Eendracht (ship, 1655)
 Portrait drawing by Willem van de Velde
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The Eendracht was a well-known ship in the Netherlands during the Golden Age, often depicted in paintings . She was the flagship of the fleet and as such also participated in the sea battle in the Oresund . The ship exploded in the sea battle at Lowestoft in 1665. The fleet chief Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam also died .
Prehistory and construction
At the beginning of the first naval war against England in 1652, the inferiority of the Dutch fleet became abundantly clear. Even their largest flagship, the Brederode , was small compared to the large three-deckers like the Sovereign of the Seas or the Prince Royal of the English. The total number of warships was also lower and the number of medium-sized and large warships lagging behind was overwhelming. On the Dutch side, especially in the States General , the concept of mobilization from the oversized pool of merchant ships had been relied on. This resulted in a numerical superiority of ships, but these were unsuitable for war use against a fleet like that of the English.
Therefore it was decided in November 1652 to start a large new building project of 30 ships. Initially, the demands and concepts of the Admirals de With and Tromp were adopted. They envisaged a large number of large warships with a number of specific characteristics. The lowest battery deck should have a continuous, relatively little jump and a certain safe distance from the water surface. This required a certain width of the ship, which was also required. However, the number of large ships was reduced from six to two ships. These should be 150 Amsterdam feet long by 38 feet wide, with a room depth of 15 feet. Due to the urgent need for new large ships and the decision of the States General, the keel-laying by the Admiralty's master shipbuilder Jan Salomonsz began quickly in Rotterdam . This successful Admiral ships had already Aemilia and Brederode performed. However, the States General and the influential city of Amsterdam insisted that the building should be officially and widely advertised so that the cheapest provider could be selected and costs could be saved. Since Amsterdam also feared that ships of this size would go too deep for domestic waters, they even requested a reduction in size. Even the shortening of the already lying keel of the new buildings was required. After heated discussion within the States General a compromise was reached that allowed the continued construction, but the Zerter changed the other new buildings. All jobs should be advertised. A spectacle was offered for the construction of the future Eendracht so that Jan Salomonsz could carry out his commission. The builder of the East India Company from Delfshaven, the closest neighbor of Rotterdam, offered the States General an amount for the construction contract that corresponded to the normal prices for Rotterdam, but was not as low as hoped. So it was put out to tender again and the next supplier even promised to use the components and woods that were already there. At this point in time the keel was in place, the bow and stern posts with transom had been fitted and a number of frames were already in place. The Dordrecht shipbuilder promised to use this as well. However, his total was 1000 guilders over the last bid of 56,000 guilders. Since this master shipbuilder was not trusted to build the largest warship, the previous master builder was supposed to be in charge of supervision. It was like this as early as May 1653 before construction could continue. Since the contract stipulated the construction in eight months and then the new building had to be rigged and equipped, the ship could not have been used until 1654 at the earliest. The two shipbuilders did not get along at all and construction was delayed. In addition, payment by the States General was very hesitant, so that the suppliers wanted to see the old invoices paid before they offered new building materials. It was not until September 1654 - the war ended on April 15th - that the hull was removed by delegates from the States General. The exceeding of the dimensions by 2 feet in length and one and a half feet greater room depth was accepted. Other ships, later newbuildings by the Admiralty Rotterdam, had already been completed in April. In order to bring the ship from the construction site in Rotterdam, the Haringvliet , to the Maas, it had to pass under a bridge. There she got stuck on December 9, 1654 while leaving. It was not until January 22nd that she was brought into the open water and taken to Hellevoetsluis for equipment .
Used in the Second Northern War
With the peace agreement, the States General issued the order not to sell any of the warships; they should all remain in the possession of the admiralty at all times. This created the basis for a "stationary fleet". The Eendracht was first used as early as 1656 . Under the command of Wassenaer van Obdam, a Dutch fleet was supposed to prevent Swedish troops from occupying the Prussian city of Danzig, which was under Polish sovereignty. Already during this mission the ship carried 68 guns more than the originally scheduled 58 guns. In the literature, a rebuilding is assumed immediately after their arrival in Hellevoetsluis in 1655. The trip went via Kronborg Castle and Copenhagen to Gdansk. After the Swedes had guaranteed the protection and status of the city of Danzig in the Treaty of Elbing , part of the fleet sailed back to the Netherlands. This included the Commander-in-Chief Wassenaer van Obdam with the Eendracht .
During the war against Portugal in September 1657, a fleet under Wassenaer van Obdam was sent to Portugal to separate the motherland from the colonies. War was only declared in October. While Luitnant-Admiraal Wassenaer van Obdam blocked Lisbon and the Tagus, Michiel de Ruyter's squadron managed to disperse a Portuguese sugar fleet from Brazil and take a total of 15 prizes. After the narrow blockade was broken, Wassenaer van Obdam sailed home and only de Ruyter's squadron remained off the Portuguese coast.
