Part 7

The size of the crews, which reduces to 21 men per vessel shows sufficiently that the boats of the fleet were relatively small. Under these conditions, a pretty exact idea can be had of this fleet by giving a glance at old engravings which show a flotilla of fishing boats, including some busses and a few “Noordvaarders”, putting out to sea.

The castles which ships carried at this time were small and not set up as a permanence.

The medal struck as a commemoration of the battle of the Sluis also shows a “Cog”, or at least a vessel which is exactly like it by its clinker built sides. It may be supposed that the type of vessel shown in this reproduction was the one most widely used at this period; so, once more is shown the great affinity which existed among the northern nations.

Military tactics had forced the peoples of the Mediterranean and, later, Spain and Portugal, their imitators, to increase the height of their ships. This is confirmed by ~Holmes~ in the following quotation relating to the battle fought by Edward III, near Winchelsea, against forty Spanish ships: “The tactics of the English consisted chiefly of boarding, while the Spaniards, whose vessels were much the higher, attacked with crossbows and heavy stones; the latter they hurled from their fighting tops into their adversaries’ ships”.

The history of the Netherlands also mentions this fact.

England first made use of artillery at sea in 1372; the Mediterranean saw it used by the Genoese in 1377.

Shipbuilding was only developed much later in France. Nevertheless, there is proof that ships were already built there in the XIVth century and it appears that they had cannons on board even in 1339. Still, it was only on the shores of the Mediterranean that shipbuilding was regularly carried on, under the impulse, it appears, of Jean de Vienne, who was made admiral in 1373. (_Le Musée de Marine du Louvre._)

It was under the rule of Henri the Navigator (1417) that shipbuilding reached its height in Portugal, a country which was entirely under the influence of the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, the relations of the Netherlands with the southern countries had developed rapidly.

The closing of the old route to the Indies, which led through the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, brought about a complete upsetting of the commerce of the world. New explorations must needs be undertaken and it is thus that we read in history that after having pushed as far as Guinea with six caravels, in 1446, the Cape Verde Islands were reached soon afterwards.

In 1449, it was the turn of the Azore Islands and, in 1486, Bartholomeo Diaz reached the Cape of Good Hope. Eleven years later, this navigator turned the Cape and landed at the Indies with three vessels, the _San Gabriel_, the _San Raphael_ and the _Bonio_. According to existing data, the first of these ships must have had a capacity of 400 tons or 250 to 300 registered tons. (~Holmes~, p. 86.)

[Sidenote: II 61]

It is useless to dwell longer on these episodes of which the history is sufficiently well known and of which the last act was the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492. This latter had at his disposal but three small ships, although Spain was already using, at this time, larger vessels. The best known and the largest of the three was the “Santa-Maria”. This ship had a length of keel of 60.68 feet and a length over all of 128.25 feet with a total breadth of 25.71 feet. The Chicago Exposition of 1893 exhibited a model of this vessel of which ~Holmes~’s work gives a reproduction on p. 85.

The discovery of America gave rise to the thirst for gold, drove the nations of North-Western Europe to venture on the high seas and obliged them to go actively into shipbuilding. The rise of the Netherlands then was important; the size of their ships grew greatly, and as far back as the XVIth century, vessels of 300, 400, 500 and 600 tons were found.

However, smaller vessels continued to be used, in preference, for war because they were more easily handled. (See, among others, ~de Jonge~, Vol. I, p. 81.)

After 1500, our shipbuilding became so developed that our country was called the shipyard of Europe. Different from Portugal, where nothing has been preserved, the Netherlands possess a whole series of drawings of the XVIth, XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, which enable us to form a very exact idea of the progressive development of the ship.

In the old reproductions aforementioned of Maître W. A., as well as in the Flemish miniatures at hand, the forward castle projected beyond the bow, but it already forms, however, a component part of the ship and is fastened to a beam let into the stem and resting on a bracket fastened thereto. This construction gives to the stem the appearance of starting upward and then of falling back in the shape of an S. This is evidently only an illusion.

