Dear Friends
RESEARCH RESULTS - PART 2 THE FIRST EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH 1595
Once more, I will use De Veer's journal as the basic starting point.
The ships were: the
Griffioen and
Zwaan from Zeeland, the
Hoop and
Mercurius from Enkhuyzen, the
Winthont (Greyhound) and a Jacht from Amsterdam as well as a Jacht from Rotterdam.
De Veer provides much better information about the ships' names than on the First Expedition, but it is disappointing that he does not list the name of the second Amsterdam ship. We will see later that there is actually a good reason why the Jacht from Rotterdam is not named.
A summary of De Veer's information is thus as follows:
Zeeland: The "Griffioen" and "Zwaan"
Enkhuizen: The "Hoop" and "Mercurius".
Amsterdam: The "Winthont" and an unnamed "Jacht"
Rotterdam: An unnamed "Jacht"
Van Linschoten's Journal, however, provides tons more information.
But even though his report is a lot more detailed, he does not supply the names of the Amsterdam Jacht or the Rotterdam Jacht either. His summative information with regards to the ships' names is thus identical to that of De Veer.
Once again it is left to the two English Translations of Dr. Charles T. Beke of the Hakluyt Society to fill in the missing details - crossing the "T"'s and dotting the "i"'s so to speak.
The following are the names of the vessels and of their commanders. The Griffin [Griffoen), of Zeelandt, of the burthen of 100 lasts (200 tons), commanded by Cornelis Cornelisz. Nai, who was appointed admiral or superintendent of the fleet; the Swan (Swane), also of Zeelandt, of the burthen of 50 lasts (100 tons), which had been on the former voyage, and was now commanded by Lambert Gerritsz. Oom, of Enkhuysen; the Hope (Hoope), of Enkhuysen, a new war-pinnace (oorlogspinas) of 100 lasts, commanded by Brant Ysbrantsz. Tetgales, vice-admiral; the Mercury (Mercurius), of Enkhuysen, of 50 lasts, which had been on the former voyage, and was now commanded by Thomas Willemszoon; the Greyhound (Winthont), of Amsterdam, likewise a new war-pinnace, of 100 lasts, commanded by William Barents, pilot-major of the fleet, under whom was Cornelis Jacobszoon as skipper; a yacht of Amsterdam, of 50 lasts - the Mercury (Mercurius) of the former voyage), commanded by Harman Janszoon ; and lastly, a yacht of Rotterdam, of about 20 lasts, or 40 tons burthen, commanded by Hendrick Hartman.
Thank you, Dr. Beke, thank you, Hakluyt Society for not only providing us with the names, but also for validating my results of the First Expedition.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIVE RESULTS:
Therefore, we can safely conclude that the 7 ships of the Second Expedition in 1595 were:
1.
De Hoop from Enkhuyzen - a war pinnace of 100 last. Captained by Brandt Ysbrandtszoon aka Brandt Tetgales with Jan-Huyghen van Linschoten as Chief Merchant (Commis).
2.
De Windhond from Amsterdam - a war pinnace of 100 last. As captain and Chief-Pilot was Willem Barentsz who was assited by helmsman, Cornelis Jacobszoon. Jacob van Heemskerck acted as Chief Merchant (Commis).
3.
De Zwaan from Zeelandt - a Vlieboot of 40 last (Same ship of the previous year) Captain: Lambert Gerritszoon-Oom
4.
De Griffioen from Zeelandt - a war pinnace of 86 last Captain: Cornelis Corneliszoon-Nay (Admiral of the Fleet), Francoys de la Dale: Commis and Interpreter and Christoffel Splindler: Interpreter
5.
Unnamed Jacht from Rotterdam - 20 last. (
The ship was only to have been commissioned on a later date which was when it would officially receive its name.) Captain: Hendrick Hartman
6. De Mercurius from Amsterdam - a Vlieboot/Jacht of 50 last (Same ship as the previous year) Captain: Harman Janszoon / Chief Pilot: Willem Gijsen
7.
De Mercurius from Enkhuyzen - a Vlieboot/Jacht of 50 last (Same ship as the previous year) Captain: Thomas Willemszoon
There is one very important point that I want to raise at this stage in anticipation of Part 3 and my final conclusion.
When it came to the First Expedition the leading role players of Zeeland, Enkhuizen and Amsterdam (Cornelis Corneliszoon Nay, Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, Francoys de la Dale, Christoffel Splindler, Willem Barentsz, Jacob van Heemskerck and Brandt Ijsbrandt Tetgales sailed on the ships they had at their disposal i.e. each Admiralty only had one ship and thus the men had no choice as to which ship they wanted to sail on.
On the Second Expedition though, each Admiralty fielded two ships (sans Rotterdam which only had the one Jacht) of which one was considerably larger than the other.
Zeeland: the Griffioen (86 last) was larger than the Zwaan (40 last)
Enkhuizen: De Hoop (100 last) was larger than De Mercurius (50 last)
Amsterdam: De Windhond (100 last) was larger than De Mercurius (50 last)
When given the choice,
ALL these men chose to sail on the LARGER of the two ships - bar none! And that includes Barentsz and Van Heemskerck - our two chief protagonists of the Third Expedition.
Thank you for your interest so far.
Oh boy, is he right - a better saying I have not heard!
