Did Dirk Gerritsz Pomp command the St. Jan Battista?

I have been studying the list of captains in the Fishery Protection Squadron on 22 July 1652, as shown in the book by Lambertus van den Bosch, Leven en Bedryf van den Vermaarden Zeeheld, Cornelis Tromp, published in 1692. There were 15 ships in the squadron and some of them are easy to list. For Amsterdam, just consult The First Dutch War, Vol.IV and the list of Amsterdam ships. The list shows the Marcus Curtius and the Catarina lost. Apparently, the ships discarded were also in the squadron, such as the Patientia and Engel. For Rotterdam, we know the Paulus and the Sphera Mundi. For the Noorderkwartier, we know the Sampson, Wapen van Holland, Adam en Eva, and Land van Beloften for sure. The published list of 12 ships that excludes the Marcus Curtius seems to be at least partially incorrect. From analysis, I wonder if Dirk Gerritsz Pomp commanded the St. Jan Battista, which I believe was in the squadron. Van den Bosch lists Dirk Gerritszoon, which I assume was him.

Friesland ships

So, what do we make of the lists that say this about Friesland ships in early 1652?:

2 Convoyers
2 in the North Sea
2 in Brazil
5 of the 17-1/2ships of the 100

and this:

Directors

Friesland         2
Stadt en Landen   1

200 last ships

I recently received some information from Ron van Maanen about Zeeland ships. Some of the older ships were larger than most of the ships in service in 1652. For example, the Middelburg, built in 1632, and the Vlissingen, also built in 1632 were both 200 lasts. A 200 last ship might be 125ft x 29ft x 11-1/2ft, in Amsterdam feet.

The Vogelstruis

The Vogelstruis was a ship built for the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East Indian Company (the VOC). The Vogelstruis seems to have been smaller than the biggest "Retourschepen" of the VOC and had acquitted herself well in the First Anglo-Dutch War, up until the Battle of Portland when the English took her after a hard fight. The Vogelstruis was so heavily damaged that the English just made her a hulk. I now can see that the reason that the Vogelstruis did so well was the combination of being small enough to have some speed and maneuverability and because she was well-armed. She had a complete 18pdr lower tier. That made her one of the most heavily armed Dutch ships in the war.

Claes Jansz Sanger in early August 1653

One curiosity that I noticed today, in a page that I received, is that the list shows Claes Jansz Sanger, on 1 August 1653, as captain of the ship Milde Maerten. That is curious because there is every reason to believe that on 10 August, he was captain of the Zeeland ship Westcappel, when it was lost in the Battle of Scheveningen. Presumably, this is just because a feature of documents from the First Anglo-Dutch War is that they are often mistaken, or at least have errors introduced by copyists.

A challenge

What I would be interested to see is if anyone can find information about these ships hired or which served during the First Anglo-Dutch War. This is not an exhaustive list, but it covers most of the ships that I have either no information or minimal information. In some cases, I have some information, but would like some confirmation (Prins Maurits). It doesn't count that you can say "I know but I won't tell".

Admiralty or Directors      Ship
Harlingen Directors         Sint Vincent      28 guns
Harlingen Directors         Vergulde Pelicaen 28 guns

a possible ship hired by the Groningen Directors

Noorderkwartier             Vergulde Schel, 24 guns
Noorderkwartier             Peereboom       24 guns
Noorderkwartier             Tobias          30 guns
Noorderkwartier             Profeet Samuel  30 guns
Noorderkwartier             Lastdrager      28 guns
Noorderkwartier             Mars            34 or 38 guns
Noorderkwartier             Alkmaar         26 guns ('s-Landsschip)
Noorderkwartier             Roode Leeuw     24 guns
Noorderkwartier             Huis van Nassau 24 or 28 guns
Noorderkwartier             Burgh van Alkmaar 24 or 28 guns ('s-Landsschip)
Noorderkwartier             Adam en Eva     24 guns 
Noorderkwartier             Sampson         24 or 26 guns ('s-Landsschip)
Noorderkwartier             Stad Medemblick 26 or 32 guns ('s-Landsschip)
Noorderkwartier             Nieuw Kasteel   14 guns
Noorderkwartier             Arke Noach      24 guns
Noorderkwartier             St. Jan Baptist 24 guns
Noorderkwartier             Wapen van Holland 30 guns
Noorderkwartier             Prins Maurits   28 or 32 guns ('s-Landsschip)
Noorderkwartier             Herder          

Amsterdam                   Jonas            26 guns
Amsterdam                   Gewapende Ruyter 36 guns ('s-Landsschip)

Rotterdam Directors         Erasmus
Rotterdam Directors         Sint Pieter     28 guns  Sijmon Cornelisz van der Meer
Rotterdam Directors         Sint Pieter     29 guns  Isaac de Jongh
Rotterdam Directors         Jonas           36 guns
Rotterdam Directors         Meerman         32 guns
Rotterdam Directors         Prins           38 guns
Rotterdam Directors         Hollandia       26 or 28 guns  Ruth Jacobsz Buijs

Rotterdam                   Gulden Beer     24 guns
Rotterdam                   Maria           24 guns
Rotterdam                   Hollandia       24 guns  Hendrick Ernestus de Bartrij
Rotterdam                   Roscam          26 guns

Medemblick Directors        Koning Radboud  28 guns
                            Harderin
                            Purmerland
                            
Zeeland                     Wapen van Keulen 30 guns
Zeeland                     Hasewind         28 guns ('s-Landsschip)

Friesland Directors' ships in 1652

There were potentially two sorts of Friesland Directors' ships. This is a matter over which there has been heated discussion. Fortunately, you can't yell over email. There were definitely two Harlingen Directors' ships: the Sint Vincent and the Vergulde Pelicaen. Both carried 28 guns. The Vergulde Pelicaen was apparently discarded after the Battle of Portland in 1653, if not before that. The Sint Vincent served up until early November 1653, when it foundered in the severe storm off the Texel. I have at least four or five references to the existence of a Groningen Directors' ship. At least two references cite the Groningen ship Graef Hendrick as being a Groningen Directors' ship. Also, in early 1652, Joost Hendricksz Bulter is cited as a captain commanding a Groningen Directors' ship. By late 1652, he was appointed to command the new ship Stad Groningen en Ommelanden, which as purchased by the Admiralty of Friesland. A list from December 1652 lists Jan Reijndersz Wagenaer as the captain of a Groningen Directors' ship Graef Hendrick. This controversy, in my opinion is not resolved, even though several of us have our own, differing opinions. One is that there never was a Groningen Directors' ship, despite that being part of the plan for the Extraordinary Equipage. I tend to believe that at least in 1652, the Graef Hendrick was the Groningen Directors' ship, but by 1653 may have been funded by the Admiralty of Friesland.

The Brederode in June 1653

The inventory for the Brederode was signed by Maerten Harpertsz Tromp, with his characteristic signature. These are some details:

The ship Brederode

crew of 260 men

54 guns: 4-36pdr, 20-24pdr, 20-12pdr, 10-6pdr

14,000 lbs of gunpowder

 100 36 pound shot
1000 24 pound shot
1000 12 pound shot
 400  6 pound shot

I would imagine that the lower tier consisted of the 4-36pdr and 20-24pdr guns The upper tier would be the 20-12pdr guns. The quarterdeck would be armed with the 10-6pdr guns.

The Amsterdam pound versus the English pound (weights)

I usually do not think about this issue, but I have known that the Amsterdam pound is heavier than the English pound. The Amsterdam pound is about 494.1 grams while the English pound is 453.6 grams. That is a ratio of 1.0892857 to 1.0. That means that an English 42 pound shot is 38.56 Amsterdam pounds. The Dutch 6 pound shot is roughly 6.5 English pounds. The Dutch 8 pound shot is 8.7 English pounds (you can see my American-centric viewpoint, since I use the period as the decimal point, not the comma).

To put things in perspective: gun weights

I happen to own a copy of Vol.I of Adrian Caruana's book about English guns. While the shot diameter given for the Alderney wreck guns seems like a Falcon (3-1/2 pounds), the length and gun weight resembles a saker from the Revenge "cast away near the Isle of Azores in September 1591". There is the added benefit of being contemporary to the Alderney gun:

Sakers from the Revenge, all 7ft long:

13 cwt-3qtr-0lbs:  1540 lbs
14 cwt-3qtr-13lbs: 1665 lbs
15 cwt-1qtr-18lbs: 1726 lbs
15 cwt-1qtr-14lbs: 1722 lbs
16 cwt-1qtr-21lbs: 1841 lbs
14 cwt-2qtr-6lbs:  1630 lbs
16 cwt-0qtr-14lbs: 1806 lbs
13 cwt-1qtr-24lbs: 1508 lbs

The two Falcons are much smaller guns, although they are also 7ft guns:

8cwt-0qtr-21lbs:  917 lbs
8cwt-2qtr-19lbs:  971 lbs

Using my empirical equation for guns, I estimate a weight of 973 lbs for a 7ft long iron Falcon firing a 3-1/2 pound shot, which closely matches the Revenge guns.

