Ships and Work Boats of New aland, 609-l

18 Pages·1999·2.41 MB·English

Ships and Work Boats of New aland, 609-l
Charlotte Wilcoxen
T
hat the Dutch of the sixteenth and seventeenth The smallnesso f many of the craft in which the Dutch
centuries were a nautical people has long been crossed and re-crossed the Atlantic in pursuing their
undisputed. From earliest times the physical nature of business in New Netherland is a commentary on their
their homeland and its restricted territory had required indomitable trading proclivities and seamanshipT. oday,
the employment of boatsa nd ships for local mobility and visiting the model that represents the &fuy@ver at
for trading throughout European waters, without which Plymouth, we marvel that families and young children
trade they could not have survived nor prospered. could have survived the winter passageo f the Atlantic
Although they appear to have had a predilection for aboard her. Yet she had nearly twice the tonnage of the
maritime pursuits, their superiority in seamanshipw as a H&e 44~~~(1H alf Moon) and three or four times that of
skill acquired through early training and necessity.J ust many of the Dutch vessels that made repeatedv oyages
as children in America’s western plains settlementsa re to bring settlers to New Netherland.
said to have learned to ride horsesb efore they learned to
walk, so in the provinces of Zeeland and North Holland Even the names of these ships are revealing of the
the young have always been equally precocious in the Dutch who came there-Abrahams Offerhande
skills of handling marine craft. (Abraham’s Sacrifice), of their Old TestamentC alvinis-
tic piety; de Lief?e (the Love), of personal feeling for the
When the Dutch began the settlemento f New Nether- ships that they sailed so casually through perilous seas.
land, they must have experienced a senseo f d&2 VU,s o The type-names of these craft of the New Netherland
similar was the new land to areaso f the Fatherland. Here, Dutch may be found in hundreds of references in the
too, there were great rivers-the North River (Hudson), public documents of New Netherland, yet the exact
the South River (Delaware) and the Fresh River nature and design of the various kinds of ships and boats
(Connecticut), all navigable for long distances and all employed there still remain obscure to the researcher,
penetrating to areaso f lucrative trade. There were also and the same vessel is often called by several type-
two great bays, one in the south (Delaware) the other at names.C hatterton says,
New Amsterdam, with low islands suitable for farming, It is an unfortunate historical fact that, throughout the history of
just as at home. It was a land that demandeds hips and most ships from very early times sailor-men have been remarkably
careless in nautical nomenclature. Such words as barks, gallies,
boats, and this need resulted in the introduction here of
wherries, galleasses, and brigantine have been regularly applied
a variety of theses uitable to the needso f the tradersa nd 3
to totally different types of vessels.
settlers.
Certainly this is true in the New Netherland recordsa s
well.Those types that appear in the documents relating
Something of the Dutch West India Company’s nauti-
to the Dutch in America are ship&yt (flyboat), frigate,
cal resourcesm ay be learned from the “Remonstranceo f
yacht (jack), galiot, bark, schooner,k etch, sloop (sleep);
the West India Company against a Peacew ith Spain,”
or, for smaller craft, yawl (i&l, punt scow
presentedt o the StatesG eneral in June 1633 in which it (mnt),
(schow), rowboat and canoe.S omeo f thesec raft, how-
is stated that at this time the Company had “about one
ever, do not appear to be similar to eighteenth- and
hundred and twenty well-built ships, some of 400 and
lusts; lusts nineteenth-century examples having their type names.
someo f 300 several of 250,200 and 150 and
Of this dilemma a British writer on early ships says:
the remainder of smaller dimensions; all as well supplied
with metal and iron pieces [cannon], and suitable The later nomenclature of sailing ship types is useless in class-
ifying vessels of this period [seventeenth century]; where special
ammunition as any of the enemy’s best and largest
terms such as ‘ketch’ or ‘bark’ were used, the did not fit the
vessels.“* 4;
careful definitions of nitIeteaXh-CetINry writers.
53
54 SELECTED RENSSELAERSWIJCKSEMINARPAPERS
Another authority on ships declarest hat was used carelessly in the records to refer to other
specific types.
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, rig had little if any
connection with designation of ship or boat types. Size, form,
Among the earliest ships mentioned in the Holland
constructiin or other considerations usually determined the type
name.. . Documents that related to the Dutch settlement in
America are de Vos (Little Fox) and d’e Cruen (Little
It is indeed true that yachts described in the New
Crane) which, on February 1,1611, were declared ready
Netherland records are quite unlike the modem racing
to embark crews for a voyage to discover a northern
yachts or the over-decorated, top-heavy yachts of
passageto China.6N o details of the voyage are available,
English royalty of the seventeenthc entury, and they are
but the inclusion of this document in a study of the Dutch
also unlike eacho ther. Henry Hudson’s Halve Muen was
in America implies that they subsequently explored the
vastly different from the small, fore-and-aft rigged work
northeasternc oasto f America, and we know that de Vos
yachts that were so active on the rivers and bays of New
was on that coast a few years later.7
Netherland.
