Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 350 The Strongest Fleet in History (4K)

Southeast of the Penghu Islands, two Sloop ships flying the VOC flag were skimming across the sea in the crosswind, looking like two white seabirds from a distance.

Like the Huiyou Company's bulletin ship, the two Thrups also had a top-edge gaff sail, but there was no sail boom under the sail. In addition, there was no sail on the bowsprit of the Dutch ship, and the entire ship had only one mainsail, and its maneuverability seemed to be inferior to that of the bulletin ship.

In addition, the Dutch ship still retains a low poop, the length-to-width ratio of the hull is slightly smaller than that of the frigate, and the lines are not as smooth, which means that the speed will probably be lower.

However, compared with most sailing ships of the same era, these two ships are already very fast, and their current speed is about eleven knots.

Because the Sloop was the predecessor of the Huiyou Company's frigate, a few decades later the sails of the Dutch Sloop would become exactly the same as the frigate, and the evolution of the hull would take two centuries to reach its final form.

The two sloops were named Turtledove and Dayuan, and their displacement was only 80 tons. Most of the pointed-bottomed ships of the VOC Dayuan Trading House were of this tonnage, because the Dayuan waterway was only three meters deep on average. Unless there was a new moon tide, the high tide level was less than four meters, so even a 200-ton pointed-bottomed sea vessel could hardly come and go freely in all weather conditions.

However, these two ships did not both belong to the Tainan Trading Company - the Turtle Dove came all the way from Batavia, and as soon as it arrived in Penghu yesterday, it was ordered by the fleet commander Carpentier to go to Tainan and summon the commander Peter Nuiz to meet him at Makung Port.

Nuize and Carpentier had a lot of fate. Both of them were named Peter, and both were top students who graduated from Leiden University. Perhaps it was for this reason that Carpentier thought highly of Nuize. When Nuize came to Batavia from the Netherlands last year, he was immediately appointed as a senior official by then-General Carpentier, which made many VOC staff who had been in Asia for many years envious.

At this time, Nuyiz was standing on the deck of the Sloop, looking at the distant sea with great joy. He had just learned yesterday that the company had sent a large fleet, which made Nuyiz so excited that he could not sleep all night and could not help but have sex with his Xingangshe native lover several times.

To be honest, Nu Yizi didn't feel that he was promoted. He always thought highly of himself and thought that the small Dayuan Trading Company was not enough for him to show his talents. After all, there were only more than 200 employees in the company. How could they be worthy of his talent and strategy?
But now, the company has sent a huge fleet with a total force of more than 3000 people. If you add the soldiers and sailors of the senior officials, it will be nearly 4000!

Nuyiz felt that the opportunity to make achievements had come, and his life was about to shine...

The Taiyuan continued to follow the Turtledove and soon encountered another company's schooner, the Wesp.

This is a 230-ton schooner, but no one would call it a schooner these days, that was what the New Worlders called it in the 18th century. Now the Dutch call it Crommesteven, which translates to a curved bow ship.

Like the throop, the sloop was invented by the Dutch in the second half of the last century. Soon after, this easy-to-maneuver ship was introduced to the British Navy and became a major force in the Battle of Gravelines in 1588, where the English Armada was defeated.

The curved bow ship became famous in this battle, and later attracted a large number of privateer owners and New World pirates. Obviously, this is the predecessor of the Schooner, and it can be said to be the ancestor of the Huiyou Company frigate, but there are some differences in the sails and hulls.

The tonnage of the Wesp is closer to that of a frigate, but it has half as many gun ports on both sides. A small boat of this tonnage is only suitable for odd jobs in the VOC and there is no need to be armed to the teeth like the Huiyou Company.

This curved bow ship was sent out for patrol. The captain's position in the VOC was not high, and his monthly salary was only 40 guilders, which was roughly equivalent to that of a junior merchant or a navigator of a large ship. In contrast, Nuys's salary was ten times that, because he was not only a senior official, but also a special member of the East India Council appointed by the Seventeen Gentlemen.

The captain of the Wesp was named Bangkut, who had been on the same ship with Nuiz six years ago. He saw the flag of the company's rising star from afar, so he quickly ordered the ship to move closer to the Dayuan.

"Dear sir, do you still remember me?" Bangkut saluted Nuyiz who was standing on the deck. He had long wanted to curry favor with this old acquaintance who had risen to prominence, but unfortunately he had never found the opportunity.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember your name at the moment." Nuyiz didn't remember Bangkut at all, but he felt that this person looked familiar.

"Sir, I'm Bangkut. Six years ago, we set out from our homeland together and traveled halfway around the world to explore New Holland..." The New Holland that Bangkut mentioned is Australia. VOC has sent ships to explore this southern continent many times.

"It's you. You're the captain now?" Nuiz was surprised and happy when he heard that. He finally remembered who the person in front of him was. He remembered that they had a good relationship in the past.

"Yes, I have been in the East Indies for six years after all." Bangkut said with envy, "But I am still far behind you, sir. You just joined the company and entered the highest level of the East Indies."

Although Boncourt was flattering Nuez, what he said was indeed true. Nuez did not join the VOC during the expedition six years ago, but participated in the surveying work as a passenger. He officially joined the VOC two years ago and was directly granted the status of a special member of the East India Council by the board of directors. He came to Batavia last year.