The Alderney Guns

I was looking at the Alderney Elizabethan Wreck website. I was particularly interested in the gun page. They say about the guns:

All the shot so far recovered is of 78 – 80 mm (3? inches) diameter which reinforces our current view that the guns are all the same, that is to say 7 foot long, cast iron, smooth bore, muzzle loaders of 3½ inch bore and 14 hundredweight (1568 lbs)

I tried my empiracle calculations and I would have said that I would expect 4 pound shot, for the shot diameter and the gun weight. My first idea was that it would be a Falcon, firing 3-1/2 pound shot. I have trouble believing the gun weight of 1568 lbs. For the shot diameter given, that would make for an extremely heavy gun, outside of the range with which I have seen. I concede that for the shot diameter, it must be a Falcon, not a Minion (4pdr). My problem is that the gun weight and length are more like a Dutch 6pdr iron gun. For that small of a shot weight, a similar Dutch gun would be a bit less than a 1000 lbs.

Joris Caulerij

I have a page with Joris Caulerij's signature and he spelled his name with one "L" and "au", not two L's or an "O" instead of the "au". The document is an inventory of his hired ship Jonas, dating from 23 June 1653.

The Vlissingen

A large Zeeland ship named Vlissingen served in the First Anglo-Dutch War. I have wondered if this was the same ship that was Johan Evertsen's flagship in the Battle of the Downs in 1639. The Vlissingen spent 1652 in the Caribbean with a small squadron. Cornelis Mangelaer was the captain up through the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland). By May, Jan Pouwelszoon was the captain. He had been Michiel de Ruyter's flag captain on the small Neptunus at the Battle of Plymouth, in August 1652. He fought in the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort) on 12 and 13 June 1653, and almost certainly at the Battle of Scheveningen on 10 August 1653. He took the Vlissingen on the voyage to Norway from September to early November 1653 and survived the terrible storm off the Texel on their return. This was a ship that was 130ft long and carried 32 guns.

The Battle of the Kentish Knock

Dr. Elias's book Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen, in Vol.V, has some very good references about ships and the fleet. In Vol.III, for the Battle of the Kentish Knock, that is strangely absent. He mostly refers to The First Dutch War, Vol.II, Brandt's biography of De Ruyter, and the Hollandsche Mercurius. He does refer to Witte de With's journal and to some references in the Staten Generaal, but he seemed to lack knowledge of where the good information was located. For that matter, that is true for me, as well. I happen to know that at least some "good information" exists and that it is a matter of finding where it is. The reason being that it is so good, that there is some advantage for the researcher and author who knows where it is, when there is good reason to want to be the first to publish it.

William Laird Clowes' work is apparently available, online

I was amazed to see that the seven volumes of William Laird Clowes' work The Royal Navy: a History from the Earliest Times to the Present is available at archive.org. You seem to be able to choose between a variety of formats. I highly recommend this work, if you are interested in sailing naval warfare.

A nice summary list dated 24 June 1653

One of the documents that I have dates from 24 June 1653 and includes the name, captain, guns, and crew of all the ships in the fleet after the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort (the Battle of the Gabbard). The ships are grouped by admiralty, starting with the Admiralty of Amsterdam. This list actually reflects the fleet before the battle, as it includes ships that were lost. For example, the St. Matteeus is listed. The captain was Cornelis Laurensz, and the ship was armed with 42 guns and had a crew of 155 men. A few ships have some elements omitted. In other cases, the figures are incorrect, such as for the Gorcum, commanded by Capta. Willem Ariensz Warmont. The ship is listed as having 23 guns and a crew of 94 men. I would say that the ship would have carried 30 guns. As the entry for "D'heer Commandeur de Ruijter" might be of interest, the ship was "'t Lam", which had a crew of 168 men and carried 38 guns.

The hired ship Mars in October 1653

I just found the page that has information about the hired ship Mars in October 1653. The Mars was hired by the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier, and Rens Cornelisz Sevenhuijsen was appointed as captain in July 1653. He sailed with Witte de With's fleet on the voyage to Norway from September to November 1653, and kapitein Sevenhuijsen apparently served as Schout-bij-Nacht in one of the squadrons. The Mars carried 38 guns and had a crew of 152 men.

Ron van Maanen's translation from Brandt

Ron van Maanen has kindly made available his translation of text from Brandt's biography of De Ruyter about the VOC ship Vogelstruis, which I have slightly edited:

Het leven en bedryf van den heere Michiel de Ruyter. G. Brandt, Amsterdam, 1687

At the battle at Plymouth 28 february 1652 the Struis or Struisvogel was commanded by Douwe Aukes with 40 guns and 200 men, E.I.C.- chamber Amsterdam. In the fight she came in the middle of the British fleet and her scared crew wanted to surrender. Her captain threatened to his crew to blow her up. Her crew started to fight again, destroying two British ships (800 men drowned)and heavily damaging a third. An other version is that she was attacked by two British warships, doing nothing, let them come alongside, than giving the first a broadside which sank it, the second a broadside which caused it to flee. Suddenly she was entered by a third one with so many men that her crew wanted to surrender and Aukes threatened to blow the ship up. After a heavy fight the free themselves and join the Dutch fleet again.

28 february 1653 she was part of the fleet commanded by M.H. Tromp which fought against the British commanded by Blake. De Struisvogel was now commanded by Kornelis Adriaensz van Kruik from Schiedam which fought together with De Ruyter and Sweers against 7 or more British ships until the evening. After fighting with several ships she was hardly manned and lost her masts. When Tromp saw this he ordered commandeur Gideon de Wiltdt to tow her away to safety. Due to low winds he didn’t succeed. Her decks were shattered with blood, wounded and dead, and 80 dead men could be seen. From the 40 sailors from Schiedam, of which the youngest as 20 years old, only 3 remained. The British stopped plundering fearing she would sink. The next day she was found by the British drifting as a empty hull with no sails and hardly any crew left and was brought into Portsmouth. Brandt wrote about Kruik that he was a very brave man.

So what ship was this, if any we know?

Among that ships that were hired in the March to April 1653 timeframe may have been one with these specifications:

A fluit ship laying at Medemblick
132ft long
 27ft wide
 12-1/2ft hold
  6-1/4ft deck height

with 32 guns:
 8-12pdr
 6-8pdr
12-6pdr
 2-5pdr
 2-3pdr
 2-2pdr

Was this ship hired and if so, under what name and organization did it serve?

The 125ft ship in the 28 January 1653 page could be the Walvis

Nothing is exact or necessarily even partly correct in the Netherlands in the 17th Century. Although there is at least one difference between the 125ft ship in the 28 January 1653 page, the ship seems to be the Moorin (commanded by Cornelis Jol), which is listed by name on 18 February 1653. I guess that the 130ft ship is the Hollandsche Tuin, so that accounts for both. I consulted my page at KentishKnock.com. The only difference between the unnamed ship and the Hollandsche Tuin is that the latter ship carried more guns.

The Groote Sint Lucas?

I am not able to have any new research done right now, so I am taking time to look at what I already have in hand. One page dated 28 January 1653 lists two new ships armed with 28 guns. One is 125ft long and the other is 130ft long. I am less than certain that I can supply names for them. The reason that I am interested is that I am looking for candidate ships that could have been the ship named Groote Sint Lucas, which is the name given for the ship commanded by Sipke Fockes in the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland). Sipke Fockes was killed and his ship was captured in the battle. Since March 1652, he had commanded the Amsterdam Directors' ship Sint Maria (28 guns), which I believe was just 122ft long. I have documentary evidence that the Sint Maria fought in the Three Days Battle and was damaged, but was not captured. I theorize that Sipke Fockes was appointed as captain of a newer, larger ship named the Groote Sint Lucas, and that someone else was appointed as captain of the Sint Maria. It seems that the Sint Maria was ultimately discarded as being not worth repair, but I cannot prove that, other than the ship disappears from subsequent lists.

Google Books has John Charnock's book History of Marine Architecture as a full view book

My son told me that some surprising books are now available from Google Books. I wondered if some fo the rare books might be there. Sure enough, I was able to download the pdf file for John Charnock's classic work History a Marine Architecture, from 1800-1802.

The Noorderkwartier ship Eendracht (1639)

I was impressed with just how heavily armed that the Noorderkwartier ship Eendracht was. The Eendracht was the ship built in 1639 and armed with 41 guns. The odd gun was an iron 8pdr, by the way. 18 ofthose guns were bronze and the rest were iron. The Eendracht fought in the Mediterranean Sea during 1652 and 1653, when the Dutch ultimately established control, driving the English from the area. Sadly, you will probably need to wait for the hardcover book to be released, probably not from me (although I still have hopes). More likely, the book would be in Dutch.