There was at this time an escalating interest among
Though size may point to a given type of vessel,i t does
Dutch merchants in underwriting “those who Discover
not determine it. The flyboat was conceived and general-
any New PassagesH, avens,C ountries, Places,“* and this
ly thought of as a large vessel, and the yacht a small one.
concern for new marketse ventually led to the formation
Yet the captured Swedish ship the Gullene Huj (Golden
of the Dutch WestI ndia Company.P rior to this, however,
Shark) is called in the records a flyboat even though she
the StatesG eneral of the Netherlands granted to a group
was of only 80 to 90 tons burden, while the yacht Halve
of prominent merchantso f the cities of Amsterdam and
Maen carried about the same number of tons. The
Hoom the exclusive right to trade in New Netherland for
modem researcher,i n trying to resolve thesec ontradic-
four voyages to be completed within three years. This
tions in seventeenth-centurys hip nomenclaturec an only
was on October 11, 1614, and the names of the ships
resort to common sensea ided by a basic knowledge of
owned by thesem erchants,w ith their skippers, were: de
conditions existing in New Netherland at that period and
Vos (Jan de With), de Tijger (Tiger-Adriaen Block), ‘t
the functions that the craft was built to perform. Even
Fortuyn (Fortune-Hendrick Corstiaensen), de Nuch-
then there is often uncertainty.
tegael (Nightengale-Thys Volckertsen) and ’ t Fortuyn
(Comelis JacobsenM ey).’ Four years later two other
Amsterdamm erchantsw ere granted permission to make
The Ship, the Fhyt and the Frigate
a voyage to New Netherland with the ship Het &hilt
Judging by the New Netherland records, the three (Shield). It is likely that all of these were small ships of
largest vessels used by the Dutch in their Atlantic shallow draft, easily maneuverable for exploring the
colonies to trade, to transport colonists and supplies, and bays, inlets and rivers of the new territory.
to engagei n privateering were the ship, thefluyt and the
frigate. Each fulfilled the special needs of one of these Comelis Jacobsen Mey is again encountered in
activities of the Dutch in the seventeenthc entury. August 1620,t his time as the skipper of the ship de Blyde
Bootschap (Glad Tidings). He reports having discovered
in the New Netherland area “some new Countries
The Ship
populousandfertile.“10 The following year there appears
In what way the type of vessel referred to as a ship in the records the first clear-cut notice of a Dutch trade
differed from the other two types named above cannot with Virginia that would becomei ncreasingly heavy and
be determined readily, yet that the term is used fairly lucrative when a ship named the de Witte Duif (White
consistently for certain named vesselsa nd not for others Dove-Willem Jansen Houton, skipper) was given per-
indicates that it refers to a craft with specific qualities mission by the StatesG eneral to proceed to Virginia and
setting it aside as a special type. Warships, undoubtedly, return with a cargo of tobacco and peltties.*’ This was
had certain unique specifications, yet theseh ad little part quickly followed by other petitions to trade with Vir-
in the daily businesso f New Netherland. All one can say ginia.
now is that in the seventeenth century a ‘ship’ was
probably distinguished from afluyt or other vesselb y the A record of the West India company dated March 28,
shapeo f its hull, yet undoubtedly the term ‘ship’ often 1624, notes that “the colonists going to New Netherland
SHIPS AND WORK BOATS OF NEW NETHERLAND 55
for the Chamber of Amsterdamw ill be musteredt omor- 1 horseline 1 skimmer
row. “12 A sequel to this entry shows that on March 30, Some old loose ropes 1 frying pan
1 bundle of match 1 scraper
1624, a special manifesto was formally read to colonists
1 dipping pan 2 cartridge tubes
preparing to sail on the ship Nieuw Nederlandt.13
1 gridiron 1 tub with blacking
Wassenaer, in his Historisch Verhael, says that the 1 dozen wooden bowls ltinlamp
Nieuw Nederlandt was a vessel of 130 lasts (about 260 6 plates 1 lamp in the watch house
tons); her skipper, Comelis Jacobsen Mey. He also 3Olbs.of[ ] 3 marling spikes
declarest hat it was this ship that brought over the thirty 2 pewter dishes 1 piece of pump leather
1 pewter basin 1 boat line with a lead
families of Walloons who have generally been accepted
1 pewter dipping bowl 1 maul
as the first bona fide colonists (that is, completef amilies)
1 pewter wine cup 1 axe
to New Netherland. Since both of these contemporary 4 compasses 1 kedge anchor
sources support the claim that this group came on the 3 night hour glasses
Nieuw Nederlrandt in 1624, the matter would seemt o be 1 captain’s glass running two hours
6 [ ] spars of all ~orts’~
settled, but many years later, in 1688, one of these
Walloon refugees, Catelina Trico, at the age of 83 The first large ship known to have been built in New
deposedthatshecameond ’Eendracht(Unity) in 1623.‘” Netherland was the Nieuw Nederlandt, of 800 tons bur-
This has muddied the issue of what ship brought these den and carrying 30 guns. She was built at Manhattan in