The vessels after 1500 become larger and the castles gain in importance. The projection of the forward castle, however, diminishes gradually and this castle reached only as far as the stem, by the middle of the XVIth century.

[Sidenote: II 138]

~Witsen~, in the appendix of his remarkable work (pp. 8 and 10), gives a fine model of a ship at the end of the XVth century. It is a question of the reproduction of a vessel which, in his time, decorated the arch of the church at Diemer-lez-Amsterdam, built in the year 1500. The rigging of this vessel, as well as the pole mast supplied with tops and carrying large square sails, brings us back to the Middle Ages. The forward castle, which projects beyond the stem, and the after castle are higher than usual. These are no bends such as were used later; several heavy pieces of wood supported on brackets take their place. The sides are evidently smooth and, according to the constant practice of the period, the ship carried on the bow and on the sides pieces of wood for protection.

The stern alone is not clearly shown; there is no rudder to be seen, and this gives the impression that the drawing is at fault.

This vessel had no upper stern, in all probability, for our ships did not yet know this addition. There is a proof of it in the _Noah’s Ark_, reproduced in the _Nürenberger Chronik_, folio XI, of 1494, as well as in that of the ship which appears in the _Ecclesiastical Painting of the Middle Ages in Holland_, 1518-1525, nᵒ 14, and which shows Jonah in the water.

[Sidenote: II 136]

[Sidenote: II 119]

This last picture especially gives a magnificent type of boat of the beginning of the XVIth century. It is not so old as the ship of the Church at Diemer, as to which the rig furnishes proof: the pole of the mast passes through the top and, another characteristic, the forward castle does not project beyond the stem. The ram has been broken off near the frame. Besides, the human figures, as compared with the ship, are exaggerated. The sides of the vessel are smooth. It brings admirably to mind the Flemish miniature of 1482.

These reproductions are most interesting in view of the development of the ship; we see in them the forms of the castle become more precise, the rigging improve and increase and the vessel itself gain in size.

Attention is called to the fact that the ships in all these drawings carry a bowsprit which was used at first only to hoist the anchor, as is the practice still on the large river lakes.

Let us now turn our eyes to Breugel’s pictures of which F. Huis has left some superb engravings.

[Sidenote: II 132]

[Sidenote: II 135]

[Sidenote: II 64]

A close examination of these reproductions brings out different types of ships. Several of them show us important vessels which, by their great rams, their high castles and their broad sterns, differ notably from the old Holland ship.

Van Yk’s work also shows, on page 9, a reproduction of those big vessels which the author calls Spanish “Caracks” or galleons, two types of ships which arose under the influence of the Mediterranean.

But, alongside of these “caracks” are also found smaller Dutch vessels. An engraving of 1564, of a Breugel picture, shows particularly an Amsterdam merchantman. It has a round stern. It can be compared advantageously with an old Flemish engraving, dating from 1480 or 1490, which shows a “Kraeck” without escutcheon, and of which the castles differ completely in form and size from those carried by the ships seen in the engravings of Maître W. A. These castles agree with the Mediterranean types.

The boat with the square stern had been adopted in Holland, therefore, as far back as the end of the XVIth century.

Square sterns remained in use there, for large vessels up to the end of the XVIIIth century; at that time a return was made to the old structure, in imitation of England which used the square stern for only a short time, seeing that William Pitt (~Holmes~, p. 40) introduced the rounded forms there in the XVIIth century. Hence Mr. de Jonge is in error when he says in his work that the vessel with the square stern only appeared in Holland in 1651.

The adoption of the square stern, nevertheless, did not cause the old round-stern, full-bow vessel to disappear; this is an established fact.

Another word about ports. The old reproductions of the XVIth century show ports; some are even found on a miniature of 1428. In any event, their general use dates back to the end of the XVth century; they seem to have been invented by a Frenchman from Brest, named Descharges. (~De Jonge~, Vol. I, p. 85.)

