Dr. Ballhausen's book is now in snippet view in Google Books

Dr. Ballhausen's book about the First Anglo-Dutch War and the war between the Netherlands and Sweden is now in snippet view in Google Books. That is a slight improvement over not being visible at all. I have a copy of the original book, although it is not very accessible, being in German, which I know less well than Dutch. At least it is now searchable in Google Books, which can be a help.

The Friesland ship Gideon in 1631

I received a photograph of a page from 1631 with information about the Friesland ship Gideon, a pinnace used as a convoyer:

the pinnace Gideon
commanded by Tiebbe Auckes
of 96 lasts
manned by 70 men

Armed with:
2-bronze 15pdr
2-bronze 9pdr
10-iron 9pdr
4-steenstukken

I estimate a 96 last ship to have dimensions:
89ft x 23.5ft x 9.5ft x 5.5ft

This seems like some good information that our friends in Friesland might like to see.

The Amsterdam ship Haerlem in 1631

Yesterday, I received the first few pictures from an Amsterdam ship list dating from 1631. One of the ships was the Haerlem, said to be a vessel of 225 lasts. I did a calculation and the ship could be one of those with dimensions 125ft x 31ft x 12ft x 7ft, which eventually carried 40 guns. In 1631, the Haerlem carried 2-bronze 24pdr, 4-short bronze chambered 18pdr, 2-bronze 12pdr, 14-iron 12pdr, 6-iron 5pdr, and 8-steenstukken. The Haerlem had a crew of 106 men and was commended by Commandeur Hendrick Cleuter. The page is annotated with 4 July 1631.