first settlers, and the claims for both have been carefully 1631 for the West India Company, and in her period was
examined and reported on by two well-known historians one of the largest merchant ships afloat.20 Later the
of the Dutch in America, CA. Weslagera nd Arnold J.F. Company was criticized for her excessive costs21 This
van Laer.” ship should not be confused with the earlier ship Nieuw
Nederlandt that has been discussed above as bringing
The term ‘little ship’ is used repeatedly in the public over the Walloon families. In 1634 the large ship built in
records of New Netherland, and appears to refer to a 1631 was taken by the Dunkirkers.22
vessel of between 80 and 200 tons, roughly speaking,I n
April, 1645, the ‘little ship’ St, Pieter of 44 or 45 l&rts David de &Tries’sjo urnals of his voyages, as well as
(about 90 tons) was sold at Amsterdamw ith standing and the minutes of the Council of New Netherland, indicate
running rigging and all appurtenancesf or 4,050 Carolus that there were fine ships’ carpentersa nd excellent ship-
guilders.16( The St. Pieter is also referred to as a yacht.) repair facilities at Manhattan throughout its Dutch oc-
Ten years later another so-called little ship, Abraham’s cupation. Certainly the extent of Dutch privateering in
Offerhande (again referred to as a yacht) owned by the the Caribbean and elsewhere in American waters, with
West IndiaCompany, was sold toThomas Willett for400 the attendantp hysical damaget o ships, madei t necessary
beavers or f3,550, payable in “good beef and pork.“17 to maintain close-at-hand facilities for making repairs.
She was 63 feet in length with a 29-foot beam.‘” The Just how many ships were actually built there each year
following inventory taken at the time of sale shows the cannot be determined from existing records.
paucity of the equipment with which the Company
operatedi ts trading vessels: Other agenciesi n New Netherland, besidest he West
India Company, that had need for ships were the agricul-
Inventory of the property which I, skipper Claes Comelisz,
found on the ship De Offehnde Abrahms the2 1st of tural colonies then being established as patroonships
October anno 1655 there. It appearsf rom Kiliaen van Rensselaer’sl etters
that in the early days of his Colonie he dependedo n the
1 main sail 1 keg with some powder West India Company ships to transport both his colonists
2 foresails with a bonnet 2 iron 3 pounders
and supplies.23T he Amsterdam Chamber of the Com-
1 main topsail 1 ladle and 1 sponge
pany in 1631 grantedV an Rensselaerp ermission to send
1 fore topsail 2 small pedereros with
3 chambers over eleven colonists and ten calves in the Eendracht,24
1 spritsail, good and bad 1 worm as it is and in the following year the ship de Soutbergh (Salt
6 cannon balls Mine) that was taking Wouter van Twille?5 to New
1 mizzen 3 muskets Netherland as its director general, also carried cattle and
1 prince’s flag 1 powder horn
supplies to the patroonship Rensselaerswijck. In the
1 jack 2 copper kettles
courseo f this voyage the Soutbergh capturedt he Spanish
3 anchors 1 brass pot
3 cables 1 dishing out spoon yacht Hope laden with a valuable cargo of sugar. Both
56 SELECTED RENSSELAERSWIJCKSEMINAR PAPERS
the prize and the Dutch ship arrived at Manhattan in need By the summer of 1643 Kiliaen van R.ensselaear nd
of extensive repairs because of damage each had his businessa ssociatesw ere again preparing to buy a ship
received from the guns of the other.26 to use for trade and for shipping supplies to their Colonie
in New Netherland. On July 9 of that year Van Rens-
A few years after this Van Rensselaerc hargedt hat the selaerw rote to a merchantf riend at Leyden.s aying, “This
West India Company had “never attempted to make afternoon we bought, with the advice of ship’s carpenters
room in their ships” for the transportation of farm and other experts, a ship suitable for our intended
animals, as the Act of Freedoms and Exemptions re- voyage, of 80 lusts burden [around 160 tons], . . . with an
quired of them.27Y et he continued to use d’Eendracht upper deck five feet high extending the entire length, a
and other West India Company ships to transport his comfortable forecastle . . . mounted with six pieces. . .”
colonists and goods, doubtless becauseh e had no alter- He further revealed that this ship, her’ Wupen van
native at the time. Rensselaerswijck, had been purchased for f7,000, and
though somewhat old, was in good condition. She had
The first hint in these records that the patroon had been built at Liibeck, of heavy timbers and had a square
invested in a vesselo f his own comesi n April 1637w hen stem?7 Jan Simonsz was her skipper, Pieter Wijncoop,
he expressesh ope to a friend in New Netherland “that by supercargo.
this time our people, ship and goodsh ave arrived,‘“* and
in Septembero f the samey ear in another letter he speaks Many years after this we find the Colonie of
of “my small ship.“ 2g This was the Rensselaerswijck that Rensselaerswijcks till involved in the purchaseo f ships.