The masts and rigging also underwent important changes. At the beginning of the Eighty Years War (1590), an inhabitant of Enkhuizen, “Kryn Wouterez” by name, according to Brandt (_History of Enkhuizen_, Vol. I, p. 139), invented a process for making masts in several sections (~De Jonge~, Vol. I, p. 390). The masts, made first of two pieces, were, by means of this new invention, soon made in three parts each carrying a square sail. From this time, the old medieval rig of one large sail begins to disappear.

In order to facilitate the evolutions of the ship, a square sail was placed on the bowsprit.

Finally, the guns are placed more rationally and, imitating the practice on the Spanish caracks, some were located in the forward and after castles so as to command the deck. This arrangement recalls the practice of the Middle Ages, in accordance with which, in case of boarding, the crew retired into the castles whence a charge was made on the invaders.

[Sidenote: II 143]

[Sidenote: II 141]

The vessel represented on the engraving of 1594, therefore, arose gradually from the old forms, but not without having felt the influence of the Mediterranean; this evolution leads us to the “Pinnace” of the XVIIth century. The ship was then richly ornamented and bedecked, and its sails, in accordance with use, carried handsome paintings. This custom disappeared insensibly during the century named, but the custom of decorating ships continued, none the less, for still a long time afterwards.

According to ~Witsen~, fixed rules governed the construction of vessels from the XVIth century on. One strict rule, among others, did not allow the stem to project more than ⁷⁄₆, or less than ⅚ of its height, nor could the sternpost project more than a fifth or a fourth of its height. The author mentioned pretends that the stem was made with a marked slope, for the reason that it was believed that, under such conditions, the ships would glide more easily over the water (p. 47, column 2 at the end).

At about one-third of the length of the keel from the stem, were placed from one to four main frames; the ship narrowed aft to such a degree that the wing transom was equal in length to half the greatest beam of the ship. The bow was full, which allowed the water to be thrown more easily aside. (~Witsen~, pp. 49 and 50.)

The seams were calked and, in accordance with an old custom, covered with lead plates.

The forward castle had been reduced in height while the after castle, on the contrary, had been raised. A fourth mast was placed in the stern to facilitate the manœuvring of the ship; this mast disappeared later on, when the bowsprit was adopted in the course of the XVIIth century. (~Witsen~, p. 139, 2d column.)

The XVIth century was a memorable period for the Netherlands; it was during this century that was laid the foundation of that navy to which, as says Mr. ~De Jonge~, Holland was to owe later her liberty, her greatness and her prosperity. This navy united within itself everything which could concur to bring forth a force able to defend the country, to protect commerce, navigation and the fisheries and to bring to Holland glory and power.

Our marine, in general, and our shipbuilding, in particular, then developed steadily. A long period of struggles began and many battles were fought both before and after the Eighty Years War (1568-1648).

According to the old custom, the ships which took part in actions were only merchantmen fitted out for the purpose. (~De Jonge~, Vol. I, p. 180.) These vessels, which were called “Vliebooten” or “Vlietbooten” (flyboats), had a small capacity varying from 40 to 140 tons and carried six, eight, ten or twenty guns. The size of the crew was proportioned generally to capacity; a vessel of 50 tons carried 50 men. (~De Jonge~, Vol. I, p. 101.)

The “Heuden”, already mentioned above, as well as “Boeiers” (tenders), also called “Kromstevens”, and other flat-bottomed craft were used on the rivers.

The navy of Zeeland included, in addition to a number of small boats, a few vessels of more respectable size. “Hulken” were used at the siege of Middleburg; one of them, called the big “Hulk”, must have had a capacity of 600 lasts, or 1200 tons, and a crew of at least 500 to 600 men. (~Van Meteren~, fol. 81 and 102.)

As a general rule, the vessels of North Holland were larger than those of Zeeland. Their capacity was 50 to 125 last, or 100 to 250 tons and a crew of 50 to 150 sailors and soldiers. The largest vessels carried thirty-two guns. (~De Jonge~, Vol. I, p. 187.)

Bor relates (_Guerres de Hollande_, Vol. I, p. 650) that thirteen vessels of this latter category were fitted out in 1575, and that this fleet was filled out by “Kraveelschepen”, “Yachten”, “Waterschepen” and “Booten”, while according to ~De Jonge~ (Vol. I, p. 187), a few galleys were still in service on the Zuyder Zee.

