The English ship Convertine (44 guns)

I had long assumed that the Convertine taken by the Dutch at the Four Days Battle was the original Jacobean Middling ship. Frank Fox had informed me that I was mistaken. The original Convertine had been built as the Destiny, and had been renamed Convertine, in the Navy. I had not thought that the original Convertine's dimensions were known, but R.C. Anderson lists the following dimensions: 96ft x 32ft-2in, with an unknown depth. Anderson omitted depths, which is unfortunate. The Convertine went with the Royalists, in 1648, and was eventually sold in Lisbon in 1650. The new Convertine was Portuguese prize taken in 1650. Her dimensions were considerably different, so this only reinforces the notion that she was a different ship: 103ft x 30ft x 13ft-6in, with a burden of 494 tons. The original ship had a burden that I would calculate as 528 tons. Anderson lists two tonnages that are computed considering the depth. Brian Lavery gives the same dimensions for the Entrance, built in 1619. He did not list the Convertine, for some reason. He also omitted the Swallow, a Carolian "middling ship".

The Battle of Scheveningen

It seems like time to make an attempt to build a list of the Dutch fleet at Scheveningen. Needless to say, this is not an easy thing to do. We need to greatly rely on references to ships in the Hollandsche Mercurius, Dr. Elias' book, Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen, and The First Dutch War, Vol.V. I'm afraid that we need to ignore Dr. Ballhausen's book, as it has proved to be extremely unreliable. There was a period when I was tempted to use it. That was when I was building scenarios for battles from the First Anglo-Dutch War. When I investigated more closely, I found that even his maps were incorrect. His map for the Battle of Portland was bogus. I found from Michael Baumber's book, General-at-Sea, and Peter Padfield's Tide of Empires, that Dr. Ballhausen had misplaced George Monck's squadron. My first attempt at a scenario for Privateers Bounty followed that map, and therefore, had the wrong setup. An interesting feature of the Battle of Scheveningen, is that two days before, there was a partial encounter between the fleets. Only about 30 English ships came into action, late in the day, and Monck's Resolution took casualties. I had thought that only English frigates had gotten into action, but obviously, there were major warships, as well. The next day, the weather was so bad that the fleets were fully occupied with staying off the shore, with the wind blowing from seaward. It was only on July 31/August 10 that the fleets came back together to fight. The fleets were sailing westward as early as 7am. The Dutch had the wind, initially, but eventually lost it to the English. The battle proceeded as the fleets tacked and broke through the opposing line. The Dutch seem to have fought in an informal line as well, and were shot to pieces for their trouble. The English were superior in weight of shot and in ship size. The smaller, more lightly armed Dutch were in desperate straits by early afternoon. Tromp was dead, early in the battle, but by agreement, his flag was kept flying from the Brederode. Egbert Meeussen Kortenaer, Tromp's flag captain, commanded the ship and Tromp's squadron for the remainder of the battle. In fact, he seems to have kept command of the squadron for the remainder of the war. Even before the battle, the Vice-Admirals had decided that they would not allow another route, as happened at the Gabbard. De With, Evertsen, and De Ruyter formed a rear-guard, and with difficulty, allowed the surviving ships to retreat. Despite that, Dutch losses were almost as bad as those at the Gabbard. They lost about 10 ships, as I have previously notes.

The Sint Johannes, an Amsterdam Directors ship

I have not dwelt on the Sint Johannes, because I have not been able to identify her captain's name. I originally became aware of the ship from Jan Glete's notes for his book, Navies and Nations. The Sint Johannes was substantial ship, as her dimensions were: 125ft x 29ft x 12-1/2ft. The height between decks was 7ft. The armament was 28 guns: 2-18pdr, 8-12pdr, 10-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr. She appeared on a manuscript dated 8 February 1653. Obviously, she was one of those ships that we have not been able to correlate with a captain. We can only hope that some source with surface that will answer the question.