Dutch status reports after the First Anglo-Dutch War battles

I hypothesize that after every battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War, that a status report was compiled, along with inventories and damage reports for all the ships. I only have most of what was compiled after the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort). I understand that at least some of what was compiled after the Battle of the Kentish Knock has survived, as well, although not in the same location at the Nationaal Archief. I would that that such reports probably would have been compiled after the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland), but I am not sure that anything has survived. The report after the Battle of the Kentish Knock, the Three Days Battle, and the Battle of Scheveningen (the Zeeslag bij Terheide) are all gaping holes in the information that I have. I have some thousands of photographs of documents (which can't be published directly), but I still just have a fraction of what exists. I have most of the "easy stuff", and getting more will be more costly, as we really don't know where to look. Since I am in America, and currently cannot afford to travel back to The Hague right now or to visit Rotterdam or Amsterdam, I am feeling blocked.

Why Vreugdenhil gave the Hector 34 guns

I to give the reason why Vreugdenhil gave the Hector 34 guns in his 1938 list. He knew that Lambert Pieterszoon's ship had 34 guns in the list published on page 262 in Vol.I of The First Dutch War. That list was originally published in the Hollandsche Mercurius for 1652. The main problem was that Vreudenhil had been misled by Dr. Elias about the name of Lambert Pieterszoon's ship. The name was actually the Nassouw van den Burgh, commonly called the Burgh. Dr. Elias also mistook that ship, when commanded by Lt-Commandeur Hendrick Adriaensz Glas, for a Rotterdam Directors' ship when it was actually an Amsterdam Directors' ship.

Ship number 127, the Hector

In Vreugdenhil's list of Dutch ships, published by the Society for Nautical Research in 1938, he has entry 127, a ship named Hector with 34 guns, hired by the Amsterdam Directors. I believe that this entry originated with footnote 2 on page 87 of volume III of Dr. Elias's book Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen. That note puts Lambert Pieterszoon, who actually commanded the Nassouw van den Burgh (usually called the Burgh) as commanding a ship named Hector. Actually, captain Reijnier Sickema commanded a ship named Hector van Troijen, which was hired by the Admiralty of Friesland. Vice-Admiral Witte de With had attempted to court martial captains who he felt shirked their duty it the Battle of the Kentish Knock.

The Overijssel commanded by Abraham van der Hulst in the first part of 1652

The one thing that causes concern for me when deciding that the ship Overijssel commanded by Abraham van Hulst up to August 1652 was the old ship which was said to have been sold in March 1652 is that I have what seems to be complete information about Amsterdam ships that served in 1652. I even have dimensions and gun lists for the ships lost or discarded in June to August, such as Jeroen Adelaer's ship Middelburg and Barent Pietersz Dorrevelt's ship Amsterdam, which foundered in the storm off the Shetlands in early August. Why would the Overijssel be any exception? The argument for the Overijssel being the old ship is that it seems likely that the ship being fitted out by Jan van Campen, in August 1652, was the ship built in 1650, also named Overijssel. Another factor, though, is that the ship Gelderland, commanded by Cornelis van Velsen, and of identical dimensions and armament, was in service during 1651 and early 1652. Somehow, that seems to argue that the new Overijssel would not have sat idle. Another argument is that I have a page in a document that says (in old Dutch):

Gemant me 100 hoofden wact van 
de Soldijen bedraeght ter maendt
1356 comt van uit Julij 1651
tot den 20 November Anno 1653   f37516:0:0

In another document, the ship is listed as being one of the 36 ships funded in 1651, as this text seems to indicate, as well, given the July 1651 date of funding.

Odd sized Dutch guns: 20pdr, 15pdr, 10pdr, and 5pdr

The usual Dutch guns, by shot weight in the mid-17th Century were 3pdr, 4pdr, 6pdr, 8pdr, 12pdr, 18pdr, and 24pdr. There was an alternate series of guns: 5pdr, 10pdr, 15pdr, and 20pdr. I happen to have weights for those particular pieces, at least the ones used on ships of the Admiralty of Zeeland (from a list from 27 March 1653):

20pdr bronze   3781 lbs
15pdr bronze   2750 lbs
10pdr iron     3162 lbs
 5pdr iron     1530 lbs
 5pdr bronze   1406 lbs

Klokwijs and regular 12pdr guns

I have a page that I had not really noticed. This is from the information about Amsterdam Directors' ships. There is a list of 12pdr guns, some of which are klokwijs (chambered) and some which are normal guns. These are the weights of the six bronze pieces:

Nr. 1   2540 lbs  straight
Nr. 2   2560 lbs
Nr. 3   1565 lbs  klokwijs
Nr. 4   1505 lbs
Nr. 5   1403 lbs
Nr. 6   1400 lbs

The Sampson and Alkmaar, both lost in 1652

Two ships of the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier that I know very little about are the Sampson, commanded by Willem Ham, and the Alkmaar, commanded by Jan Warnaerstz Cappelman. My guess would be that these are both about 116ft x 26-1/2ft x 10ft x 6-1/4ft, the same as the Wapen van Monnikendam. In both cases, the armament was probably 26 guns. That might include something like 4-12pdr, 14-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-4pdr guns.

The Vrijheid at the Battle of the Gabbard

One piece of trivia of the sort that interests me is that the new Amsterdam ship Vrijheid was armed with 50 guns and had a crew of 190 men at the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 and 13 June 1653. The Dutch call the battle the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort. The dimensions in our list from 23 June 1653 has rather heroic dimensions: 136ft x 35ft x 14ft x 7ft. The ship is more likely to have been built to the dimensions usually quoted, which are somewhat smaller. The Vrijheid had a lower tier armed with 12pdr guns, supplemented by 4-24pdr and an upper tier of 8pdr guns. There were also several 6pdr and 3pdr guns in the upper works.

The Sint Laurens

The Sint Laurens had been hired by the Middelburg Directors in early 1652. Bastiaan Tuyneman was appointed as captain of the Sint Laurens. The Sint Laurens was the earliest casualty of the First Anglo-Dutch War, as the English took the ship in the battle on 29 May 1652. We know that the Sint Laurens probably carried 30 guns. I suspect that her crew included 105 men. One question is if the Sint Laurens was a 112ft or 115ft ship or if it was a 120ft ship or longer. My guess is that the Sint Laurens was at least 120ft. Another Middelburg Directors' ship, the Goude Leeuw, was 124ft long and had a crew of 120 men.

What I know about Joost Bulter's ship in 1653

Two things that I know for certain about Joost Bulter's ship that was sunk by gunfire at the Battle of the Gabbard are that the ship was named Stad Groningen en Ommelanden and the ship was employed by the Admiralty of Friesland, not the Harlingen or Groningen Directors. The documentary evidence is overwhelming. Only in the published literature is the ship called the Kameel. My theory is that a Van de Velde drawing has a note that the ship was called the Kameel. I base that on the article by P. Haverkorn van Rijsewijk "De Eerste Oorlog met Engeland en W. van de Velde de Oude", in Oud-Holland 17th Annual Edition 1899. Actually, an English book from 1870 precedes that publication. It is the The Life of Richard Deane by John Bathurst Deane, published in London in 1870. The book lacks an index so the reference is only found by checking Dr. Ballhausen's book. Page 654 is a good reference for the name and number of guns being Camel and 42 guns. Both of these seem to be wrong. The Deane biography attributes that information to page 120 of the Life of Martin Herbert Tromp (Anglicized version of the admiral's name).

Ship number 164 in Vreugdenhil's list

I had wondered if the ship Omlandia, number 164 from Vreugdenhil's list of Dutch warships, might actually be the Stad Groningen en Ommelanden, but the dimensions are wrong. Vreugdenhil gives the dimensions as 125ft x 29ft x 11-1/2ft, the same as those for the Noorderkwartier ship Eenhoorn. He says that the ship was purchased in 1652 and was last mentioned in 1655. The ship is said to have carried from 40 to 44 guns. I have not seen a mention of any similar ship in documents from 1652 or 1653. I just consulted Dr. Elias's appendix III in the book De Vlootbouw in Nederland. He lists the Omlandia as having 30 guns and calls the ship old. He gives the length as 122ft. His source is a list of ships in the Nationaal Archief (the former Rijksarchief), from the Secrete Loketkas, no.993. That is likely to be an obsolete reference. It still should be possible to look in the Secrete Loketkas for 1655 and to find the list. There is also another list of ships of 100ft and longer, apparently from that period, but without a modern reference (he gives Rijksarchief, no.XLVIII, no.11).

Dutch ships and captains in the First Anglo-Dutch War

If I had not already learned this lesson, it was brought to my attention again, that you cannot be sure which Dutch captain commanded which ship in the First Anglo-Dutch War unless you see the names listed together in some source. Even then, because there were so many ships of the same name, you need to find more about which ship it was.

