Dutch ship armaments in 1665

By the Battle of Lowestoft, Dutch ships seemed to have carried a large number of guns for their size. The little Rotterdam ship Vrede carried 40 guns. In the case of the Vrede, the ship carried many 12pdr and 6pdr guns. My opinion was that the ship was greatly over-armed for a small frigate. This was the ship that Jan van Brakel commanded at the raid on the Medway when he is often said to have broken the chain on the Medway. The truth seems to be that the fireship Pro Patria, commanded by Jan Daniëlsz van Rijn, was the ship that broke the chain.

Abel Roelantsz

I have been searching on the Gemeentearchief Rotterdam website. I saw what I had known about: "capiteyn Abel Roelantsz Verboom". I believe that he had been flag captain for Tromp on the Brederode in 1652. In 1653, he commanded Witte de With's old flagship, the Prinses Louise (36 guns). He also may have functioned as a division commander.

The Gewapende Ruyter

I had never seen the ship Gewapende Ruyter mentioned in any document from the Nationaal Archief in The Hague before yesterday. That is no longer the case. Yesterday, I received photographs of a letter from Admiralty of Amsterdam secretary David de Wildt, from 18 November 1653, with what Jane's Fighting Ships used to call "War Losses". These were the ships lost by the Admiralty of Amsterdam in the First Anglo-Dutch War. The second ship mentioned was the Gewapende Ruyter (kapitein Boëtius Schaeff), 36 guns. David de Wildt categorized the Gewapende Ruyter as being taken and brought to The Downs.

My possible Dutch connection

I found out today that my ancestor's name was not Matilda Lemon, but Matilda Lehman. Lehman is apparently a Mennonite name, and this page makes it seem plausible that Matilda Lehman could have a Netherlands connection. Lehmans moved to Ohio, at one point, and the Beardsleys lived in Ohio at the right period. It was in an 1870 census where Solomon Beardsley said that his mother was born in "Holland". Matilda Lehman is said to have been born in 1812 and died in 1860.

Bronze 15pdr guns

I had thought that I did not know the weight of any 15pdr guns, but from a page dated 27 March 1653, I have the weights of two bronze 15pdr guns carried by the Zeeland ship Hollandia, commanded by kapitein Adriaen Banckert. The two guns were 2750 and 2733 pounds.

Copper 6pdr guns for the Gorcum

I was surprised to see that the Rotterdam ship Gorcum (or Gorinchem) carried two copper 6pdr guns in 1652. The Friesland ship Breda had copper 4pdr guns at the same time. The Admiralty of Friesland had acquired the Breda from Amsterdam, as I recall. Nico Brinck had told me that the "copper" guns were actually made from a composite of iron, lead, and beaten copper. The copper was not cast, but beaten to shape with hammers. As far as I can tell, the Gorcum had the copper 6pdrs replaced by Jun3 1653.