‘we know to have been a small ship, not only from her In 1670, under the directorship of Jeiemias van
owner’s letters, but from two other circumstances:s he Rensselaer,i t purchased one-eighth interest in a small
could navigate the shoals and sandbarso f the Hudson of ship called the Murgriet of Albany for 625 pounds ster-
that day as far north as Fort Orange; and she was later ling?’ Two other of her owners had ties with Albany-
sold for only f2,600.30 Yet in spite of this she carried 38 Pieter Schuyler and Andries Teller. Her skipper was
passengersto America, in addition to her cargo, skipper, David Edwards. On September2 6, 1670, Ryckert van
supercargoa nd crew.31T here still exists the log of this Rensselaer, who had been resident in the Cofonie for
voyage of six months. It shows that she left the Texe132 several years, returned permanently to Holland on this
on October 8, 1636, and after spending time in several “little ship,“3g as both he and his brother Jeremias
English ports and at La Rochelle, the Stilly Islands, referred to her in correspondence.A pparently she sailed
Madeira and the Azores, madeh er way acrosst he Atlan- out of Manhattan rather than Albany.
tic to drop anchor before Fort Orange on the Hudson on
April 7, 1637.33D uring the passaget hree children were
At about the same time in Holland, Jan Baptist van
born, each birth occurring in the midst of a storm. One
Rensselaer was purchasing one-fifth part in de Witte
of the children, a boy, was christened Storm and later
Kloodt (White Sphere), a pinnate. To&y ‘we think of a
took asa family namev an der Zee, meaning from the sea.
pinnate as a small boat and this was a sizeable vessel,
yet Chatterton notes that in seventeenthc entury nautical
The protracted voyage of the Rensselaerswijck was references“ pinnaces . . . may meane ither sailing craft of
not profitable for the Van Rensselaer&a nd there were good size or merely ships’ boats.“40I n the total bill for
unpleasantp roblems with a partner and with the skipper building and equipping de Witte Kloodt it is noted that
and supercargo.A s a result Van Rensselaers old the ship “the hull of the pinnate” was 85 feet long, 21 feet wide,
on April 20, 1638, for f2,600. She was wrecked in the 20 feet deep and the deck about 5 feet [?&-cost for the
Caribbean six years later.34 hull, f5,OOO.S he carried 10 pieces of cannon, which,
with their carriages, came to a cost of f789. We learn
Kiliaen van Rensselaern ext turned to a foreign nation further that there was a new ship’s boat, a wainscotted
for his shipping, sending over a cargo by the Swedish cabin for which pewter costing f29 was purchased,a nd
ship den Calmer Sleutel (Keys of Calmer).35 He then three figures were carved on the stem. When de Witte
joined with the West India Company, of which he had Kloodt sailed on her first voyage, she was carrying a
been so critical, in fitting out a ship het Wupen van ballast of 40,000 bricks, and her merchandisew as valued
Noorwegen (Arms of Norway) by which he transported at f23,609; ship and equipment at f12,480; and stores
goods and settlers to RensselaerswijckP6 for the voyage at f3,428.4’
SHIPS AND WORK BOATS OF NEW NETHERLAND 59
The FZuyt part of their equipment. It is likely that the amount of
their armamentf rom time to time dependedo n whether
An authority on seventeenth-centurys hips says,
the Dutch were at peaceo r at war with the Portuguese,
The most notable development in merchant ship building in the the Spanish or the English, though they always had the
later sixteenth century was the evolution of the frlsyt or flyboat. Dunkirk pirates to fear.
Turned out in thousands by the Dutch shipyards, the uyt largely
accounts for Dutch supremacy in the carrying trade. 4f:
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the jluyt’s
Developed originally by the Dutch for their flourish- impact on the science of shipbuilding and Dutch
ing sixteenth-century trade with the Baltic countries and supremacyi n world trade is that it was mass-produced
the British Isles, thefluyt was before everything else a with interchangeablep arts, which facilitated repairs at
cargo carrier. Cumbersomein appearancei,t was a large, seaa nd in foreign ports. This, in addition to the relatively
square-riggedv essel with three mastsa nd rounded ends small crews neededt o sail thesev essels,r educedo perat-
fort and aft, and with a pear-shapeds tem rising steeply ing costs and thus increased profits. In this connection
to a very high, narrow poop. The hull was long in Ralph Davis writes:
proportion to its width and had a broad, flatbottom wider
The Dutch jllail or flyboat of 300 tons carried not fifty men but
at the waterline than above.
fifteen. English ships could hardly compete in peaceful condi-
tiOllS.43
One authority writes thatfluyten (flyboats) were not It was not until the British began to copy the construc-
usually armed, which may have been true in the begin- tion of Dutch ships captured during the Anglo-Dutch
ning when their activities were confined to the northern wars of the seventeenthc entury that they were able to
oceana nd the Baltic sea,s ince guns are heavy and would challenge the Dutch in naval warfare or rival them in
occupy space and tonnage needed for the commercial peacetimec ommerce.
cargoes. In the seventeenth century, however, when
theses hips were engagedi n carrying Dutch goods to all The fhyt apparently had a wide range in size, since
parts of the Atlantic theater, guns necessarily becamea there are referencest o “small flyboats” of 80 to 90 tons,
Fig. 11 Etching by Wenceslauso f Dutch flyboats, 1647.