Jan Pieterszoon Renaren's ship, the Sint Jeronimus

One thing we know from Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet is that Jan Pieterszoon Renaren's ship was credited with 30 guns and had a crew of 110 men. His ship belonged to the Medemblick Directors. The Sint Jerominus belonged to the ships built to the 116ft charter. The dimensions were, as I have previously noted: 116ft x 28ft x 11ft, with 7ft between the main deck and the upper deck.

Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet

Since we now have Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, and can see the benefits, it is clear that we need to acquire the rest of the documents that we know exist, or at least existed in 1930. That includes the documents at the Zeeuwse Archief about Directors ships and the "Staet van Oorlogh te water van 1648", probably at the Nationaal Archief at the Hague. I am increasingly sure that Frank Fox is right about everything we want to know existing, and just needing to be found and analyzed. Frank found that to be true with England, and it seems to be true for the Netherlands, as well.

New information

In the last three or four days, I have learned some new things about the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War. From Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, we know that Reynst Corneliszoon Sevenhuysen's ship, the Roode Leeuw, carried 24 guns and had a crew of 85 men. The Roode Leeuw was paid off in late June, 1652, after the  Battle of the Gabbard. He and his crew moved to the VOC ship, the Mars.   Another point:  I had previously confused to captains named Block. One was the captain of the Zeeland ship, the Wapen van Zeeland (32 guns), which served in the Mediterranean Sea during the First Anglo-Dutch War. The second was captain of the Amsterdam Directors ship the Hollandsche Tuin (28 guns) in 1653. The Zeeland captain was actually Joost Willemszoon Block. The Amsterdam Directors captain was Joris Janszoon Block. I was able to find this in Dr. Elias' book, Schetsen uit the Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen.

Tromp's voyage to the Shetlands

I have had more thoughts about Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, since yesterday. The list of ships is impressive. By mid-July 1652, the Dutch had managed to collect a very effective fleet to dispute control of the Channel and North Sea. There were other ships on various patrolling and convoying duties, as well. This was the time when De Ruyter's fleet that was tasked with convoying in the lower Channel was being assembled. There were other ships that were protecting the Dutch fishing fleets. The Dutch had more than 150 ships in service at this time, including those already in the Mediterranean Sea. I don't know this for sure, but I suspect that there were more losses in the voyage to the Shetlands than are generally acknowledged. For example, there is the case of Jan Maijkers, who commanded the Alexander. He never appears again, in any list or published source. We know all about his ship. It first appearedon 13 March 1652, in a list of Amsterdam Directors ships. The dimensions were: 131-1/2ft x 27-3/4ft x 13ft. The height between decks was 6-3/4ft. She carried 28 guns: 12-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 6-6pdr, and 2-3pdr. Her crew was 95 men. The 1652 Hollandsche Mercurius mistakenly gave her 38 guns and a crew of 100 men. That list is filled with what we can only call "typos" or misreadings of handwritten documents. For example, that is where Jan Maijkers was listed as "Jan Deyckers". The "D" is wrong, but the rest is a reasonable variant spelling of Jan Maijkers name. I can only be confident as to his name after seeing it written at least two times in copies of original documents. In any case, the voyage to the Shetlands was a major disaster. One of the misfortunes was the capture of 13 Dutch fishery protection vessels (20-28 guns), and the harrassing of the Dutch fishermen by Blake. The other, greater problem, was the dissolution of the fleet by the storm they encountered in the Shetlands. After the storm, Tromp resigned rather than be fired. Witte de With was given command of a fleet that he had yet to assemble. He had about 40 ships, the survivors of the previous fleet. He aborbed about 20 ships of De Ruyter's convoying fleet. The other 1o were too damaged by their participation in the Battle of Plymouth, to stay at sea. Witte de With performed creditably at the Battle of the Kentish Knock, with a scratch force that included too many hired merchantment and timid regular naval captains. They went up against the largest English ships, including the Sovereign (90 guns) and Resolution (88 guns), and only lost two ships. Witte de With was politically unacceptable to the Dutch royalists (Orangists), so they used the defeat as an excuse to restore Tromp to command of the fleet.

