I would be interested to see the list of Dutch ships in 1648

I do not have the information, but the list of Dutch warships in service in 1648 apparently exists. At least one person who I know has the list and I suspect that Dr. Elias had access to the list, as well. I hand asked Rick van Velden, at the Nationaal Archief, to look for the list, but he did not know where to look and couldn't find it. I had seen a reference in Schetsen uit de Geschiedenis van ons Zeewezen that referred to such a list. That was in July 2004. I would be interested to see the last from 1648, as I know for a fact that the ships included in the group funded from 1648 changed over time. That was caused by warlosses and the moving of ships between groups to have their service financed.

The Zeelands ships funded in 1651, as of December 1652

My theory is that as ships were lost in battle or storm and were discarded, that the ships included in the various funding categories changed over time. I have this list from December 1652 that has a list of Zeeland ships included in the funding of 1651. Perhaps the only difference is the captains have changed. That seems to confirm that this is a good list:

Adm   Ship            Guns Commander
Z     Hollandia       36   kapitein Adriaen Banckert
                           vice-admiraal Johan Evertsen
Z     Zeelandia       32   kapitein Andries Pietersz den Boer
Z     Zeelandia       32   kapitein Johan Naelhout
Z     Zeeridder       28   kapitein Gillis Janszoon
Z     Neptunis        25   kapitein Jan Pauwelsz
Z     Vlissingen      32   kapitein Cornelis Mangelaer
Z     Salamander      26   kapitein Jan Christoffelsz Duijm

The 7 Zeeland ships of 1651

Seven of the 36 ships funded in 1651 were from Zeeland:

Adm    Ship              Guns Crew Captain
Z      Wapen van Zeeland 34   140  Joris Willemsz Block
Z      Zeelandia         32   138  Andries Pietersz den Boer
Z      Zeelandia         32        Jan Naelhout
Z      Vlissingen        32   115  Cornelis Mangelaer
Z      Salamander        26   110  Jan Christoffelsz Duijm
Z      Zeeridder         28   120  Gillis Janszoon
Z      Neptunis          25   115  Johan Pauwelszoon

This is based on two documents that I received back in early February 2007.

More about the Graef Hendrick

Yesterday, I looked at another list dating from late September 1653. That list indicated that Jan Reijndersz Wagenaer's ship, the Graef Hendrick, was a ship of the Admiralty of Friesland, not a Groningen or Friesland Directors' ship. As I have written, in the face of conflicting information, I am still leaning towards listing the Graef Hendrick (Graaf Hendrik) as a Groningen Directors' ship, but if I can find more conclusive information, I am ready to change my mind. The many pages of Friesland ship data to do not supply the definitive answer. They say that the Graef Hendrick was a ship hired by Groningen, and that is really all they say.

The First Dutch War book in six volumes

The First Dutch War book, consisting of six volumes, was my first contact with information that was close to primary sources about the First Anglo-Dutch War. To its credit, The First Dutch War publishes material to which most people would not have had access. That was true for me, up to sometime in the latter 1990's, when I started to encounter better information sources about the war. Many of the problems with The First Dutch War stem from the death of the original author, Samuel Rawson Gardiner. C. T. Atkinson made a valiant effort, but came up short, simply due to his lack of familiarity with the subject. Still, my primary criticism is the lack of good references, in footnotes and bibliography. For the Dutch material, the references sources are so non-specific as to be useless. Compare that situation with Dr. Ballhausen's book, which is well-footnoted, even thought in some cases, the sources do not support the conclusion. In the last six months, I have seen many of the original Dutch documents that were likely used as the source for the Dutch information, especially in Vol.IV of The First Dutch War. Vol.IV has the best and most useful list of Dutch ships, with ship names, captains, guns, and crew figures.

The ship Gerechtigheid in September 1653

The Gerechtigheid was a ship belonging to the Amsterdam chamber of the VOC. The Gerechtigheid was one of six VOC ships from various chambers to serve with the Dutch fleet in 1653. The Gerechtigheid had carried 34 guns and had a crew of 105 men in May 1653. By September 1653, I have a page that says that the Gerechtigheid carried 42 guns and had a crew of 138 men. The Gerechtigheid was a pretty large ship, as it was 136 ft long. It was also well-armed with more than the usual small number of 18pdr guns and with a good lower tier of 12pdr guns. The Gerechtigheid was one of the ships lost in the storm off the Texel in early November 1653, when the fleet returned from Norway.