Courtesy of Nederlands ScheepvaartM useum, Amsterdam.
58 SELECTED RENSSELAERSWIJCK SEMINAR PAPERS
and to those as large as the Wapen van Hoorn (Arms of command, was fitted out for a new 60-foot keel in 1630
Hoom) of 600 tons capacity. A detailed record exists of at Manhattan. She was of 200 tons burden and carried 14
the Swedish flyboat Gullene Haj that was seizedb y the guns.‘t6T he Gideon, afruyt in the slave trade, had 14-16
Dutch in the Hudson River in September1 654i n retalia- guns.47
tion for a Swedish attack on Fort Casimir in the South
River. The inventory of her equipment and other infor- Aj7uyt familiar to New Netherlanders, s.inces he made
mation about her runs to nearly sevenp rinted pages,a nd frequent trips to New Amsterdamw ith goodsa nd settlers
reveals that she was 62 feet from stem to stem and 13 during the 1650sw as the Valckenier (Falconer) of 160
feet wide at the deck; that among her equipment were lasts or 320 tons.48D e Liefde (Love), used in the New
one large spritsail, one foresail, one fore topsail, two Netherland trade around 1655, is referred to as a flyboat
mainsails, one foresail bonnet, other extra sails, and one by Stuyvesant,4gth ough at other times she is called a ship
mizzenmast; and that she carried two small iron can- or a yacht. Reporting on the surrendero f New Netherland
nons?4 to the English, Stuyvesant mentions the flyboat
d’Eendracht, “with 10 or 12 small cannon”” In 1673
The nameso f otherfluyten operating in New Nether- the small Dutch flyboat Expectatie was taken off
Nantucket by the English.‘l
land waters dot the records. Among these is the Walvis
(Whale) of 400 tons and one of the largest of theses hips.
Becauseo f its basic design for carrying bulky cargoes, Little appearsi n English histories to show the crucial
thefluyt lent itself to conversion into a whaler, and David part theseD utch flyboats had in the defeato f the Spanish
de Vries fitted out the Walvis in 1630 as a whaling ship plan to invade and conquer England in 1588. At this time
for his first voyage to Delaware Bay. As a licensed the Spanish strategy did not depend solely on the ships
privateer she also carried 18 guns.45A notherfluyt, the of the Armada, but called for the Duke of Parma and his
de Coninck David (King David), again under de Vries’ large army basedi n the SpanishN etherlands to cross the
Fig. 12. Two frigates, by Monogrammist ABk, ca. 1675-99.
Courtesy of Nederlands ScheepvaartM useum, Amsterdam.
SHIPS AND WORK BOATS OF NEW NETHERLAND 59
P ec?zz7 ,,tLt mtem LLzw.+ f/
Fig. 13.Yacht with gaff sail. Etching by Gerrit Groenewegen.
Courtesy of NederlandsS cheepvaartM useum, Amsterdam.
English Channel and invade England, while the Armada sugar, tobacco and ebony, the other wine destined for
was destroying its defenders on the sea. The Dutch Guatemala.T hese had been taken in the Caribbeana fter
admiralty, however, under Prince Maurice of Nassaua nd a hard f”rght.53It is significant that seamano n La Garce
Orange, assembleda fleet of 150 galleons, flyboats and often made their wills before sailing to those waters. In
other craft to blockade all ports from which the Duke 1643J acob Stoffelsen paid f350 for a tenth share in the
might embark his troops, and thus preventeda n invasion equipment of this frigate, and four years later Christian
from the Continent. The Dutch vessels,s maller and more Rams sold his title and interest in her for f 1, 400.s4
maneuverable than those of the Spanish, also took part
in harassing the great, cumbersomeg alleons5* Another frigate appearing in the Dutch records is the
Palomme, purchaseda t Manhattan on June 13,1651, by
The Frigate
the well-to-do New Englander Thomas Willett for the
The Dutch frigate of the seventeenthc entury was a sum of 800 pieces of eight (f2,000).55 In 1636 a small
trim, fast-sailing, three-masted, square-rigged vessel Spanish frigate of about 60 tons was brought into the
usedextensively for tradeand privateering in the Atlantic harbor at New Amsterdam by an English ship that had
and Caribbean against the Portuguese,t he Spanish and taken her prize and there was auctioned off?6
later the English. As would be supposed,s hew ash eavily
The Yacht in New Nethedan
%med for her size. An early print of two seventeenth-
century Dutch frigates shows medium-size vesselsw ith Of all vesselse mployed in New Netherland, the yacht
wide, flat stems in which there are four guns, while two appears to have been the one most important to the
formidable tiers of gun ports run the length of the hulls. survival and prosperity of the province. Yet the yachts
It is obvious from the records, however, that the frigates mentioned so frequently in the New Netherland docu-
operating out of New Netherland during the first half of ments are difficult to reduce to a consistent set of
the century were much lessp retentious in size and arma- specifications. It is generally agreedt hat in referring to
ment than those in this drawing. yachts the Dutch meant small, swift-sailing vessels of
shallow draft. One authority writes, “. . . the type name