The list of Dutch captains from 16 May 1652

I have a list of captains that is dated 16 May 1652 that says that Joost Bulter commanded a Directors' ship of the Stadt en Lande (Groningen). Another part of this list says that Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge commanded a Vlissingen Directors' ship. Those are rather surprising, as there are other lists that eventually give them different assignments. The list of ships of the Admiralty of Zeeland, from December 1652, says that Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge had commanded the ship Vlissingen (26 guns). However, Hendrick de Raedt's list also assigns him to the Vlissingen Directors. Joost Bulter is lists in May to June 1653 as commanding a ship of the Admiralty of Friesland. That was the ship Stad Groningen en Ommelanden (38 guns).

I probably will not be available during the daytime

I am going into withdrawal, as on my latest consulting job, I no longer have access to the Internet, and therefore to email, during the day. I am sorry to say that I will be less accessible than I have been, although it is in a good cause (doing work and earning money).

The Zeeland warship Hollandia in early 1653

The Zeeland ship Hollandia had served as Johan Evertsen's flagship in the First Anglo-Dutch War, apparently up to and including the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland). I had long thought that the Hollandia was one of the 100 ships of 1652, but in fact, it was one of the 36 cruisers funded in 1651. The Hollandia is usually listed as carrying 38 guns. I have a gun inventory for the Hollandia in late March 1653 and at that date, the largest guns carried were 24 pounders. The Hollandia apparently had 2-36pdr guns replacing two others in the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort). In late March, the Hollandia had 4-24pdr guns that weighed between 4159 and 4386 lbs. It also had four very light French 18dr guns weighing between 2356 and 2460 lbs. They were described as French half-cartouwen shooting 18 pound iron shot. The Hollandia also carried two 15pdr iron guns weighing 2733 and 2750 lbs. The listing does not give the material, but they probably were bronze, not iron and I would expect that they were chambered.

Resources for the Dutch navy in the First Anglo-Dutch War

My latest thinking on resources for the Dutch navy in the First Anglo-Dutch War is that none of the current published works really are adequate. For English speakers who want information about the orders of battle, ships, and captains, the only choice is The First Dutch War, published by the Navy Records Society "a long time ago". Everything else only deals with generalities. Michael Baumber's book General-at-Sea has a bit of detail, but not Dutch fleet lists. For that matter, the most detailed Dutch source, also very old, is Dr. Johan E. Elias's work Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen. There is some detail there, but mostly the book is a source for references to the archives. There also Dr. Ballhausen's book, Der Erste Englisch-Höllandische Seekrieg 1652-1654, which is in German. His lists are filled with errors, but his book is still valuable. He has many references into obscure published sources, although they need to be checked, as they may not always support his conclusions. For Dutch ship information, the only option in the published literature is A. Vreugdenhil's Ships of the United Netherlands 1648-1702. It is both incomplete and has many errors, sadly. Frankly, the best sources are all unpublished, at this point. Most are in the Nationaal Archief in The Hague, as well as the various municipal archives, the Zeeuws Archief in Zeeland, the Westfries Archief in Hoorn, and a few others. There are also the maritime-related museums, such as the Scheepvaart, which is currently closed for renovation. We can only hope that some new published sources will appear soon, even if they are in Dutch, so that everyone does not have to try to find the unpublished information for themselves.

The ship Maaght van Enkhuijsen (Maagd van Enkhuizen)

Cornelis Tromp commanded the Amsterdam ship Maagd van Enkhuizen in the Mediterranean in 1652. The document that I am looking at calls the ship the Maaght van Enkhuijsen. The dimensions shown here differ from what appears in Vreugdenhil's list:

The ship named the Maaght van Enkhuijsen
  commanded by Captain Cornelis Tromp

Length:     125ft
Beam:        29ft
Hold:        12ft
Deck Height:  6-3/4ft

34 guns: 18-12pdr, 4-8pdr, and 12-6pdr
Crew: 110 sailors and soldiers
in service from July 1651

The Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1642

I had forgotten that I had a list titled "Staet van Oorloge te Water voor den Jaere 1642". The first ship listed is the "the frigate named Dordrecht", commanded by Captain Dierck Gerretsz Verberch. The Dordrecht was built in 1639 and was 130 lasts in size. The 130 lasts must be calculated with the dimensions in Maas feet (106ft x 25ft x 10ft) rather than in Amsterdam feet (116ft x 27ft x 11ft). I say that because the last factor for the Amsterdam feet is 265, which is too large. The factor for Maas feet is 203.85, which is very reasonable. The Dordrecht carried 2-bronze 12pdr, 2-bronze 4pdr, 10-iron 8pdr, 8-iron 6pdr, and 6-iron 4pdr guns.

Vreugdenhil's list and ships sold in 1649

Vreugdenhil's list, published in 1938, gives the names of a number of ships as having been sold or discarded in 1649. One of these was named Neptunus (or Neptunis). Since the ship used by Michael De Ruyter as his flagship in the summer of 1652 was the Neptunus, that suggests that some or all of the ships listed may have re-entered service. The Neptunus that was commanded by Jan Pouwelszoon in 1652 and Adriaen Jansz den Gloeyenden Oven in May and June 1653 was in service as one of the 36 cruisers funded in 1651. I now suspect that these 36 ships were probably ones that had been sold after the peace treaty in 1648 and were repurchased, rather than having been in reserve and simply reactivated.

The ship Gouden Leeuwinne on 23 June 1653

At first, I did not identify the Gouden Leeuwinne, on 23 June 1653, as the ship formerly commanded by Johannes Regermorter. The listing for the ship originally had Claes Jansz Sanger written as the captain. This had a line through it and above that was written the name Adriaen Vermeulen. The list of guns is unique, in that eight different size guns are listed: bronze 24pdr, iron 12pdr, bronze 18pdr, iron 18pdr, bronze 12pdr klokwijs (chambered), iron 8pdr, iron 6pdr, and iron 3pdr guns. There was 3,000 lbs of gunpowder remaining after the Battle of the Gabbard.

The eight Zeeland convoyers funded in 1648

At the peace treaty in 1648 that ended the war of independence with Spain (as well as the thirty years war), Zeeland was given funding to provide eight convoyers of the 40 convoyers that were required. One list dated 28 November 1652, lists the eight ships:

Adm  Ship            Guns Captain
Z    Zeeuwsche Leeuw   27 Cornelis Evertsen de Oude
Z    Westcappel        28 Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge (formerly Adriaen Banckert)
Z    Amsterdam         32 Adriaen Kempen
Z    Middelburg        26 Claes Jansz Sanger
Z    Sandenburgh       24 Pieter Gorcum
Z    Wapen van Zeeland 34 Joost Willemsz Block
Z    Hasewint          28 Jacob Verhelle
Z    Jaeger, jacht     14 Adriaen Jansz Gloeijenden Oven

Information from Ron van Maanen

Ron van Maanen sent me some information from the Generaliteitsrekenkamer 1586-1799 nr.957 rekening 1652 admiralty Zeeland that he said that I could use on the blogs. This is the information about five ships, four of which served in De Ruyter's fleet in the Battle of Plymouth (Eendracht, Faeme, Liefdde, and Wapen van Sweden):

Captain Andries Fortuijn's ship, the Eendracht, was hired from Willem Bollare for a rate of 212 pond Vlaams 10 schellingen.

Captain Cornelis Loncke's ship, the Faeme, was hired from John Chevael and other owners for a monthly rate of 233 pond Vlaams, 6 schellingen, 8 grote Vlaams.

Captain Frans Mangelaer's ship, the Liefde, was hired from Jacob van Pantegem for four months for 766 pond Vlaams, 13 schellingen, 4 grote Vlaams.

Captain Dingeman Cats' ship Dolphijn was hired from Johan Gruterius, a merchant at Middelburg, for a monthly rate of 200 pond Vlaams.

Captain Jacob Sichels' ship, the Wapen van Sweden, was hired from Chrijstoffel Wouters for a monthly rate of 233 pond Vlaams, 6 schellingen 8 grote Vlaams.

Printing page images

One of the frustrating things is that the images that I have processed are quite readable, but with my favorite graphics program and my current Canon mult-function box, I can't get a print of comparable quality. For example, in the image of the page with information about Dutch captain Jan Sichelssen's ship Wapen van Sweden, I can see that the ship is just 95ft long, but I can't read that in the printed sheet. The Wapen van Sweden was part of Michiel de Ruyter's fleet at the Battle of Plymouth on 26 August 1652. By late in the year, the Wapen van Sweden had been discarded by the Admiralty of Zeeland.

The 2007 Weblog Awards

Kevin Alyward has opened nominations for the 2007 Weblog Awards.

Kevin is proprietor and founder of the Wizbang! blog.