The Friesland ship Graef Hendrick

There is at least some evidence that Jan Reijndersz Wagenaer's ship, the Graef Hendrick, was hired by the Groningen Directors. I had not been satisfied with any of the other candidate ships. There were certainly other ships hired by Groningen for service in 1652 to 1653, but they probably served under the Admiralty of Friesland. The two Harlingen Directors' ships, the Vergulde Pelicaen (28 guns) and the Sint Vincent (28 guns) were also considered under the category of Friesland and Groningen Directors' ships. The Vergulde Pelicaen was eventually discarded, but the Sint Vincent served up until being lost in the storm off the Texel in early November 1653.

The ship that I had long assumed was the Groningen Directors' ship, the ship of Joost Bulter, seems to have been bought for service under the Admiralty of Friesland. That ship was named Stad Groeningen en Ommelanden. That was one of two 38 gun ships listed in De Jonge's list for March 1653. The other was the Zevenwolden. The Stad Groeningen en Ommelanden came into service much later than the Graef Hendrick and the two Harlingen Directors' ships. The other candidate, the Groeninger Sint Nicolaes, also hired by Groningen, seems to have served under the Admiralty of Friesland and was commanded by Laurens Hermansz Degelcamp. I might be persuaded otherwise, but for now, I am listing the Graef Hendrick as the Groningen Directors' ship hired in 1652.

Jacob Pauwelsz Cort must have been Michiel De Ruijter's flag captain in late 1653

These documents that I received yesterday show Jacob Pauwelsz Cort as the captain of the Huijs te Cruijningen (late 1653 spelling), the newly acquired ship that Michiel De Ruijter used as his flagship during the voyage to Norway from September to November 1653. De Ruijter and Witte de With had been fitting out the new ships taken over from Genoa in August, if not before. They were not ready for the Battle of Scheveningen but were ready by September. That must mean that Jacob Pauwelsz Cort was De Ruijter's flag captain. I had seen that Albert Claesz Graeff had taken over Jacob Pauwelsz Cort's ship, the Star or Morgen Sterre by June 1653 and I had wondered what had become of Jacob Pauwelsz Cort.

Some ships at Amsterdam on 12 September 1653

I received some photographs today with some interesting information about the ships in Witte de With's fleet on 12 September 1653. These are some of the ships lying at Amsterdam:

Adm    Ship               Guns Crew Commander
A-Dir  Hollantsche Tuijn  32   116  Harman Walleman
A-Dir  Blaeuwen Arent     28   116  captain in detention, in poor condition
A-Dir  Gidion             34   130  Dirck Somer
A-Dir  Engel Michael      28    73  Frederick Bogaert, short of 37 men
A-Dir  Swarte Leeuw       30    74  Hendrick de Raedt, short of 36 men
A-Dir  Sint Pieter        28    81  Gerrit Schuijt, in poor condition, short of 29 men
A-Dir  Walvisch           29    62  captain absent, short of 48 men
A-Dir  Vergulde Valck     26    83  Cornelis Jansz Brouwer, short of 27 men

A list of Amsterdam ships from September 1653

The list of ships from September 1653 must be from Witte de With's fleet. This is the Amsterdam ships that has one ship not from Amsterdam:

Adm     Ship                  Guns Crew Commander
A       Huis te Swieten       56   270  Vice-Admiraal Witte de With
A       Amsterdam             50   210  kapitein Gideon Verburgh
A       Huis te Cruijningen   48   210  kapitein Jacob Pouwelsz Cort
A       Bommel                34   130  kapitein Pieter van Braeckel
A       Morgen Sterre         30   110  kapitein Albert de Graeff
A-Dir   Hercules              27   104  kapitein Veeneman
A-Dir   Koninck Davidt        28   124  kapitein Volgelsanck
A-Dir   Sampson               26   100  kapitein Cornelis de Groot
A-Dir   Ceurvorst van Ceulen  32   124  kapitein Sijmon Dootjes
A-Dir   Faem                  28   128  kapitein Jacob Cornelisz Swart
Me-Dir  Coninck Radbout       28    90  kapitein Jan Rootjes (not an Amsterdam ship)
A-Dir   Moor                  36   140  kapitein Arij Cornelisz van Ackersloot

Sorry for the commercial message: rare books for sale

Sorry for the commercial interruption, but I am still hoping to find buyers for two rare books from the 17th Century:

564     AITZEMA, Lieuwe van. Saken van staet en oorlogh, in, ende
omtrent de Vereenigde Nederlanden, beginnende met het jaer 1621, ende
eyndigende met het jaar 1669.
's Grav., Johan Veely, Johan Tongerloo, ende Jasper Doll, 1669-1672.
6 volumes in 7. With titles printed in red and black, engraved frontispiece,
engraved portrait. - Added: SYLVIUS, L. (= Lambertus
van den Bos). Historien onses tyds, behelzende saken van staat en oorlogh ..
Amst., Jan ten Hoorn, 1685-1699. 4 volumes. With engraved
portraits and plans. Together 11 volumes. Folio. Contemporary blind-stamped
vellum, with later red morocco title-labels (1 mounted with
tape), raised bands. Containing numerous documents concerning New
Netherland and other parts of America, the foundation
of the West India Company, Usselincx and the
Swedish Company of the West-Indies, the Dutch in
Brazil, etc. Cat. NHSM p.346; Knuttel, Verboden Boeken 11; Van
Eeghen & Van der Kellen 106.