Perhaps the most publicized of the New Netherland yacht wasb asedo n form rather than rig [and] yachts were
frigates was LB Garce, among whose owners were men of various sizes and [were] employed for many
from Fort Orange and New Amsterdam. La Garce purposes.‘“7
figures frequently in the records asa privateer, one of her
most spectaculart riumphs occurring in May 1644 when Since the word ‘yacht’ derives from the Dutch word
she brought in two captured Spanishb arks, one carrying ‘jaagen’ meaning to hunt or chase,i t might be supposed
60 SELECTED RENSSELAERSWIJCK SEMINAR PAPERS
that this craft was primarily designed to serve a recon- August 18, 1616, the Dutch skipper Comelis Hendrick-
naissancef unction during naval engagements.W hether senr eporting to the StatesG eneral about coastale xplora-
or not this is true (and it must be admitted that the yacht tions he had made in America declared Ithat these had
was usedb y the Dutch far more consistently in trade than been accomplished“ in a small Yacht of about eight lusts
in war), there is no doubt that speed,m aneuverability and (16 tons burden)” named the Onrusr and built in New
being able to function equally well in shallow waters or Netberland.64 Johan de Laet, writing his New World in
high seasw ere among the qualities that made the yacht the 163Os,m entioned the suitable timber :for ship build-
so useful in early America. ing in the new province and said that the Dutch “have
built there several sloops and tolerable yachts.” He gave
It was the Dutch small yacht, so named in old Dutch the dimensions of the Onrust as stem to stem 44th feet,
nautical prints, that became what may be called the keel 38 feet, width 11M feete5 Construction of this
principal work boat of the province of New Netherland. yacht was not undertaken as a part of a planned ship-
This was a single-masted, shallow-draft, fore-and-aft building program, but was a matter of sheern ecessity.I n
rigged vessel with a gaff. It had a high, flat stem (the 1614A driaen Block’s ship Tijgerbumed at her moorings
so-called transom stem), a flat bottom and leeboards near Manhattan Island shortly after her sister ship
(zwaards) to serve as stabilizers and to prevent its drift- Forfuyn returned to the Fatherland.& Since nothing
ing to leeward. Chatterton statest hat the Dutch adopted could be accomplished in exploration or trade without a
leeboards from the Chinese, who had used them for vessel of some kind, it was necessary to build one.
centuries. Speculating about why the Dutch did not adopt Considering the lack of facilities and tools, this was a
the centerboard (which he says the English understood prodigious accomplishment.
in theory by the sixteenth century), he suggests two
probable reasons:i t took up cargo space,o r it might jam Although not originally intended for the rough
if hung up on the many sandy shoals in Dutch rivers5* Atlantic passage,D utch yachts proved fine sailors when
thus employed. On De Vries’s secondv oyage to America
In the old records the name ‘yacht’ is also applied to in 1632, his small accompanying yacht Eikhoorn
square-rigged vesselso f an intermediate size and in the (Squirrel) of only 20 tons burden came sa.felyt hrough a
fast-sailing class.S uch wasH enry Hudson’s HulveMuen massive storm off Cape Hatteras, though she was badly
of 80 tons burden, employing a crew of around eighteen tosseda bout and at times given up for lost.67 The small
persons. From a carefully researchedr econstruction of yachts of New Netherland were used in a multitude of
the Halve Muen madei n Holland in 1909f or New York’s ways, initially for exploration and trading with the
Hudson-Fulton celebration, we have excellent plans Indians, later by the Dutch farmers and merchants for
showing that she was a three-masted, square rigged transporting goods and produce. They were official
vessel with a high poop and high forecastle. Her length dispatch carriers between the various parts of New
from stem to stem was 63 feet, old Amsterdamm easure, Netherland, and useful for transporting persons to these
or 58 feet, English measure:h er beam, 17 feet 5 inches and to the New England and southern colonies of the
by the former; 16 feet 2.5 inches by the English reckon- English. Freighting goods by these yachts from New
ing.59 Yet her flat stem and rounded bows reflect the Amsterdam to the Fort Orange/Beverwijck/
general form of all yachts of that time. The Muckerul of Rensselaerswijcka rea,o r to the South River settlements
60 tons burden, designateda s a yacht in the documents, and Virginia and Maryland, became so profitable a
crossed the Atlantic in 1623 to trade all winter at Fort business that many individuals who undertook it rose
Orange,60a nd Wassenaerin his Historisch Verhael says quickly from comparative poverty to riches.
that on April 25, 1625, the Mackeral was again dis-
patchedw ith supplies for New Netherland but was taken One of these,G overt Loockermans, who had come to
by the Dunkirk piran@ while still in Europeanw atersp2 New Netherland in 1633 as cook’s mate on the yacht St.