VOC shps in the First Anglo-Dutch War, in 1652

In 1652, the Dutch East Indies company (the VOC) made four ships available for service with the fleet. Two were from the Amsterdam Chamber and two were from the Middelburg (Zeeland) Chamber. The Amsterdam ships were the Vogelstruis and the Vrede while the Zeeland ships were the Prins Willem and the Henriette Louise. The Amsterdam ships are thought to have been smaller, perhaps 155ft long, while the Zeeland ships may have been 170ft long. The Henriette Louise may have been smaller. The dimensions are in dispute, generally, as the Prins Willem has been thought to have been as long as 181ft, but I think that Ab Hoving, the ship model maker, disagrees with that figure.

Where was the 116ft ship Enkhuizen in 1652 and 1653?

Carl Stapel asked me if I knew what the 116ft ship Enkhuizen was doing from 1652 to 1653. The Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654 lists the Enkhuizen with Dirk Gerritsz Pomp as captain. In the latter part of 1653, we think that he commanded a Noorderkwartier Directors' ship named Harderin, not the Enkhuizen. The 120ft Wapen van Enkhuizen had Gerrit Femssen as captain from 1652 to 1653. Ron van Maanen says that the Enkhuizen was also called the Maagd van Enkhuizen or Wapen van Enkhuizen and was lost in 1659, when the ship blew up in action. The problem is that all the sources are from 1654 and 1655. I don't know the answer.

Friesland ships

I continue to be interested in the way that Dutch ships were funded from 1648 and beyond. Nominally, there were 40 ships funded at the peace in 1648. By 1652, there are 36 ships listed on this one page that I have. For 1651, there are 37 ships listed, rather than the nominal 36 ships. Of these, for 1648, one was from the Admiralty of Friesland and two of the ships from 1651 were, as well. These ships must include the Breda, the Frisia, and the Westergo. I have not see which of these belongs to 1648 and which belong to 1651. I had long assumed that the Breda would have been funded in 1648, but that may not be correct.

Dr. Ballhausen's list for the Dutch at Dover on 29 May 1652

As you might expect, Dr. Ballhausen's list of Dutch captains at the Battle of Dover on 29 May 1652 has some errors. The surprise is that the list is in the "not that bad" category. He has listed most of the captains, although he has some, such as Reijnst Sevenhuijsen, who was not there. He omits other, such as Gijsbert Malcontent, who was there but is not included in Dr. Ballhausen's list in his book Der Erste Englisch-Höllandische Seekrieg 1652-1654, 1923. The text is better than the lists. R. C. Anderson, who criticized the English lists, praised Dr. Ballhausen's account of the First Anglo-Dutch War in the Mediterranean Sea.

Two very similar ships: the Hollandia and the Amsterdam

In 1652 and up to March 1653, Albert Claesz Graeff commanded the Amsterdam hired ship Hollandia. This was a ship with dimensions of 130ft x 29ft x 13ft. The ship carried 18-12pdr, 14-6pdr, and 2-4pdr guns in 1652. I realized the Sijmon van der Aeck's ship, the Amsterdam hired ship named Amsterdam was very similar. The dimensions were the same: 130ft x 29ft x 13ft. The Amsterdam was armed differently, however: 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, and 4-3pdr guns. The Hollandia seems to have been discarded after the Three Days Battle (the Battle of Portland). The Amsterdam served up to at least November 1653, although a different captain was in command after April 1653, Paulus Egbertsz Sonck. The Amsterdam was with Witte de With on the voyage to Norway from September to November 1653. These were originally both nominally 30 gun ships with a crew of 100 to 120 men.

As you can tell, writing has been impacted by other things

I have enough going on beyond my research and writing, that blogging has considerably slowed. I hope to be picking up the pace, eventually.

The fluit ship St. Jan Babtista

This Rotterdam list dated 7 March 1652 has a ship with a name spelled St. Jan Babtista. I would be surprised if this is the same ship that we see in the fishery protection squadron.

The fluit ship St. Jan Babtista (St. John the Baptist)

Dimensions in Maas feet:       113ft x     21-1/2ft x 11ft x 4-1/2ft
Dimensions in Amsterdam feet:  123ft-3in x 23ft-5in x 12ft x 4ft-10in

The Duintjes

On 24 August 1652, Witte de With had been anchored off the Duintjes in his flagship, the Prinses Louise (36 guns). He was called to a meeting with Lords and Councillors, where they had reviewed what ships might be available to be the nucleus of a new fleet under Witte de With's command. They decided that there were between 16 and 18 ships that might be quickly cleaned and readied where they lay. I was curious as to where the Duintjes were located. I found a nice map that shows that the Duintjes are across from Vlissingen (Flushing):

This area was used as a fleet anchorage during the Anglo-Dutch Wars.

The Wapen van Sweden

In one list, the captain of the Zeeland hired ship Wapen van Sweden is called Captain Jacob Zichels (I usually write his name as Sichelszoon or Sichelssen). This particular list seems to date from 13 November 1652.

This has been a bad week for blogging

Sadly, this week has been busy enough that I have had little time for blogging. I have some vague hopes that the situation will improve, at least eventually.

Many of the Dutch ships in service in mid-1653 were very ligthly armed

I have been studying the list of ships "at Vlissingen" after the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort) and I continued to be amazed at how many ships were lightly armed. Many ships were armed with 22 to 26 guns, and of those, only a few of 8 and 12pdr. For the Roskam (spelled Roscam in the document), there 4-12pdr and 2-8pdr, and the rest of the 24 guns were smaller. The Roscam was the ship commanded by Corstiaen Eldertszoon for most of the war. CORRECTION: I had thought that this was one of the ships wrecked or foundered in the storm off the Texel, but Carl Stapel points out that was not the case. Also, by September 1653, Jan Fransz Blom commanded the Roskam, not Corstiaen Eldertszoon. The Roskam arrived at the port of Rotterdam on 19 December 1653. By 8 January 1654, the Roskam was discarded and was transferred to the owners in Rotterdam. I believe that Corstiaen Eldertszoon was eventually appointed to command the Gorcum (or Gorinchem) after Willem Ariaensz Warmont was killed at the Battle of Scheveningen.

Lambert Bartelszoon's ship in 1652 and 1653

Lambert Bartelszoon commanded a ship named Eendracht that had been hired by the Admiralty of Zeeland in 1652. He spent much of the First Anglo-Dutch War with the main Dutch battlefleet, except for period during mid-1653, when he was engaged in warfare against English commerce. For a long time, when I saw the listing for his ship, with 18 guns and a crew of 100 men, I assumed that the 18 was a typographical error for 28. But no, that was not the case. He did command a lightly-armed frigate that would have been suitable as a scout. His ship was one of the 100 ships to be hired by the admiralties in 1652.

The hired ship Jonas in June 1653

One inventory that I have from 22 June 1653 is for the hired ship Jonas, commanded by Joris de Caullerij (made famous by a painting by Rembrandt van Rijn). The inventory is noteworthy for having a list of guns and their weights:

That inventory has gun weights (there are only 25 guns listed):

12pdr  3015 lbs
12pdr  2930 lbs

 8pdr  2320 lbs
 8pdr  2300 lbs
 8pdr  2220 lbs
 8pdr  2210 lbs

 6pdr  2560 lbs
 6pdr  2520 lbs
 6pdr  2400 lbs
 6pdr  2260 lbs
 6pdr  2240 lbs
 6pdr  2220 lbs
 6pdr  2190 lbs
 6pdr  2190 lbs
 6pdr  2140 lbs
 6pdr  2000 lbs
 6pdr  1900 lbs

 5pdr  1420 lbs
 5pdr  1410 lbs
 5pdr  1395 lbs
 5pdr  1385 lbs
 5pdr  1385 lbs
 5pdr  1365 lbs

 3pdr   730 lbs
 3pdr   720 lbs

The fireship Graaf Sonderlandt

The Graaf Sonderlandt was one of the fireships in service in 1652:

Admiralty of Amsterdam  

fireship Graf Sonderlandt  1652

Dimensions:  107ft x 23ft x 11ft x 5ft

1652  fireship  schipper Herries Janszoon
      crew: 18 men

The Noorderkwartier ship Roode Leeuw

In the summer and fall of 1652, Rens Sevenhuijsen commanded the Noorderkwartier hired ship Roode Leeuw (24 guns and a crew of about 85 men). David de Wildt's list of ships, dated 22 February 1652 gives the dimensions for a ship named Roode Leeuw: 126-1/2ft x 26-1/2ft x 13ft x 6-1/2ft. Some of the dimensions given in this list are either identical or very close to known dimensions for the ships mentioned, while in other cases, they are different. Because of that, we do not know if this is correct or not. I assume that the dimensions are at least plausible. We need to find the document for hiring the Roode Leeuw, and we may learn more. The Roode Leeuw was discarded by 4 November 1653. Perhaps this was one of the ships that received enough damage in the Battle of the Kentish Knock to be not worth repairing.