I paid a whopping 8,500 euros in 2001, when the euro was not worth as much as now. I apparently paid too much, but I had the resources at the time and thought it worth getting the volumes. I would be negotiable on price. I had bought them from Gert Jan Bestebreurtje.

I also have one volume of the Hollandsche Mercurius that covers 1666-1670 that I would sell. I have a copy of the volume covering 1650-1658, but would not part with it.

Hollandtze Mercurius, Vervatende Het Gepasseerde in Europa,
Voornamentlijk in Den Engelze Ende Nederlantschen Oorlog in 't Jaer
1666. Het Seventhiende Deel, Together with the Same, Vols 18 , 19, 20
and 21 Pieter Castelyn 1667 - 1671. 5 vols bound in one volume in
contemporary vellum, hinges cracking but firm. Bears signature of Carl
Ewald Ziervogel, an 18th century Cape of Good Hope colonist.

I purchased the book from a bookseller in Johannesburg (he still has his advertisment posted after all this time).

The mystery ship St. Johannes from Jan Glete's notes

Jan Glete had kindly supplied me with a copy of his notes from studying documents at the Nationaal Archief at The Hague, when he was doing research for Navies and Nations. Those notes listed a ship St. Johannes, which we never found anywhere else. Yesterday, I received a photograph of a page that seems to supply the answer. The document is dated 18 February 1653. It says "gehuert van S~ Johannes Louten ende Son Hahoort (?)". The dimensions are those given by Jan Glete. There are two gun lists. The one on the left includes 2-18pdr guns and matches that for the St. Johannes. The list further right has 10-12pdr, 8-8pdr, 8-6pdr, and 2-3pdr guns, which is typical for an Amsterdam Directors' ship with 28 guns. The name is the "Walvis" (or Walvisch). I am guessing that Jan Glete had mistaken the owner's name for the ship name.

Oosterwijk commanders

I was recently asked about the Amsterdam ship Oosterwijk, which was built in 1653. The dimensions were 140ft x 35ft x 13-1/2ft. I happen to have information about the ship's commanders:

From September to November 1653, commandeur Gideon de Wildt commanded the Oosterwijk on the voyage to Norway with Witte de With's fleet. In July 1654, Gideon de Wildt still commanded the Huis te Oosterwijk, as it was called in the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the year 1654. Even in 1659, he commanded the Oosterwijk in 1659,when he was with De Ruyter's fleet in the Sound.

June 1665, at the Battle of Lowestoft, Dirck Schey commanded the Oosterwijk. He still commanded the ship in August, under De Ruyter's command.

August 1666, at the Twee Daagse Zeeslag, the ship was commanded by Lt.Col. Fransçois Palm, who was a marine.

In May to July 1667, during the raid on Chatham and Harwich, the ship was commanded by Jan Roeteringh.

In 1671, Engel De Ruyter commanded the Oosterwijk.

From May to July 1672, Volkert Hendriksz Swart commanded the Oosterwijk.

In April 1674, Pieter van Middeland commanded the Oosterwijk.

In July 1675, Jacob Teding van Berkhout commanded the Oosterwijk. He still commanded the ship in April 1676.

Rotterdam ships with the fleet on 24 July 1652

One page that I received about a week ago has the list of captains with Tromp's fleet on 24 July 1652. This is the list of Rotterdam captains, suitably annotated:

Adm   Ship               Guns Commander
R     Brederode          54   Lt-Admiraal Tromp
R     Utrecht            22   Cornelis Engelen Silvergieter
R     Gorcum             30   Jan van Nes, the Boer Jaep
R     Overijssel         22   Leendert Ariensz Haecxwant
R     Schiedam           30   Dirck Juijnbol
R     Holland            30   Hendrick de Munnick
R     Roscam, hired      24   Costiaen Eldertsz
R     Maria, hired       24   Quirijnen van den Kerckhoff
R-Dir Hollandia          26   Ruth Jacobsz Buijs
R-Dir Jonas              36   Jan de Liefde
R-Dir Meerman            32   Jacob Cleijdijck
R-Dir Prins te Paard     38   Corstiaen Corstiaensz (de Munnick)

The gun list for the Vogelstruis (oops, I don't have it!)