Often several yachts would accompanya larger ship on Murtyn, thus became a prosperous citizen of New
the oceanc rossingsP3a measuret aken for mutual protec- Amsterdam.68 From the frequency with which his name
tion against the elements,p irates and the Spanish. appears in the court records and the nature of these
entries, it seemst hat Loockermans had a lively career
Four yearsb efore the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth the with his yacht. At one time he was accused of selling
Dutch were building yachts in New Netherland. The first contraband powder to the Indians of Rhode Island, and
of these appearst o have been the Onrust (Restless). On so becamep ersona non grata to the authorities there. On
SHIPS AND WORK BOATS OF NEW NETHERLAND 61
another occasion he was involved in a comic-opera the finger-post near the City Tavem.“72 Since this
incident while sailing down the Hudson past Beeren action came at the end of a long session of the council
Island in the summero f 1644i n his yacht de Goede Hoop devoted to the problems of smuggling, the new regula-
(Good Hope). BeerenI sland, the southernmostb oundary tion was undoubtedly an attempt to control that activity
of the Colonie of Rensselaerswijck, is a small, rocky among the owners of the private boats.
island at that time fortified by the Van Rensselaersw ith
a few small cannona nd calledRensseluer.s~eyTrrh. at day, There appearst o have been a wide variation in the size
as & Goede Moop came abreasto f the island, Nicholaes of the Dutch yachts operating in the Atlantic prior to
Coom, the patroon’s agent, called to Loockermans to 1650, though the actual figures are rarely given in the
“‘strike . , . for the staple right of Rensselaerswijck.” To records.T he averages ize of the small yachts usedb y the
this Loockermansr eplied that he would strike to no man Dutch in New Netherland for river and coastal trade and
save the Prince of Orange or those to whom he was freighting appearst o have been much the samea s that of
subject, upon which Coom fired on the yacht. The first the Onrust- lusts or 16 tons burden; 44% feet from
cannon shot went through the mainsail and halyards, the stem to stem; and a width of 11t i feet. De Vries’s yacht
secondm issed,a nd a third blast from an ordinary firearm ENworn, chosen for working along the South River in
pierced the Dutch flag, narrowly missing Loockermans, 1635,w as of the samet onnage,73a nd 8 or 9 lusts was thhe
who was holding it in his hand. Then the yacht passed size specified by Vice Director Alrichs for the small
out of range downriver “without firing back.“” Arrived yacht he requestedi n 1657 for his South River colony.74
at Manhattan, Loockermans promptly suedC oom, who,
in his answer to the suit, claimed that in fling on the There are frequent referencest o sales of these small
yacht he had been but carrying out the orders of the yachts,a nd usually the prices are stated;b ut since neither
patroon. He further stated that Loockermans had the condition of the boat nor the dimensions is indicated
shouted, “Fire, you dogs; may the Devil take you.*‘70 in these,t he usefulnesso f salesr ecordsa sc riteria for size
Considering the provocation and knowing those is limited. These furnish, however, an interesting study
involved, these words seem mild indeed and it may be of the variety of media of exchange in use in New
surmised that they have been laundered considerably in Netherland at this time. In May 1641a t New Amsterdam
translation. At any rate, the case was decided for the Arent Steffeniers purchasedt he yacht Wesel and appur-
plaintiff, and Coom was ordered to pay for the damage tenances from Maryn Andriaensen, a former
to the yacht and to produce within ten months written freebooter,75fo r 500 Carolus guilders in Holland curren-
approval of his actions from the patroon in Holland or cy. Teunis Dircksen van Vechten, a tenant farmer on the
face corporal punishment.71 patroonship of Rensselaerswijck,b ought half a share in
Rutger Jacobsen,w ho cameo ver as a farmhand for the the yacht Zeepuert (Sea Horse) with half her appur-
Colonie of Rensselaerswijck,w as another who eventu- tenancesa nd yawl, ““for the sum of three hundred guilders
ally acquired a freighting and trading yacht that proved in current merchandisea t the choice of the vendor, and
one of the first stepsi n his becoming a man of wealth in one mudde of good wheat,” in June, 1651.76T he yacht
Beverwijck. He left, when he died, a stained glass Vreede (Peace)w as sold in 1648f or forty beavers,w hich
window in the new church that bore his name and an at that time amounted to around f210.77
impressive coat of arms.
