Another look at the 30 June 1652 Dutch fleet list

I was looking again at the published Dutch fleet list dated 30 June 1652 that Carl Stapel had passed to me several years ago. The good thing about the list is that it shows the fleet organization and all but two of the ships can be identified by the captains' names. But while the list is dated 30 June, there are some anomolies. By 30 June, Adriaan de Zeeuw had been killed and Sijmon Cornelisz van der Meer's ship had been sunk in action with English frigates. Also, I believe that Jan Warnaertsz Capelman's ship had been captured. All those, however, are included in this list. It clearly represents the fleet sometime earlier in June, or else it was what had been planned. Clearly, the list is accurate, so why the two names who are so unfamiliar: Jacob van Nove and Jan Elbertsz van Enkhuizen?

Google Book Search: now has snippet view of Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen

I was surprised to see that Google Book Search now has Dr. Elias' book, Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van Ons Zeewezen in Snippet View. I would like to see the book be part of the coming "Google Editions", so I could have portable access to the book.

The documentary "Broadside"

When I got home from work yesterday, a package had arrived for me. In the package was a copy of a new version of Frank Fox's book about the Second Anglo-Dutch War and a DVD with the documentary that Bruce Twickler had produced through his company Docema. They had a deal where for about $29.95 and shipping, you got the book and the DVD, a huge bargain. I saw in the DVD box that they have also reprinted the original version of Frank's book A Distant Storm: the Four Days' Battle of 1666. One of the family of website is www.broadsidethefilm.com.

A small Dutch warship Neptunus in 1629

In the first half of the 17th Century, the Dutch used many small warships, mostly on the rivers. One of these in 1629 was the Rotterdam ship Neptunus, built in 1623. Captain Cornelis Arentsz de Jonge commanded the Neptunus. The Neptunus was 30 Rotterdam lasts, or by my theory, 40 lasts when measured in Amsterdam feet. The crew consisted of 31 sailors and the ship was armed with 6-iron 4pdr, 2-iron 2-1/2pdr, and 10 steenstukken. There were 20 chambers, two for each of the steenstukken (literally "stone guns", which are usually said to be swivel guns). Two chambers for a "stone gun" allowed one to be in the gun and one to be loaded, providing a higher rate of fire. The steenstukken were iron breech loading guns. The Neptunus was at Batenborgh.

Breechloaders and chambers

One issue that I see writers frequently misunderstand is to count the chambers associated with breechloading guns as some sort of gun. For example, Dutch ships in the 17th Century, specially prior to 1648, carried "steenstukken" (literally, stone guns). The Roode Leeuw, in 1629, carried 8 steenstukken and had 16 chambers for them. That allowed the breech loading guns to have a higher rate of fire, so that while one chamber was being loaded, the other could be in the gun, ready to fire. The English ships in the 16th and early 17th Century carried port pieces and fowlers, which originally fired stone shot. They were breech loaders, as were the early steenstukken. Often, lists in the late 16th Century would show that a ship carried so many fowlers and twice that number of chambers for them. Some of the summary lists of English ships would add the chambers to the overall numbers of guns carried, which is obviously a mistake. Archibald's book about wooden English warships had some of these lists from the period of 1590 to 1620. These are generally pulled from Charles Derrick's classic book from the early 19th Century.

Rotterdam and Amsterdam last measurements

I am going back over the Staat van Orlog te Water for the year 1629. The Rotterdam ships (it calls the admiralty the Admiraliteit tot Rotterdam, not the Admiraliteit van de Maze). This list does not give dimensions, only the size in lasts. My theory is that the last measurements of Rotterdam ships is based on the dimensions in Maas feet (about 308mm), not Amsterdam feet (283mm). The basis for my theory is a list of Rotterdam ships from 1642. I have dimensions for most of those ships and can tell how the last figures were calculated. The small frigates Utrecht, Overijssel, and Gelderland are all listed as being of 90 lasts. Their dimensions in Maas feet are

100ft x 23ft x 8ft

. The calculation then is

90 = 100 x 23 x 8 / 207

. The usual way is round to the closest ten lasts. Of course, we are used to dimensions written in Amsterdam feet. The dimensions in Amsterdam feet are

109ft x 25ft x 8ft-8in

. The size in lasts, calculated from Amsterdam feet is

120 lasts = 109ft x 25ft x 8.727273/207

. You can see that the size in what I call "Amsterdam lasts" is about 1.3 times greater than the size in "Rotterdam lasts".