My main regret about my trip to the Netherlands and my trip to the Nationaal Archief in The Hague, slightly more than a month ago was that I failed to write down the gun list for the ship Vogelstruis, when I saw it. Instead, I thought that I had arranged to have the page copied, so I didn't need to take the time to write it down. The Vogelstruis was a ship of the Amsterdam chamber of the VOC. It was apparently built in 1641. The dimensions of the Vogelstruis were 160ft x 36-38ft x 13ft with three decks, based on some calculations made using the dimensions taken by her English captors and from email from Herbert Tomesen of Artitec. There is a page about Herbert (in Dutch) and video of him with a ship model. The Vogelstruis (old spelling is Vogel Struijs) carried between 40 and 44 guns, as far as I can tell. One page gives the crew as 200 men, but I am not certain if that is correct, or not. As I remember, the Volgelstruis carried 4-24pdr guns and perhaps a lower tier of 12pdr guns.

Ships in 23 June 1653 with the Rotterdam Chamber of the VOC

I am not sure of these ships all actually belonged under the category of the Rotterdam Chamber of the VOC (the East India Company), but in the classic list of ships that had been at the Battle of the Gabbard (the Zeeslag bij Nieuwpoort), these all fall under that category:

Nr.   Adm     Ship                  Guns Crew Commander
60    R-VOC   Nassou                32   124  Jan Adriaensz van der Werf
61    R       Haij, advijs boot      6    14  Teunis Willemsen van der Heiden
62    R       Coninck David,fireship ?    14  Jacob Arentsen
63    R       Orangie boom, fireship ?    13  Dirc Janssen Stroo

The Haij, number 62, is noteworthy, as the summary list looked like it said "advijs berck". Actually, it should have said "advijs boot".

The "Prins te Paard"

Michael Robinson, in catalog of Van de Velde paintings, calls the ship first commanded by Corstiaen Corstiaenszoon the Prins te Paard. The actual documents that I have from the Nationaal Archief all call the ship the Prins, except for a page that I received two days ago. That page gives the captain's full name, which was Corstiaen Corstiaensz de Munnick (perhaps a relative of Hendrick de Munnick, the Rotterdam captain). That page also calls his ship, which carried 38 guns, the Prins te Paerde. I have heard that perhaps that full name for this ship was the Jonge Prins Willem te Paard. The names of Dutch ships in the 1640's and 1650's seems to have been rather fluid and allowed for many alternative names that were frequently used. For example, the document that includes this page has Barent Cramer's ship listed as the Swarte Bul, which was the frequently used nickname for ships name Edam. The black bull was the symbol for the city of Edam.

Friesland Directors' ships in December 1652

One question has been: what ship was hired by the Groningen Directors in 1652? The answer seems to be the Graaf Hendrick, commanded by Jan Reijndersz Wagenaer. I have a photograph of a document dating from early December 1652 that says that this is the case. There were other ships hired by Groningen, but this seems to be the Directors' ship.

My current arrangement for research

With me being in the United States and the information that I desire being in the Netherlands, I have relied on people there to obtain copies for photographs for me. I am really pleased with my present arrangement with the Dutch Archives Research Bureau and the work that Eric Ruijssenaars is doing for me. I also have been greatly helped by Carl Stapel and others there in the Netherlands, such as Ab Hoving, Ron van Maanen, Nico Brinck, and Herbert Tomesen of Artitec, and others who have helped me over the last five years in the Netherlands. I owe a great deal to the help provided by Prof. Jan Glete in Stockholm. I would not know nearly as much as I do without his assistance over the last four years. Of course, I have also greatly benefitted from the help and advice from Frank Fox, the author of Great Ships and A Distant Storm, since late 1999. Frank is here in the United States, although he lives quite a distance from where I am. There is an amazing community of enthusiasts, researchers, authors, artists, and model makers interested in 17th Century warships and naval history.

Jan Glete's book was a revelation to me

I had originally started to get information from the Nationaal Archief in The Hague through Drs. Rick van Velden, through "The Missing Link" service. I had contacted him in August 2002, after I found "The Missing Link" by searching on the Internet. I believe that it was after that that I had Jan Glete's book Navies and Nations. Navies and Nations was a revelation to me, as Jan Glete's references and footnotes indicated that there were more information to be found than I had guessed. He mentioned that Ron van Maanen had told him about the information about Directors' ships. After seeing that, I looked for and found Jan Glete's email address. He kindly provided me with a copy of his notes. I had to switch to dealing with the Nationaal Archief at the beginning of 2003. I was able to get copies of some of the Extraordinarie Equipage documents that listed dimensions and had gun lists for the Amsterdam Directors' ships. I just kept with the process of finding more information and I continued to use Navies and Nations in my search. I was able to get copies of the Staet van Oorlog te Water for the years 1628, 1629, 1631, and 1633, as I have previously written. I have just continued the process of getting information to this day.