I received a copy of Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet, today

Thanks to Ron Brand at the Maritiem Museum Rotterdam, I have a copy of Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet. It is valuable, in that it is a complete list of captains who were part of Tromp's fleet on the "Voyage to the North" (as The First Dutch War calls Tromp's voyage to the Shetlands in August 1652). The voyage was a disaster, although the losses were minor. The big problem was the number of damaged and scattered ships. Tromp was forced from his command, for this debacle. The list is quite similar to that contained in the Hollandsche Mercurius for June 1652. That list was translated and reprinted in Volume I of The First Dutch War. This list is unique, but similar in that captains and many guns and crew numbers are part of the list. The only ship names are for fireships. One thing caught my eye. Jan Maikers, who served the Amsterdam Directors, had his name less mangled in this list. In the Hollandsche Mercurius, he was called Jan Deyckers. Here, his handwritten name was rendered as Jan Meyckes. I have seen his name written in manuscripts from the Nationaal Archief, so I am pretty sure of the correct spelling.

Witte de With's squadron sent to Brazil in 1647

In 1647, the situation in Brazil had deteriorated, for the Dutch, to the point that they might be expelled from the country. A squadron was sent, under the command of Witte de With, to restore the Dutch position. Witte de With's squadron, as sent, consisted of the following ships: Admiralty of Rotterdam:

• Brederode (49 guns) Witte Cornelisz. de With
• Gelderland (40 guns) Joost van Coulster
• Dolphijn (32 guns) Job Forant

Admiralty of Amsterdam:

• Huys van Nassau (40 guns) Govert Vorens. Later, Matthijs Gillissen (heavily damaged on 28 Sept. 1648. Later captured by the Portuguese and refitted)
• Haarlem (36 guns) Matthijs Gillissen. Lt. Dirck Crijnen Verveen
• Utrecht (32 guns) Jacob Paulusz. Cort (destroyed by explosion on 28 Sept. 1648)
• Zutphen (30 guns) Corenlis Toelast. Later, Claes de With
• Overijssel (28 guns) Dirck Crijnen Verveen. Lt. Steven Cuyper.

Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier:

• Eendracht (41 guns) Paulus Coolen. Lt. Gijsbert Malcontent.
• Wapen van Nassau (38 guns) Lieven de Zeeuw. Lt. Jacob Cleydijck.
• Witte Eenhoorn (30 guns) Jan Gijzen. Pieter Adriaansz.
• Koning David (? guns) Willem Claesz. Ham

There was also a captured Portuguese ship: São Bartholomeu (35 guns) Boëtius Schaeff. This was later renamed as the Gewapende Ruyter. She was listed under the Admiralty of Amsterdam. The list is from W.J. van Hoboken's book, Witte de With in Brazilië, but is augmented, to some extent. Many of the captains and lieutenants (that is my interpretation of "t." in the list) played roles in the First Anglo-Dutch War. For example, Willem Ham lost a leg at the Battle off Dover in May 1652. Boëtius Schaeff was killed at the Battle of the Gabbard in 1653. In 1652, his ship was captured by the English in June 1653. Dirck Verveen had a distinguished career, dying of his wounds after the Battle of the Sound, in 1658. Job Forant, however, was banished for his part in allowing the mutiny that was part of the end of Witte de With's foray to Brazil.

Which ship did Jan de Liefde command during the 1st Anglo-Dutch War?