Are the Sint Michiel and the Engel Michiel the same ship?

I have some notes about what I have assumed is the same ship. In one case, Frederick Bogaart's ship is called the Engel Michiel and in another case, it is called the Sint Michiel. Is it, in fact, the same ship or two ships? These are my notes, so far:

A-Dir  Engel Michiel or Sint Michiel  1652

Dimensions:
22/02/1652  120ft x 27-1/2ft x 13ft x 6-1/2ft
27/03/1652  120ft x 27-3/4ft x 13ft x 6-3/4ft

Guns:
20/01/1653  10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, 2-3pdr

28/04/1652  The ship the Engel Michiel, of the Greenland trade, 
            arrived in the Texel
20/01/1653  The ship the St. Michiel, of the Greenland Company, was hired
31/05/1653  kapitein Frederick Bogaart, under Tromp's flag near Zeeland
20/06/1653  kapitein Frederick Bogaart, 
            Engel Michiel, with 28 guns and a crew of 110 men
            list of ships in service between 8 May and 20 June 1653

So, where did the Friesland ship Groningen come from?

The bottom line is that I have no definite information about the origins of the Frisian ship Groningen which fought in the Battle of the Sound in 1658 and that was captured by the English in 1665. Clearly, Dr. Weber and Vice-Admiral van Foreest thought that very likely, the Groningen was the ship listed in the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654 as having been purchased (in 1652?). Dr. Weber used the dimensions of that ship for those of the Groningen in the book about the Four Days' Battle. The Groenewald was a mystery ship, as there is no sign of the ship having served in the First Anglo-Dutch War, despite what Vreugdenhil wrote in his list. The ship Groenewold was ship number 122 in Vreugdenhil's list. The Groenewold is described as entering service in 1652 and last being mentioned in 1655. He gives the dimensions as 132-1/2ft x 31ft x 13ft and says that the Groenewold carried 44 guns. Vreugdenhil shows the Groningen as first appearing in 1658, in time for the Battle of the Sound.

The Middelburg Directors' ship Sint Laurens

The English captured the Middelburg Directors' ship Sint Laurens (30 guns) on 29 May 1652, the initial battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War. The Sint Laurens was commanded by kapitein Bastiaan Tuynemans. He and his luitenant were taken prisoner, along with the rest of the crew. I have not seen any solid information about the Sint Laurens, in what I have received from archives in the Netherlands. I assume, based on minimal informaition, that the Sint Laurens was similar to the Leeuwinne, Johannes van Regermorter's ship, which carried 30 guns and had a crew of 105 men. The Leeuwinne was also a Middelburg Directors' ship. The Leeuwinne was 120ft long, and I would guess that the Sint Laurens was, as well. I also assume that the Sint Laurens also had a crew of 105 men.

The Amsterdam Directors' ship Prinses Roijaal

When I saw the Prinses Roijaal in a list, with data, I couldn't think which ship it was. Then I remembered that this was the Amsterdam Directors' ship commanded by Maarten de Graaf. The Prinses Roijaal actually arrived in the Texel roads on 8 April 1652 and joined the fleet, under the flag of Maarten Tromp, on 16 May 1652. He fought in the Battle of Dover on 29 May 1652 that opened the First Anglo-Dutch War. He was in the van squadron, under the command of temporary Vice-Admiral Jan Thijssen. The Prinses Roijaal was one of at least six ships lost in the storm off the Shetlands in early August 1652. That incident temporarily cost Maarten Tromp his command of the fleet. He was commonly held responsible for the disaster. If you are not familiar with the Prinses Roijaal, the dimensions of the ship were 127ft x 27ft x 12-1/2ft x 6-3/4ft. The armament consisted of 12-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns.

We owe a great debt to Ron van Maanen and his work

I have not said this enough, in the past. We owe a great debt to Ron van Maanen for his pioneering research about Dutch warships in the archives in the Netherlands. As I have pointed out previously, this is a page about his current work on a different topic. I had heard about Ron van Maanen's work in Jan Glete's book Navies and Nations. Ron had focused more on the ships themselves, which has been very useful and interesting to see. We have gone off in a different direction that depends on knowing about orders of battle, naval officers, and the naval administration, as well as the ships.

My information about the Amsterdam ship Utrecht in 1652 and 1653

This is still a work in progress, but perhaps what I have would be useful. This is what I have right now for the Amsterdam ship Utrecht, built in 1633 for the years 1652 and 1653. The Utrecht was in the Mediterranean Sea until after the Battle of Livorno in March 1653:

A  Utrecht or Uijtrecht  1633

Dimensions:
      1652  120ft x 28-3/4ft x 11-3/4ft x 6-3/4ft
27/03/1653  120ft x 27-1/2ft x 12ft x 6-3/4ft

Guns:
19/11/1652  18-12pdr, 12-6pdr
27/03/1653  18-12pdr, 12-6pdr, 2-4pdr

19/11/1652  the ship Uijtrecht, kapitein Roeteringh, 
            with 30 guns and a crew of 110 men
27/03/1653  the ship Uijtrecht, commanded by kapitein Jan Roeteringh, 
            armed with 32 guns and with a crew of 110 men and 20 musketeers

Sorry, I am binging on processing photographs

Once I figured out how to process photographs so that I could print them and so that they look more like the actual document, that has been addictive. I have been spending all my time doing that. I use 602Photo to do image adjustment and RGB color tuning. I also sometimes adjust the brightness and contrast. Then, I am using Paint to add the date that I received the photographs and the original file name. When there were two pages in one photograph, I create "a" and "b" copies, one for the left page and one for the right page. I use 602Photo to print on my Canon "all-in-one" box.

Image tuning photographs of documents

I have been pleasantly surprised at how effective image processing can be for making photographs of documents more readable. The best program in the 602Software suite, in my opinion, is 602Photo. I am using that to process copies of photographs from the Nationaal Archief, in The Hague. Right now, I am processing photographs of handwritten documents from 1652, all relating to the Dutch navy, fleet, ships, and naval officers. The photographs all have a green tinge, for some reason. I am cropping the black background, making them easier to print, doing "image tuning", and adjusting brightness and contrast. One new thing that I am doing is adjusting "color channels". I can make the pages in the image look more like the actual document. I have been helped by my visit to the Nationaal Archief, back on 8 May 2007 with Carl Stapel, where I was able to see and handle some of the actual pages.

Nico Brinck's Swedish 12pdr gun

One of the drawings that Nico Brinck sent me several years ago shows an iron Swedish 12pdr gun manufactured by Finspong. The gun had been purchased by the Admiraliteit van Friesland. The inside bore of the gun was 12cm or 4.7244 English inches. An Amsterdam inch is 283mm/ft divided into inches of 25.73mm. That is larger than the English inch of 25.4mm, so the bore in Amsterdam inches is 4.664in. The gun is 260cm long or 9ft-2in in Amsterdam feet. The length in English inches is 102.36 inches or 8ft-6.36 inches. The weight is 3208 lbs, compared to the 3480 lbs for the bronze 18pdr gun from 1632.

More ships from the list of 22 June 1653

These are more ships from the status list of ships, dated 22 June 1653:

No.83 Goes            kapitein Cornelis Cuiper              97 men  26 guns
No.84 Sint Joris      kapitein Jacob Wolfersen             100 men  23 guns
No.85 West Cappel     kapitein Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge   95 men  28 guns
No.86 Zee Ridder      kapitein Gillis Janssen              114 men  28 guns
No.87 Neptunus        kapitein Adriaen de Oven  taken by the English
No.88 Zeeuwsche Leeuw commandeur Cornelis Evertsen de Oude 127 men  28 guns

The ship Westfriesland on 22 June 1653

Hendrick Huyskens commanded the Amsterdam ship Westfriesland at the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 and 13 June 1653. From the status list dated about 22 June 1653, we have some details about the ship (useful for wargamers and researchers):

No.10 (in the list) Westfriesland  kapitein Huijskens       110 men 28 guns

Length: 122ft      103 men actually on board
Beam:    28ft
Hold:    12ft
Above:    6-1/2ft

28 guns: 4-bronze 12pdr, 14-iron 8pdr, 4-bronze 6pdr, 
         2-iron 6pdr, 2-bronze 4pdr klokwijs (chambered),
         2-iron 3pdr guns

The Campen on 22 June 1653

The ship Campen fought in the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 and 13 June 1653. We have some details about the ship from the status list compiled on 22 June:

No.21  Campen   Willem van Sanen (van der Zaan)  158 men   40 guns

Length: 133ft
Beam:    32ft
Above:    7ft

40 guns:  4 bronze 18pdr, 2-bronze 12pdr
          14 iron 12pdr  16 iron 6pdr, 
          4 bronze 6pdr klokwijs guns (chambered)

The Leiden on 22 June 1653

Hendrick Kroeger commanded the Amsterdam ship Leiden in the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 and 13 June 1653. I have a page from the status list dating from 22 June that gives some details about the Leiden:

The ship Leiden, kapitein Hendrick Kroeger

Length: 118ft   Beam: 28-1/2ft  Height above hold: 6-1/2ft

The Leiden nominally had a crew of 107 men, but on 22 June
had 96 sailors and 14 soldiers

30 Guns:  
 6-12pdr 100 12pdr shot
18-8pdr  130  8pdr shot
 6-6pdr   no  6pdr shot

The Amsterdam Directors' ship Samson on 22 June 1653

The Amsterdam Directors' ship Samson, commanded by Cornelis de Groot, fought in the Battle of the Gabbard on 12 and 13 June 1653. The status report on 22 June gave some details of the ship. The dimensions listed were 119ft x 28ft x 13ft x 6ft. The desired crew consisted of 110 men, but only 97 were on board on 22 June. the Samson carried 28 guns: 10-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns. The ship had 2700 lbs of gunpowder on board.

