dimensions of the Pelicaen, I cannot tell, as there were too many ships named Pelicaen. We have pretty good coverage for the ships built for the Admiralty of Rotterdam (or the Maze), but the hired ships generally only have gun lists. We are lucky to have the gun lists for many of the Noorderkwartier ships, as they are the least well documented, at least the hired ships. We do have dimensions for many ships built as warships for the Noorderkwartier. In any case, there is a great deal more information available than has been published. I am not going to get into print any time soon, but there should be something soon in Dutch that represents the leading edge of research into Dutch ships and the fleet in 1652 to 1654.