As I try to answer the remaining questions about Dutch ships and captains in the First Anglo-Dutch War, one that remains is "which ship did Jan Evertsz. de Liefde command?" I have long assumed that it was the Maecht van Dordrecht (Dordrecht), built as Witte de With's flagship in 1636. She was built to similar dimensions to Tromp's flagship, the Aemilia. In Maas feet, the dimensions were 132 foot length and a 32 foot beam. For my purposes, I guessed that would equate to something like 143ft x 35ft x 14-1/2ft (Amsterdam feet). Thanks to J. C. De Jonge, we know her armament in 1642: 10-24pdr, 14-18pdr, 16-12pdr, and 6-6pdr. She was very heavily armed, for the time. If you thought that the dimensions in Maas feet were Amsterdam feet, you would have tought that she was greatly over-armed. In fact, I estimate that her armament would have been about 54.6 tons, which would have only been 6.2% of an estimated 880 tons displacement. I estimate her burden calculated English fashion to have been about 650 tons (the size of a moderate-sized English 3rd Rate). Reading Vreugdenhil's list, you might be mislead to believe that the Dordrecht survived until 1665. That seems to be wrong. Dr. Elias summarizes a list from 1655 that omits the Dordrecht. I am even skeptical that she was in service in 1652. She was too large a ship to have only carried 38 guns during the war. If that is the case, then what ship did Jan de Liefde command? Dr. Ballhausen, at one point, says it was the Jonas, a name that appears no where else in the most widely available published sources. The only reason that might be a possibility is that a widely distributed reference that originated from the 1652 volume of the Hollandsche Mercurius says that Jan de Liefde's ship was hired by the Rotterdam Directors. That would seem to contradict my identification of his ship as the Dordrecht (Maagd van Dordrecht, or Maecht van Dordrecht). InDr. Ballhausen's book, the source of the Jonas name is an obscure reference: Rotterdamsche Historiebladen, Rotterdam, 1880, III Afdeeling, I, 472. The problem with that, besides my difficulty in checking the source, is that anything that Dr. Ballhausen wrote that relies on analysis is likely to be wrong (his track record is very bad). A further problem is that the 26 February 1652 Admiralty of Rotterdam list gives Jan de Liefde's ship as the Dordrecht (dimensions 116ft x 27ft x 11ft, with 26 guns). Actually, the dimesions were in Maas feet, so they were 106ft x 25ft x 10ft. Thanks to Dr. Weber, we know the dimensions for the Gorcum (or Gorinchem), and the Dordrecht was the same dimensions as her. Perhaps the Hollandsche Mercurius was wrong, and he commanded that ship for the war. It seems unlikely, however. I am hoping that the Hendrick de Raedt pamphlet might help resolve this issue, although I would wager that it will not. I expect that the list in the pamphlet, at best, will only list captains names. At worst case, it will only list numbers. We shall see in about a week, depending on the post.

Why did the Dutch reduce ship armaments in July 1654?

I am curious as to why the Dutch reduced 40-gun ships to 32 and 34 guns in July 1654. That is one of the really striking features of the "Staet van Oorlogh te water voor den Jahre 1654". Even the Vrede, which carried 44 guns for much of the First Anglo-Dutch War was reduced to 32 guns. She was a substantial ship with dimensions of 131-1/2ft x 31-1/2ft x 13-1/2ft. Her reduced armament consisted of: 4-brass 24pdr, 4-brass 6pdr drakes, 18-iron 12pdr, and 6-iron 8pdr. One theory that occurred to me that is that there were difficulties in finding guns for all the new construction from 1653-1654. Another theory is that these ships were reduced in armament for service in distant waters (which I don't believe was the case). Does anyone have any other ideas (or knowledge)?

I'm finally working on analyzing the "Staet van Oorlogh te water voor den Jahre 1654"

This afternoon, I started work on reading the pages (digitized from microfilm) for the July 1654 list (the "Staet van Oorlogh te water voor den Jahre 1654"). I am up to page 46 of 111 pages. As usual, there are parts of the document that are really good, and other parts that are a big disappointment. The disappointments are where little information is recorded. There are at least two versions of this list extant. I believe that there are at least three. The first copy I got was of an incomplete list. The one I am currently analyzing is the most complete of the three.