I was doing a literature search in Google Books

I had decided to look in Google Books to see what was currently available for 17th Century naval history and naval history generally. What had gotten my attention is that several books are available that I had not expected to find, such as the biography of Richard Badiley, among others. After I had downloaded 33 volumes, Google Books freaked out and blocked any further searches, as they were concerned that this was an automated search and download. I suppose that was because I was so consistently on topic.

A 30-gun Dutch warship in 1616

The second ship in the list of guns on Dutch warships in the year 1616, on page 750 of Vol.I of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen is one that I cannot name. This is a ship armed with 2-24pdr, 16-18pdr, 2-12pdr, 2-6pdr, and 8-5pdr guns. I thought that I had pretty complete information for Dutch warships in service in 1616, but this one is not a ship that I can name. I have no ship for this period armed with 16-18pdr guns.

Vol.I of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen is finally available in Google Books

Google Books has finally made Volume One of the classic Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen available. For a long time, it was the only volume that could not be downloaded.

Dutch warship inventories after the Battle of the Kentish Knock

I believe that I have already mentioned that Witte de With asked the captains in his fleet to compile inventories of their ships and to report damage following the Battle of the Kentish Knock. I am reviewing the inventories compiled after the Battle of the Gabbard in 1653. They are often very interesting and useful, so the same would probably be true of the inventories from October 1652. They would be useful to precisely define the ships present at the battle and to give details that might not be found elsewhere.

The size of the Rotterdam ship Brederode

The two large flagships provided by the Admiralty of the Maze (or Rotterdam) for use by the fleet commander were both said to be 300 lasts in size. Those were Rotterdam lasts, and not comparable to ships from other admiralties. To compare, you have to multiply by 1.3 and then round to the nearest ten lasts. The problem is that the 300 number is an estimate or nominal number, not a real figure. The Brederode is often said to have dimensions of 132ft x 32ft x 13-1/2ft. Those are Maas feet, however, not Amsterdam feet. The calculated size in Rotterdam lasts is about 275 lasts, not 300. You have to very liberally round to get the 300 last figure. My estimate of a real size for the Brederode, in Amsterdam lasts, is 360 lasts.

Ships involved with the capture of New Netherlands in 1664

I found the best list of English ships that arrived to capture New Netherlands in 1664. This is from the History of New Netherland: or, New York under the Dutch By Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan (from Google Books). The ships were the Guinea (36 guns), commanded by Capt. Hugh Hyde. The Elias (30 guns) was commanded by Capt. William Hill. The Martin (16 or 18 guns) was commanded by Capt. Edward Groves. The hired ship William and Nicholas (10 guns) doesn't have a captain listed. This shows that in fact, there were four ships, as most sources indicated. The Elias was an Amsterdam Directors' ship captured by the English in 1653, on 12 June 1653 in the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort. The ship was lost on returning from the New World overloaded with wood from the New Netherlands. the Elias was usually armed with 36 guns. The Martin was a Sixth Rate, probably armed with 12 or 14 guns. The Martin had served in the First Anglo-Dutch War and would serve in the second, as well. The William and Nicholas doesn't appear in the list of ships that were hired by the navy in the war.

A ship Maria, built in 1639

Would someone know anything about a ship Maria (IHS Maria Anno De 1639) wrecked on the north coast of Hispaniola, probably in the 1640's? There are Dutch, Spanish, and English wrecks at the same general location. If this were a Dutch ship, it would seem likely to be a West Indiaman. I would guess that it is more likely a Spanish ship.

Maas feet again

I realized this morning that I have been estimating dimensions, all week, for Rotterdam ships without taking into account my theory about the size. I theorize that all Rotterdam sizes in lasts are based on calculations using Maas feet of 12 inches of 308mm. This is certainly true for ships from pages dating from 1642. My theory is that this applies to all Rotterdam ships from 1600 to 1652, not just 1642.