A small yachtdeLief& (not to beconfused with a ship
Often charges of smuggling were levelled against orjluyt of the samen ame of around fifty lusts belonging
some of these entrepreneurs,a nd not without reason. It to the West India Company) wasp urchasedi n April 1661
is apparent that as the number of individually-owned by Jan JochemsenV al and Adriaen Symonsen for five
yachts increased,m any of theset ransactedb usinessf rom hogsheadso f French wine and an unker of brandy “and
obscure moorings in the waters surrounding New nothing more.“78A t this time a hogsheado f French wine
Amsterdam and Fort Orange, making it difficult for the sold for around fll0 and an u&r of brandy (about ten
government of the province-the West India gallons) cost f44,79 making the price paid for the yacht
Company-to patrol their activities. As a result, in July about f595. The “sloop or yacht*’ Swurte Arent (Ma&
1647 the council passeda n order “that all private yachts, Eagle) in November of the samey ear changed hands at
barks, ketches,s loopsa nd boatsu nder ftity lusts. . . shall Beverwijck for f1,300 “in good strung sewan [wam-
not seekn or have any other roadsteadt han in front of the pum]” with fl.200 additional to be paid six months
city of New Amsterdam, between Capsken’sH oeck and later.8’
62 SELECTED RENSSELAERSWIJCK SEMINAR PAPERS
The inventory of the yacht de Wukende Boey (Vigilant 13 lbs. of sail yarn; four pieces of rope; 121 yards of
Buoy), sold at Manhattan in June 1651 for the sumo f 100 French canvasf or the mizzensail; 149 yards ditto for the
“good, merchantable beavers,” or approximately f800, foretopsail; 48 yards of French canvas for repairs to the
gives some idea of the sparsity of equipment on these foresail; 8 lbs. of 3-ply marline yarn; 31% yards of
small yachts: French canvas for patching cloth; 20 yards of duck.83
Two pedereros [small swivel cannons]
The passageb etween New Amsterdam and Holland
Two chambers [small cannons without carriages]
took an average of two months. An inventory of
Two anchors
Two cables such as they are provisions issued in November 1643 to the West India
One cutlas Company yacht Reuul for that voyage is as follows:
2 or 3 empty shells
2 or 3 mess bowls 29 schepelso f peas f89:-
l/2 dozen spoons 154 loaves of rye bread 3O:lO
One iron pot 460M lb of pork @ 5 stivers 115:2:8
One copper kettle 32 loaves of wheaten bread 11: 4
One small basting pan 300 lb dried fish 36:-
One earthen casserole
883& lb of beef @ 4M stivers 198:1 5%
Two or three water casks
341 lb of hardtack 126~3
One mizzen sail with a foresail as they are on the roadstead
9 cans of Spanish wine 75:-
Also the running and standing rigging
26 lb of tallow @ 2th stivers 7:15
Tbe yawl with its appuglaances
Two oars for the yacht 25 lb of cheese@ 6 stivers 7:lO
8 cans of train oil @ 10 stivers
This appearst o have been a typical small work yacht, f7OZ484
judging from its sale price andequipment. The inventory
Theses upplies were “to messt he crew,” but as the size
is unusual in showing a modicum of eating utensils. The
of the crew is not known, it is impossible to estimateh ow
dearth of these on most ships’ inventories suggestst hat
adequatet hey were. It is somewhat ironic. that the verb
seameno f that time usually carried with them their own
to ‘mess’ derives from the Dutch word megen meaning
spoonsa nd dishes, or went without.
‘to feed or fatten,’ though Dutch skippers were notorious
for cutting rations to the bone on these voyages. In one
Just as the small yacht proved of such value in the daily
casep assengerso n the yacht deDolphyn to New Nether-
work and exploration of the new settlementsi n America,
land were kept on such short and inedible rations that
the larger yachts of the Dutch were equally indispensible
they complained bitterly to the authorities on arrival at
for carrying on all kinds of maritime businessf or which
Manhattang5
speed, capacity, economy of operation and maneu-
verability were essential. The yachts in the larger class Privateering and Illegal Practices
varied greatly in size, from those similar to Hudson’s
Throughout the history of the Dutch West India Com-
gallant little Halve Muen of only 40 lusts, to yachts like
pany in America a sizeable number of yachts, large and
the Westindische Ruuf (Westindian Raven) and Nep-
small, wasc onstantly employed in its service. In addition
tuynis (Neptune), or the Kuth (Cat)-the two latter in
to the pedestrian day-to-day tasks these yachts
periods of war carrying crews of 60 men.82 At times
performed, there were livelier ones, since:m uch of the
thesel arger yachts are referred to in the records as ‘little
Dutch period in America coincided with a continuing
ships,’ and again as ‘barks,’ which shows the looseness
war with Spain, and later intermittent wars with England,
of nomenclature current at the time; though someo f this
so that privateering and smuggling operations against
ambiguity may derive from later translators.
those countries accounted for a great deal of activity
among the yachts of the company.Privatee.ring,w hich in
A list of supplies and equipment taken on the effect was piracy with governmental benediction, was at
Westindische Ruuf (belonging to the West India that time practiced widely among all nations having the
Company) for a voyage from New Amsterdam to the meanst o do so, andNew Netherland was in a particularly
Fatherland in June 1639 covers several pages, and the happy geographical position to indulge, since it had
value in money amountst o f2,467. Among the items for direct access to the sea lanes along which Spain and
the voyage delivered by the sailmaker alone were one Portugal ferried home the treasuret aken from South and
mainsail with a bonnet of 350 yards of French canvas; Central America and Mexico.