I will be getting a copy of Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet

I don't know if I should get my hopes up, or not, but I will be getting a copy of Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet that lists Tromp's fleet in the abortive July-August 1652 voyage to the Shetlands. Almost any information from this pamphlet would be useful. The best sources have captain's name, the ship name, and the admiralty or Directors that funded the ship. Some really exceptional sources also give dimensions and armament, but I would only expect that from ship lists that document ship acquistions, and the state of the fleet on a specific date. Now, to fully capitalize on sources that are known to exist, I need to get a copy of some documents that are held by the Zeeuse Archief. Ivo van Loo told me: I also received a communication from Ivo van Loo: At the Zeeuws Archief you can find information about 'director's ships' in the accounts in the archives of the Rekenkamer van Zeeland (Zeeland auditor's office) (Zeeuws Archief, Arch. Rekenkamer II, inv.nrs. 1179a en 1179b). You can in these archives you can also consult the following accounts (both approved by the Generaliteitsrekenkamer): - the account of the directors of Vlissingen concerning the extraordinary outlay for the equipment of warships for the actions against England by the order of the States General. - the account of the directors of Veere concerning the extraordinary equipment of the warship 'Wapen van der Vere'. If there is anyone who can help with this, it would benefit us all. I have made great strides in the last 1-1/2 years in advancing our knowledge of the Dutch fleet in 1652 to 1654, and this would take us that much further. I will advise you as to what I find from Hendrick de Raedt's pamphlet.

Gerrit Femssen

Gerrit Femssen served the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier. We know he served in the First Anglo-Dutch War and was at the Battle of the Sound, in 1658.

We know three ships he commanded. In 1652, he commanded the Wapen van Enkhuijsen The first listing credited her with 30 guns and a crew of 110 men. There is another listing which credited her with 34 guns while still having a crew of 110.

In 1656, Gerrit Femssen commanded the Gouden Leeuw in the blockade of Danzig, under the command of Jacob van Wassenaer. The Gouden Leeuw carried 48 guns and had a crew of 155 men. Her dimensions were: 134ft x 34ft x 13.5ft.

In the Battle of the Sound, Gerrit Femssen commanded the old ship, the Eendracht, built in 1639. She carried 38 guns and had a crew of 125 men. Her dimensions were: 130ft x 32ft x 12ft.

We know a few facts about his service in the First Anglo-Dutch War. On July 26, 1652, attended a council of war on Tromp's flagship, following the storm off the Shetlands [1DW1, p.393]. At the Battle of the Kentish Knock, Gerrit Femszoon commanded the North Quarter ship, Wapen van Enkhuisen, which carried 30 guns and a crew of 110 men [Ball, p.366]. There was a document that listed the Noorderkwartier ships that were part of the "36 Ships of 1651": Gerrit Semssen [Femssen] was captain of the ship, 't Wapen van Enkhuisen, which carried 34 guns and a crew of 110 men. The ship is a national ship ('s Lands schep). There is a notation on the list that the ship "was cruising between Texel and Ushant, and afterwards served under Lt-Admiral Tromp's flag, and being engaged in the last action with the English, came in damaged to Enkhuisen; is now lying ready to return to Texel". The ship appeared on a list of ships belonging to the thirty-six ships of 1651. [1DW4, p.315].

On November 2, 1653, Admiral Wassenaer reported that Gerrit Femszoon's [Femssen] ship, from Enkhuisen, was lying off the Texel, with other ships [1DW6, p.159]. This was after the strong storm that swamped or wrecked may Dutch warships, on their way home while convoying a merchant fleet that had put into Norway.

Gillis Thijssen Campen

Gillis Thyssen Campen served the Admiralty of Amsterdam. Frank Fox says that Gillis Thyssen (Tijssen, Thijssen) Campen was Cornelis Tromp's Vice-Admiral at the Battle of Lowestoft, in 1665. He says that at the Battle of Lowestoft, four ships had run together and were tangled. They were Gillis Thyssen Campen's flagship, the Koevorden (56 guns), the Prins Maurits (53 guns), the Elf Steden (54 guns), and the Stad Utrecht (48 guns). They would not surrender to the English, so a fireship was sent in. One ship blew up, and freed the Elf Steden, which was towed off by another Dutch ship. Gillis Thyssen Campen was killed in the explosion.