After a certain date, all Dutch ships were measured in Amsterdam feet of 11 inches and 283mm. The usual last calculations are based on measurements in Amsterdam feet. I always convert dimensions to Amsterdam feet, so we have a common basis for comparison.

Another question about 1665

Another question about 1665: there were ships named Hoorn and Eenhoorn in service in 1665 and which fought in the Battle of Lowestoft. There is every reason to think that the Eenhoorn built in 1625 had been discarded sometime after 1655. Still, a ships named Hoorn or Eenhoorn in 1665 had dimensions approximating the dimensions of the ship from 1625. The ship Hoorn, which served in the First Anglo-Dutch War, as well, was 120ft long and carried a main battery of 8pdr guns. The larger ship carried a mixed armament of varying from 12pdr down to 3 or 4pdr guns. No other ship with a similar name is mentioned from 1652 to 1655. I am tempted to think that it was the larger ship that was called Eenhoorn in 1665 and the smaller ship was called the Hoorn. The commander of the Hoorn was none other than the veteran of the First Anglo-Dutch War, Claes Cornelisz Hen (or Valehen). There is a gun list, pretty modest, for the Hoorn, while we lack a similar list for the Eenhoorn. If we had one, we might be better able to understand the situation in 1665. We also might be in better shape, analytically, if we knew about one or more other ships named Hoorn or Eenhoorn for the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier.

The Dutch ship Monnik in 1658 and 1665

Vreugdenhil says that the smaller Monnik or Wapen van Monnikendam was the ship lost in the Baltic in 1659. The larger Monnikendam carried 32 guns in the Baltic, while the Wapen van Monnikendam carried 26 guns. However, there is a page in the Collectie Johan de Witt from 1665 that shows that the Monnik in 1665 was 116ft x 27ft. Another point is that the ship Monnik in service in 1665 had an extremely light armament. The larger ship Monnikendam carried 8-18pdr guns in 1652 to 1654. Knowledgeable people, however, swear that it was the smaller ship that was lost. From what is in Anderson's book, Naval Wars in the Baltic, the ship captured was the ship that carried 32 guns, so therefore, this was the 120ft long ship, not the smaller ship.

The Amsterdam ship Westfriesland in 1633

The question is whether the Amsterdam ship Westfriesland, listing in the Staat van Oorlog te Water for the year 1633 is the same ship that served in the First Anglo-Dutch War. The size of 180 lasts is plausible. The armament is even not that dissimilar. The main issue that the Westfriesland would be 20 years old or more in 1653. The Noorderkwartier ship Eenhoorn, built in 1625, was still in service in 1652 and 1653, so the Westfriesland being the same as the ship in 1633 is possible.

The hired ship Profeet Samuel

I noticed a little piece of trivia. The ship Profeet Samuel, hired by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier, was a vessel of 200 lasts, according to my calculations. The broadside weight of the Profeet Samuel was only 104 pounds. The Profeet Samuel fought in the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort) and was heavily damaged. The Profeet Samuel was finally discarded and the crew moved to the newly hired ship Mars in July 1653.

The ship Engel Gabriel (1636), No. 16 in Vreugdenhil's list

In the past, we had been confused about the ship Engel Gabriel (from 1636), which was number 16 in Vreugdenhil's list of Dutch ships. We now understand that the Engel Gabriel of 1636 was the jacht commanded by Gerrit Veen. It was NOT inservice until 1653. There were at least three ships named Engel Gabriel in service in 1652-1653. One was the ship commanded by Isaac Sweers, with 36 guns, that was sunk by gunfire in the Battle of Portland. Another was an Amstederdam Director's ship commanded by Bastiaan Bardoel. The third was a ship hired by the Admiralty of Amsterdam that was commanded by Adriaan van den Bosch (or Bos).

Steenstukken

On page 750 of Volume I of Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen has two pieces of information about steenstukken ("stone guns"), which Jan Glete says are swivel guns. Page 750 lists the guns of a 36-gun ship. They include eight 3pdr steenstukken. In the table of guns, De Jonge lists a 4pdr steenstukken. I am currently using the 3pdr figure for my broadside weight calculations. I believe that I have the document that is behind this page from the Nationaal Archief in The Hague.