After the war reopened by the Swedes, they succeeded in besieging Copenhagen and occupying large parts of Denmark. Since the States General feared that with the conquest of the Öresund in one of their most important trading regions , Sweden would restrict and make the so-called moeder trade from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea more expensive, they decided to actively intervene on the part of Denmark. A fleet of 35 warships under the command of Wassenaer van Obdam and the Eendracht was ordered into the Sound for relief from Copenhagen. After a short wait at Cape Skagen for better winds, the fleet sailed past Kronborg Castle without damage, although Swedish batteries were firing violently from both sides. But since too light artillery was stationed, they could not reach the ships.
The Swedish fleet with about 38 warships waited behind Kronborg Castle. The Dutch fleet was divided into three squadrons. Wassenaer van Obdam led the majority himself, the vanguard was under Vice Admiral Witte de With on the Brederode and the rear guard under Vice Admiral Pieter Flooriszoon . Right from the start, all order was dissolved as de With and Wassenaer van Obdam stormed their opponents directly. Both admirals were promptly surrounded by many enemies and had suffered heavy losses and great damage. Only gradually did other ships come to the aid of their trapped admirals. The Eendracht was under the leadership of their captain Egbert Kortenaer the Swedish ship Morgenstjernan rammed and sunk, the flagship Victoria had to veer with severe damage. Wassenaer van Obdam was unable to act due to an attack of gout and was placed on a chair at the mainmast. The Swedish ships slowly withdrew and could not prevent the breakthrough of the Dutch transport ships to Copenhagen. The Swedes lost four ships and the Dutch lost the Brederode and the two vice admirals de With and Floorisz.
After the sea battle, the fleet remained in the region and was even reinforced by a second fleet from the Netherlands. Landings were made and troops deposited on land. But Wassenaer van Obdam always stayed close to Copenhagen. In order to protect Copenhagen from surprising Swedish attacks across the ice in winter, he was ordered to hibernate there. It was not until October 1659 that the order was issued from home to return home.
Used in the Second Sea War against England
As the political situation between England and the Netherlands deteriorated, the States General began to activate their fleets. Even before the declaration of war, there was fighting, especially in Dutch bases around Africa. De Ruyter was sent with an association apparently towards the Mediterranean, but in reality to Africa. In order not to be surprised by an attack by English warships on merchant ships in peacetime, a large fleet gathered off the coast of the Netherlands for immediate operations. After the unsuccessful attack by English warships on the convoy of the Smyrna fleet without a declaration of war, the Netherlands were now also preparing for the inevitable war. In addition to the commissioning of mothballed ships and a new construction program, the combat-ready ships gathered at their collection points. The ships of the Admiralty met near Friesland, ships from Amsterdam and Noorderquartier near Texel, and those from Rotterdam and Zeeland near Hellevoetsluis. It was intended to attack the English with great force early in the New Year in order to make peace relatively quickly. At the beginning of March England had declared war on the Netherlands. On the Dutch side, they were very confident that this war (unlike the previous first naval war against England) could be ended successfully.
The largest fleet in the history of the Netherlands was put together and divided into seven squadrons. One wanted to give each of the lieutenant admirals a squadron. The fleet flagship Eendracht under the newly appointed Luitnant-Admiral-General as Commander-in-Chief was not the largest ship in the fleet. Of the six ships with 70 or more guns, only two were from the Admiralty and the rest from the East India Company and two East Indiaman ; of which were larger and had 78 and 76 guns on board.
The States General gave the order to the fleet under Wassenaer van Obdam to sail out and to seek out and fight the enemy on his own coast. However, the commander-in-chief hesitated and missed a good chance of daring an attack with a favorable wind. This gave the English time to rally. On June 13, van Obdam attacked the English in less good wind conditions ( naval battle near Lowestoft ). The attempt to hold a line of battle failed. When the battle Eendracht with the English triplane Royal Charles it exploded. 404 of 409 crew members died, including Commander-in-Chief Wassenaer van Obdam. Since the intended deputy, Egbert Meeuwszoon Kortenaer, had been killed by a cannonball at the beginning of the fight, chaos arose in the management of the fleet. The admiral flag of Kortenaer stopped and Cornelis Tromp set another admiral flag on his own. Now the fleet followed two different ships and could be wiped out by the English. The English captured nine ships; the Dutch lost eight ships to the explosion, burning and sinking.
literature
- Werner Bruns: History and reconstruction of the Eendracht from 1654 (Part 1: The story). in: Das Logbuch 40 (2004) 3, pp. 92–97.
- Laura van 't Zand: Gehannes met an admiraalsschip: de bouw van de "Eendracht" (1652-1654). in: Tijdschrift voor zeegeschiedenis 17 (1998) 2, pp. 135-144.
- Laura van 't Zand: De oorlogsvloot van Johan de Witt. De bouw van oorlogsschepen door de admiraliteit van de Maze in de first (1652–1654) en tweede (1665–1667) Engels-Nederlandse oorlog. unpublished doctoral thesis, Leiden University, 1996.
- Johann Engelbert Elias: De vlootbouw in Nederland in de eerste helft der 17e eeuw, 1596–1655. Amsterdam 1933.
- Taco Hayo Milo: Wassenaer en de zeemacht. Jacob van Wassenaer van Obdam en zijn tijd. Wassenaer 1965.