At the start of the First Anglo-Dutch War, Gillis Thyssen Campen commanded the 24-guns hired ship, the Gouden Leeuw. In October 1652, she was paid off, along with other older and smaller hired ships. By early 1653, he was given the 42-gun ship, the Groningen, which he commanded for the rest of the war.

Markus Hartman, captain of the Gekroonde Liefde (36 guns)

There seems to be very little information about Markus Hartman. I can find no trace of him prior to 1652, in the sources that are available to me. His ship was lost in the great storm that struck on November 1, 1653. I suspect that he drowned.

We first read of him in a letter from Michiel De Ruyter to the Admiralty of Zeeland. On September 3, 1652, De Ruyter met Captain Hartman at sea, with some other ships, about 3 in the morning.

In April 1653, De Ruyter was on board Markus Hartman's ship, the Gekroonde Liefde, 36 guns (Middelburg Directors). In mid-May 1653, Captain Hartman was De Ruyter's Rear Admiral. De Ruyter commanded the fourth squadron of five in the Dutch fleet, prior to the Battle of the Gabbard.

In early August 1653, prior to the Battle of Scheveningen, Markus Hartman was still with De Ruyter. Captain Hartman's "squadron" (really, division) consisted of his ship, the Gekroonde Liefde of 36 guns, the ships of Jacob Wolphertsen (unknown name or guns), Jacob Swart (Vliegende Faam, 28 guns), and Captain de Bitter (the Mercurius of unknown guns).

There is a copy of Frank Fox's first book for sale

I noticed that there is a copy of Frank Fox's first book, Great Ships: the Battlefleet of King Charles II, for sale at Albion Books. What is significant about this book is the priced. I own multiple copies, and never paid more then $80 (US). This copy is for sale at $254.53 (converted to dollars from pound sterling, presumably).

I would expect that unless someone is really wanting this book and willing to pay a premium, this copy could be for sale for some time. I use Addall.com/used for finding used and out-of-print books. I have consistently found that more useful than Amazon, although for finding Frank Fox's second book, A Distant Storm: the four days battle of 1666, the only option seems to be Amazon.co.uk.

Notes about small bits of information from December 1652

One thing that was of interest to me was about the hired ship Anthony Bonaventure, which was captured by the Dutch at the Battle of Dungeness. The captain had been Wlater Hoxton, who was killed in the battle. His ship carried 36 guns and had a crew of 110 men. I had never seen the crew listed before. That is on page 56 of Vol.IV of Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen.

The Garland, also captured, carried 44 guns and had a crew of 200 men. Her captain had been Charles Batten.

The hired ship Hercules (34 guns) was run ashore, so that the crew could escape. The pursuing ship was the Vlissingen Directors ship Haes. Her captain was to become famous at the Battle of Lowesoft: Bastiaan Centsen (Centen, or Senten).

The Dutch lost the Rotterdam ship Gelderland, which caught fire in the night, and blew up, killing the captain and part of the crew.

Cornelis Corneliszoon de Groot and the Samson

I had listed the Amsterdam Directors ship Samson as being commanded by Cornelis Corneliszoon, but it seems that it is actually Cornelis Corneliszoon de Groot. I have seen this phenomenon all too frequently, where the last name was dropped. Other examples were Evert Anthonissen (Marre) and Ewout Jeroenszoon (de Moy).

The dimensions for the Samson, as you may recall, were 119ft x 28.25ft x 13ft with an armament of 28 guns: 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, and 2-3pdr.

I have done some analysis, and my estimate of the displacement is 533.3 tons and the burden, calculated English style, was 357.3 tons. The weight of broadside was 119 lbs. and the armament weight I estimate to be 25.17 tons.

The plan for manning the 50 Directors ships in 1652

The intent for manning the 50 Directors ships was for them to have 85 officers and sailors, along with 25 soldiers, as well. There was a directive in mid-March 1652, that spelled this out. My reference is Dr. Elias' book, Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen, Vol.II, page 42.