Comparing the Prinses Louise and Leeuwarden

If you were really picky, you might want to haggle over some of the specifics of this analysis, but I think that overall, this comparison between the Prinses Louise, Witte de With's flagship from 1651 to 1652 and the Leewarden, his flagship in mid-1653, is reasonable. I compare dimensions, estimated displacement, estimated armament weight, and broadside weight:

                Prinses Louise      Leeuwarden
                Adm of Rotterdam    Adm of Amsterdam
                1646                1645

Crew            121 sailors         120 sailors
                41 soldiers         20 soldiers

Length          120ft               120ft
Beam            28ft-4in            29-3/4ft
Hold            12ft-6in            11-3/4ft
Ht betw decks   7ft-1in             6-3/4ft

Mean draft      12ft-4in            11ft-7in
(English feet)  

English Burden  365-17/29 tons      398 tons

Lasts           200 lasts           200 lasts

Displacement    523 tons            511 tons

Jan Glete's
Displacement    496.36 tons         487.61 tons

Broadside wt    214 lbs             182 lbs

Armament wt     44.34 tons (8.48%)  35.94 tons (7.03%)

The Prinses Louise was more heavily armed than the Leewarden, although I may overstate the armament weight, as at least some of Prinses Louise's guns were drakes or chambered.

Rif Winfield's book, The 50-Gun Ship is one of my favorite books

I wish that Rif Winfield was able to write more about ships dating from the 1640's and 1650's, as his book, The 50-Gun Ship, is excellent. The book is now about ten years old. He told me that no one writes about English ships prior to 1660, because no one knows where to look for the good information. Still, he has compiled some for ships from this period for his book. For example, he has the construction history and dimensions for the "early frigates" from 1635 to 1647. I am interested in the English ship history (not just the Dutch) from about 1487 up to about 1730. I have done a great deal of research in the past on this period, mostly from published sources, some modestly obscure. For example, I have my own copy of Charles Derrick's book Memoire of the Rise and Progress of the Royal Navy (London, 1806).

The Amsterdam ship Leeuwarden

Only after I received Witte de With's journals did I realize that he had used the Leeuwarden as his flagship in April and May 1653, including for the raid on Scarborough. The Leeuwarden was a 120ft ship, probably built in 1645. The Leeuwarden must have been a pretty good ship, as she was in service from 1645 until 1667. From 1666 to 1667, the Leeuwarden was charted to Denmark. By then, a ship of the Leeuwarden's size was less important in the Dutch service, as they were hurriedly building much larger ships. Govert Reael commanded the Leeuwarden through the First Anglo-Dutch War for the Admiralty of Amstedam. By June 1653, the crew nominally 158 men. The Leeuwarden was armed with equal numbers of 12pdr and 6pdr guns, with several 8pdr and 4-18pdr guns.

A page dated 28 July 1653 with notes at the bottom

A letter signed by "M.Harperts Tromp", dated 28 July 1653, has some interesting notes at the bottom. The notes titled "Of Zeeland" caught my eye:

Vice-Adm. Jan Evertsz.
the English prize captured (perhaps the Bonaventura)
van der Veer (perhaps the Wapen van der Veere)
the ship Nieuw Vlissingen
the Salamander

These were all ships that fought in the Battle of Scheveningen (or Ter Heide) on 10 August 1653.

Adriaan van den Bosch's ship in 1653

Adriaan van den Bosch (or Bos) commanded the Amsterdam hired ship Engel Gabriel in July and August 1653. Given that the armament was the same as that for the ship hired on 19 June 1652, I would say that this was the same ship (6-12pdr, 12-6pdr, 8-4pdr, and 2-3pdr). The Engel Gabriel was a 120ft ship.

The Engel Gabriel hired ship in July 1653

We think that the hired ship Engel Gabriel was in service in 1652, perhaps known as just the "Engel". I have seen the inventory made when the Engel Gabriel was hired in Amsterdam. Captain van den Bos (or Bosch) was commander of the Engel Gabriel in July 1653 and commanded the Engel Gabriel at the Battle of Scheveningen, as well. The Engel Gabriel had a nominal crew of 110 men, and these seem to have been actually on board. The armament consisted of 28 guns: 6-12pdr, 12-6pdr, 8-4pdr, and 2-3pdr guns.

A PhD thesis topic

When I had proposed this project, three or four years ago, Jan Glete and Frank Fox both encouraged me to pursue it. The idea sounds more like a PhD thesis topic than something suitable for a popular work. The idea is to do quantitative comparisons of the Dutch and English ships (and in the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the French, as well) at each battle in the First, Second, and Third Anglo-Dutch War to see if there is a correlation between the winners of battle and having the aggregate greatest displacement of ships and the heaviest broadsides. I am also interested in the weight of guns carried versus the displacement of the ships, as a percentage. You actually need to estimate displacement, as "gross tonnage", as measured by the Dutch last or the English burden calculation is not a useful figure. You actually need to have some real indication of the size of a ship, in tons of 2,240 lbs. Since we have more information available about gun weights and guns carried for the Dutch, we are better able to do some of the these calculations. The English information for the First Anglo-Dutch War will have to be mostly estimated, but we can do better for the other two wars.

Noorderkwartier ships

I assume that Willem Ham's ship Sampson, a Noorderkwartier landsschip, was a 116ft ship. I could be wrong, but it seems likely. The Sampson was captured by the English on 22 July 1652, and was a sufficiently good ship that the English placed the Sampson in service in their navy under the same name and also carrying 26 guns. The Sampson served under the English flag until being sunk by gunfire at the Three Days Battle. The Sampson was the only English ship lost in the fight, being sunk on the first day.

I am less sure about Jan Warnaertsz Capelman's ship, the Alkmaar. The Alkmaar also was armed with 26 guns and was captured by the English in the Channel in Jun 1652. The Alkmaar was one of the 36 ships activated for service in late summer of 1651. This group of ships was intended for service in the Mediterranean against the North African pirates as well as increasing the Dutch readiness for a possible war with the English. The Alkmaar may have well been a 120ft ship, but could have also been a 116ft. All Noorderkwartier landschepen seem to have been either 116ft or 120ft long. The only exception was the 130ft Eendracht, armed with 40 or 41 guns which served in the Mediterranean Sea until after the Battle of Livorno in 1653.

Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier from late July 1652

This is the list of Noorderkwartier commanders and their ships from a list of ships with Tromp's fleet in late July 1652:

Admiralty ships of the Noorderkwartier

Captain                         Ship                  Guns
Schout-bij-Nacht Pieter Florisz Monnikendam           32
Pieter Allertsz                 Hoorn                 24
Cornelis Pietersz Taenman       Prins Maurits         28
Arent Dircksz                   Wapen van Monnikendam 24
Pieter Schellinger              Stad Medemblick       26
Gerrit Femmsz                   Wapen van Enkhuijsen  30
Gerrit Nobel                    Wapen van Alckmaer    28
Thijs Tijmensz Peerboom         Peereboom             24
Gerrit Munth                    Huijs van Nassau      28

The Amsterdam Directors' ships with Tromp's fleet in July 1652

The list of Amsterdam Directors' captains with Tromp's fleet in late July 1652 that I just received is mainly interesting for the spelling of captains' names, which I have reproduced exactly:

Captain                    Ship             Guns
Jan Meijkes                Alexander        28
Dirck Pater                Blauwe Arent     28
Mattheus Cornelisz         Sint Salvador    34
Jacob Swart                Faem             28
Abraham van Campen         Arke Troijane    28
Cornelis Jansz Poort       Croon Imperiael  34
Cornelis Jansz Brouwer     Valck            28
Marten de Graef            Prinses Roijael  28
Gerrit van Limmen          Neptunis         34
Cornelis Naeuoogh          Sint Matheeus    34
Nicolaes de With           Mauritius        34
Gerrit Schuijt             Rooseboom        28
Bastiaen Bardoel           Engel Gabriel    28
Cornelis van Houten        Witte Lam        28
Hector Bardesius           Gideon           34
Stoffel Juriaensz          Sint Francisco   28
Claes Bastieansz Jaersvelt Davidt en Goliat 34
Jacob Sijbertsz Spanheijm  Elias            34
Lambert Pietersz           Nassouw          34
Hendrick de Raedt          Swarte Leeuw     28
Sipke Fockes               Sint Maria       28 lying mastless in the Texel
Bruijn van Seelst          Groote Liefde    38
Fredrick de Coninck        Groote Vergulde Fortuijn  35
Fredrick Bogaert           Engel Michiel    28

Somewhat off topic: the harbor at Amsterdam in early May 2007

I was looking at my photographs from my trip to the Netherlands in early May 2007. This is a representative picture of the harbor, with a vessel under way.