In order to be able to form a more exact idea of the importance of our naval power at this time, the following table, of which the original is preserved in the Archives of the State (~De Jonge~, Vol. I, p. 586), has been inserted here to show the navy of the province of Holland in 1587.

+=========+=======+======+=======+===============================+ | NUMBER | | | | | | OF | LASTS | GUNS | CREW | REMARKS | | VESSELS | | | | | +---------+-------+------+-------+-------------------------------+ | 1 | 100 | 16 | 95 | 1 Last = 2 tons. | | | | | | | | 1 | -- | 14 | 70 | | | | | | | | | 1 | 27 | 14 | 32 | Small calibre. | | | | | | | | 10 | 30-90 | 12 | 45-76 | | | | | | | | | 35 | 17-70 | 8-11 | 29-75 | the largest: 50 to 60 men. | | | | | | | | 4 Y | -- | -- | 36-50 | Y stands for Yachts. | | | | | | | | 25 | 8-40 | 4-7 | 11-70 | the largest: 30 to 40 men. | | | | | | | | 6 | -- | 1-2 | 7-11 | | | | | | | | | 1 G | -- | 1 | 16 | G stands for galley. | | | | | | |

In addition to the “Vliebooten”, there were vessels of less importance called “Kromstevens”, “Kraveelen”, “Heuden” or freight vessels, “Krapschuiten”, “Potten”, “Yachten”, “Boeiers”. The largest vessels were still, however, only of modest dimensions. According to the decisions of the Government, dated June 1, 1588, three of the largest vessels were to be equipped for war and it was stipulated that their capacity was to be 200 lasts. (~De Jonge~, Vol. I, p. 201, note.)

There are some who claim that only small boats were used at the beginning of our war for independence, because the battles were fought only on rivers and because, furthermore, the financial situation was very bad. (~De Jonge~, Vol. I, pp. 203-204.) I consider, for my part, that the latter reason was the main one. Later on, complaints were again made about the unsatisfactory state of the fleet by reason of lack of funds.

[Sidenote: III 8]

[Sidenote: III 9]

Returning new to the shapes of the ships. The “Hulk” has been seen to appear after the “Cog”, only to be replaced, itself, by the “Baertze”. The “Kraeck” arose alongside of this last type which was followed finally by the “Spiegelschip” under the form of a pinnace and a war vessel.

The full bow lasted, however, in boats of little importance and so the “Vlieboot” or “Vlietboot” was seen to follow the “Baertze”. It is the old type of the “Baertze” of which the topsides tumbled in appreciably.

Hence no new type of boat was characterized by this new denomination which was given in the second half of the XVIth century; it is the old form which, slightly modified, appears under another name. This is a fact which will be met with more than once further on. A comparison between the “Vlieboot”, (flyboat), the “Baertze”, etc., brings out the analogy between these vessels; the same holds good for the “Buss”. All these forms are derived from the “Cog”.

The “Flyboat” originated on the Zuider Zee. Its name seems to have come from the “Vlie” which was frequented by boats of this kind. These latter, as has been said, had reentering topsides, that is, convex in shape, hence it was more difficult to board them under these conditions and, consequently, their defense needed but a limited number of men; this was a matter of importance for merchant vessels.

[Sidenote: II 148]

[Sidenote: III 19]

Besides having a respectable cargo capacity, the “Flyboats” were also very handy. There is no doubt that they were the forerunners of the flutes, the merchant vessels _par excellence_ of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, which England and France borrowed from us.

There is in existence a beautiful reproduction of the “Flyboat” dating from 1647. It shows a relatively large vessel; judging by the beakhead shown which was not carried by our small merchant vessels. The beak had been adopted first in the Mediterranean; it is not, therefore, of Dutch origin. None of the old Dutch types had it, whereas those of the Mediterranean and, even those of the times of the Phœnicians already had them. (See, among others, ~Van Yk~, p. 103.)

Toward the end of the XVIth century the name of “Baertze” gave way to that of “Vlieboot” (flyboat), and at the beginning of the XVIIth century, arose the vessels called “Galioot” (galliot), “Noordvaerder”, “Kof” (kuff), “Smakschip” (smack), “Boeier” (tender), together with the flutes and square stern vessels. Still--and this cannot be too often repeated--the primitive forms do not disappear under these different names. The forms have been enlarged and a few exterior characteristics, as well as the rigging, have been modified. The different types just mentioned above have, therefore, as their main and fundamental character the old rounded bow. The vessels of the period under consideration could be divided into three principal groups: _a_) the square-stern ships; _b_) the flutes in the broadest acceptation of the word; and _c_) the “Kof en Smakschepen” (kuffs and smacks).

It is unnecessary to add that the vessels of groups _b_ and _c_ were round at the stern. Hence, the purest old Dutch types will be found in these two groups.

The XVIIth century is now reached, that century of glory and prosperity for our country, especially from the point of view of shipbuilding. However, before beginning on this period, let us look a little into what was the situation of shipbuilding abroad.

Let us begin with Spain, which was mixed up in our war for independence.

The Spanish naval architecture, which flourished after that of Portugal, felt undoubtedly and intensely the influence of the Mediterranean. The Spanish galleons and caracks recall the Genoese “nefs” and caracks, of which only a few old reproductions have been preserved, and which came up under the influence of relations with Northern nations.

In addition to the galleons, the galleys and the galliasses held an important place in the Spanish navy. The frequent use of vessels with oars made hand to hand fights quite rare and led to less frequent boarding among the nations of the South, this being the reverse of the practise among the Northern races.

The pictures of the Mediterranean vessels can be consulted to advantage in order to obtain an idea of the Spanish ships.

The sea power of Spain disappeared, as is known, with the Invincible Armada, in 1588. A summary description of this fleet will give an idea of the importance of the ships which composed it. It was made up of one-hundred-and-thirty-two vessels, of which (~Holmes~, p. 92) four were galleys, four galliasses, thirty vessels of less than 100 tons and ninety-four ships of 130 to 1550 tons. The round-stern ships had a total capacity of 59,120 tons. There were 2761 pieces of artillery and the ships companies contained 7862 seamen and 20,671 soldiers.

The English fleet had one-hundred-and-ninety-seven vessels, of which only thirty-four belonged to the royal navy, all the rest were merchantmen hastily equipped for war.

The largest English ship was the _Triumph_, built in 1561, of 1000 to 1100 tons burden and carrying three hundred sailors, forty gunners and one-hundred-and-sixty soldiers. It mounted forty-six guns. Besides the “Triumph”, the English fleet had but seven vessels of 600 to 1000 tons whereas the Spanish fleet had forty-five vessels of this size. The total of all hands of the English fleet amounted to 15,551 souls.

In this struggle Holland was with England; it was she that kept the Duke of Parma shut up at Dunkerque. The largest vessels of the Netherlands fleet were of 400 tons. Both in England and with us, merchant ships, which did duty temporarily as men of war, were leased for the war. This old custom of the Middle Ages still survived. Besides, it was all the simpler, at this latter period, to equip merchantmen for war, as artillery was still in its infancy or even unknown.

The following figures (~Holmes~, p. 95) show how much larger the vessels of the Southern States were than ours, as a rule. In 1592, the English captured a Portuguese _carack_ of 1600 tons, 165 feet between perpendiculars and showing seven decks.

In 1594, it was the turn of a Spanish _carack_ with 1100 men on board. When Cadiz was taken in 1596, two Spanish galliasses fell into the enemy’s hands; they were vessels of 1200 tons; the flagship “San-Felipo”, which was blown up measured 1500 tons.

A Portuguese carack of 1600 tons, called the San-Valentino, valued with her guns at a million ducats, was captured at Cezimbra in 1602.

Following our example, it is said, and as the result of “Kryn Wouterszoon’s” invention, the movable top-mast was adopted by the English during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1588-1603). (~Holmes~, p. 86).