More about the Hollandsche Tuin, thanks to Carl Stapel

Carl Stapel kindly supplied more information about the Noorderkwartier ship Hollandsche Tuin. He says that the Hollandsche Tuin was built in 1631 and was sold on 28 May 1654 at Enkhuizen. That differs from what Vreugdenhil said. Ron van Maanen apparently used Vreugdenhil's dates, given that he had not seen anything else.

The Hollandsche Tuin

Ron van Maanen says that the Noorderkwartier ship Hollandsche Tuin was actually built in 1632, but was mentioned for the first time in lists that we have in 1636. He says that the Hollandsche Tuin carried between 32 and 36 guns and had a crew of between 97 and 110 men. We know that Jan Adriaensz Backer commanded the Hollandsche Tuin from 2 March 1650 up to 9 June 1652, when the ship was unfit for service.

List of ammunition for the Admiralty of Rotterdam in early 1654

Another photograph that arrived today showed the ammunition available for the Admiralty of Rotterdam in early 1654:

70,000 lbs of gunpowder

  600 36 lb shot
 3000 24 lb shot
 4000 18 lb shot
  400 15 lb shot
12000 12 lb shot
 4000  8 lb shot
 6000  6 lb shot
 2000  5 lb shot
 2000  4 lb shot
 6000  1 lb shot

I believe that they fired a number of one pound shot from larger caliber guns, either for anti-personnel or anti-masts and rigging shooting.

New Friesland ships: the Westergo

On the 8th, I received a document that dates from early 1654 with dimensions of the new Friesland ships. Another of the entries is for the new ship Westergo, which was not as large as the biggest, the Oostergo:

the ship Westergo

Length:  134ft
Beam:     34ft
Hold:     14ft
Height 
between decks: 7-1/2ft

Crew: 170 sailors: 28 officers and 142 men
       30 land soldiers

I frequently get confused with what Ron van Maanen has

Ron van Maanen usually does not mention captains. Generally, all he has are listing for ships by name and admiralty (possibly Directors). I often see instances where, given that I cannot tell what the captain is meant to be, that he seems to have combined two or more ships into one entry. I would have said, from one notation in his Eenhoorn entry in the largest list, that he had seen the list that I just received of Noorderkwartier ships. He has the dimensions for the ship of 1625 (125ft length) that are in this list, and which I have seen no where else. He mentions a date, 20 February 1654, which seems plausible for this list. However, reducing my confidence in what he has, he includes the dimensions and completion date for the ship called Hoorn in this list I have (a 120ft ship).

The Rotterdam ship Dolphijn on 28 July 1652

The Dolphijn is another Rotterdam ship that is mentioned with differing dimensions at different times. I have this document dated 28 July 1652 that gives the dimensions in Maas feet as: 110ft x 25-1/2ft x 12-1/2ft and the armament as 28 guns. These differ from the dimensions published in the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654 and in Vreugdenhil's list. Since we are usually just interested in seeing dimensions in Amsterdam feet, let us convert (yet again) the dimensions: 120ft x 27ft-9in x 13ft-7in. The Dolphijn is unusual in having a larger hold depth than is normal for a Dutch warship of this size.

Some captains from a list in 1652

I find that lists are interesting for the little bits of information that can be gleaned, such as middle names or variations on men's names. For example, from a list dated 4 November 1652:

Captain                          Adm   Ship
Hendrick Jansz de Munnick        R     Holland      30 guns
Leendert Haexwandt               R     Utrecht      22 guns
Dirck Juijnbol                   R     Schiedam     30 guns
Dirck Vijgh                      R     Overijssel   22 guns
Ernestus de Barterij             R     Hollandia    24 guns
Corstiaen Eldertszoon            R     Roscam       26 guns
Marinus de Clercq                R     Sphera Mundi 26 guns
Corstiaen Corstiaensz de Munnick R-Dir Prins        38 guns

The Bataviawerf page on Michiel de Ruyter and the Zeven Provincien

The Bataviawerf site has a page about Michiel de Ruyter and the Zeven Provincien, his flagship during the critical battles during the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars. There is an English version of the site that is less complete. They have a picture of Herbert Tomesen's model of the Zeven Provincien.

The Vrede and Vogelstruijs could have had the same dimensions

I was looking at the dimensions of the VOC ship Vrede that fought in the Battle of the Kentish Knock, commanded by Pieter Salomonszoon, and decided that I should check them against the dimensions of the Estrich (the name given to the Vogelstruijs by the English). I used my system for converting between Dutch and English dimensions:

Dutch     English

          Measured                    Calculated
Length    Length on keel              Length on keel

155ft     116ft                       116.54ft  (Dutch/1.33)

Beam      Beam outside the planking

38ft      36ft-3in                     33.63ft  (Dutch/1.13)

Hold      Depth in hold

19ft      17ft                         16.814ft (Dutch/1.13)

I believe that the answer is "yes". The beam issue just means that The planking on the Vogelstruijs was thinner than my system assumes. Herbert Tomesen, of Artitec expressed the opinion that the Vogelstruijs had the dimesions 160ft x 38ft x 18ft, as there was a charter like that for Amsterdam ships that had to get over the bar to enter Amsterdam.

The original plan for the 30 ships

The original plan for building 30 ships in 1652-1653 would have been much better than what was actually built. Inter-province politics eventually resulted in a much weaker building program. The original plan would have included:

Charters:  
150ft x 38ft x 15ft x 8ft 
140ft x 36ft x 14-1/2ft x 7-1/2ft
134ft x 34ft x 14ft x 7ft

   Charters:   150ft    140ft    134ft
Admiralty:

Rotterdam       1 ship   2 ships  2 ships

Amsterdam       2 ships  4 ships  4 ships

Zeeland         1 ship   2 ships  2 ships

Noorderkwartier 1 ship   2 ships  2 ships

Friesland       1 ship   2 ships  2 ships

Totals:         6 ships  12 ships 12 ships

This would have given the Dutch the equivalent of 6 English 2nd Rates, 12 English 3rd Rates, and 12 English 4th Rates. Eventually, they only built on 150ft ship among the first 30 ships.

I keep rethinking these issues, so I keep writing about them

My focus is on building a complete narrative of the ships, officers, and fleet in various operations in the First Anglo-Dutch War. My attention is constantly drawn to unresolved issues, so I keep rehashing them, hoping to gain fresh insights in the process. We are also looking for new information that may answer the questions. I don't care to kick back and wait for Carl Stapel or whomever to publish what they have. I want to know now, not later, and not from reading some book.

The Amsterdam ship Star or Morgenstar

We had seen a ship named Morgenstar mentioned as being in the Mediterranean Sea prior to the First Anglo-Dutch War. This seems to be the same ship called Star in 1652 and early 1653 and which was commanded by Jacob Pauwelsz Cort. This same ship, also called Morgenstar was commanded from May 1653 by Albert Claesz Graeff. He commanded the Morgenstar in the Battle of Scheveningen. One possibility is that they were different ships, but we think that they were the same ship. For one thing, you don't see the two ships in service with the fleet concurrently. Jacob Pauwelsz Cort eventually became Michiel De Ruyter's flag captain in the new ship Huis te Cruiningen, which had been purchased from Genoa while under construction.

Dutch arming plans from late 1653

One of the documents that I received yesterday, dating from late 1653, consists of arming plans for new ships:

Ship of dimensions 150ft x 39ft x 15ft with 58 guns:

Lower Deck:
 6-bronze 24pdr
20-iron 18pdr

Upper Deck:
10-bronze 12pdr
12-iron 12pdr
10-bronze 6pdr drakes

Ship of dimensions 140ft x 36ft x 14ft with 52 guns:

Lower Deck:
 4-bronze 24pdr
10-iron 18pdr
 8-bronze 12pdr

Upper Deck:
 6-bronze 12pdr
14-iron 12pdr
10-bronze 6pdr drakes