The so-called East India Council is the highest authority of the VOC in Asia, which usually has six members, that is, the highest level of the VOC in Asia. The special committee members are roughly equivalent to alternate members of the Council. In other words, Nuys's rank is second only to those six bosses among the company's Asian employees, and he is not comparable to ordinary senior officials.

"Bangkut, I want to take your ship to Pescardo Islands." The Pescardo Islands that Nuiz mentioned were Penghu. Bangkut obviously wanted to curry favor with him, and he also wanted to find a confidant in the fleet sent by the company.

"Sir, my ship is on patrol."

"What does that matter? Just let the Turtledove patrol for you. I'll explain this to Commander Carpentier later."

So, the Wesp turned around and Nuiz changed ships and continued to Penghu.

Along the way, he encountered several Chinese sailing ships. Bangkut introduced them to him: "These are all ships of Ming pirates, and they are now joining forces with the company's fleet."

Nu Yizi also heard about the alliance between Cohen and Li Kuiqi, and laughed disdainfully: "The general manager has sent more than 3000 people. Is it necessary to join forces with the Ming pirates?"

Bangkut said, "I heard that there is a general in Ming Dynasty who also set up a trading company. His troops are powerful and Nicholas Yiguan, who had tens of thousands of troops, was easily annihilated by him."

Nuiz sneered at the words: "Asians are all cowards. What's the use of having more people?" Bangkut also smiled happily: "Sir, I completely agree with you. The wise General Cohen is really making a fuss this time. When you see the fleet sent by the company, you will understand this even more."

Soon, the Vesp arrived outside Magong Port on the main island of Penghu. Nuiz exclaimed: "Oh my God! What do I see?"

"That's right, sir, that's the Lioness." Bangkut laughed. The ship they were on six years ago was the Lioness. That was also the first time that Europeans arrived at the southwest corner of Australia. From then on, this place was named Cape Leeuwin, which is the transliteration of the Dutch word for lioness (Leeuwin).

"Oh! I really miss my Lioness!" Nuyiz couldn't help but sigh. He had a lot of feelings for this ship. That expedition was his maiden voyage. He was only 23 years old at that time...

Then, Nuyiz asked curiously, "But why did she stop outside the port?"

The "she" in Nuyiz's mouth refers to the Lioness, a large 500-ton jacht. The so-called jacht means a clipper in Dutch. This word is generally used to refer to small yachts in later generations, but this is not the case in this era.

The Dutch called all ships with high speed Ahart. Generally speaking, this type of ship has the characteristics of low stern, square stern and streamlined hull, which is a kind of improved galleon with high speed as the goal. The famous Half Moon is a typical Ahart ship. It was this ship that first arrived in New York, which is still called New Amsterdam at that time.

The VOC's Ahart ships cover a variety of tonnages, ranging from a few dozen tons to several hundred tons, and are generally armed. After all, the number of returning large ships is limited, and large Aharts are the backbone of the VOC navy. Warships like the Lioness are the main force of the fleet in most situations.

But at the moment, the Lioness was parked pitifully outside Makung Harbor, looking like a sentry on guard, so Nuiz asked this question.

"Commander Carpentier ordered the Lioness to stand guard outside the harbor..." Boncourt said, nodding at the other sailing ships. "You know, it's hard to be confident about the combat effectiveness of a junk."

Nuiz was very surprised when he heard this. Generally speaking, schooners like the Vesp were responsible for guarding. But now, Carpentier actually asked the Lioness to do such a chore. What kind of ships were the fleet sent by the company?

As the Vesp sailed into Magong Harbor, Nuiz opened his mouth wide: nine large warships flying the VOC flag were anchored in the harbor, with dozens of masts towering into the sky, and the tricolor long-tasseled flags on the top of the masts fluttering in the wind...

"Sir, please allow me to introduce our flagship to you! I heard that this is the most powerful battleship ever built by the United Provinces of the Netherlands..."

Boncourt pointed to the largest ship in the fleet and said with great excitement, "Frederick Hendrix, a double-deck ship returning home. It was built in the Zeeland shipyard in 1626, sailed from Willingen in January 1627, and arrived in Batavia in September of that year. It was on this ship that General Cohen came to the East Indies for the second time."

Frederick Hendrik is the younger brother of Prince Maurice, the current Prince of Orange, Count of Nassau, and ruler of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. The fact that this ship is named after the supreme leader of the Netherlands and was built during his reign is self-evident.

"This...how many rasts is this ship?" Nuize couldn't even speak clearly. The so-called rast is a unit of measurement in the Netherlands. Originally, it may have referred to the weight that a four-wheeled carriage could carry, but now it is mostly used to measure the size of ships.

1拉斯特相当于4000阿姆斯特丹磅，或者1975公斤，简单说就是1拉斯特约等于2吨。

"700 Rast! She has 700 Rast! Even the largest naval warship of the United Provinces Republic is only half the size of the Frederick Hendrix!"

Boncourt's words surprised Nuys, as he had heard of the Frederick Hendrix in his home country. But when the ship was launched, Nuys was already on his way to the East Indies, and when the Frederick Hendrix arrived in Batavia, he had already been sent to Taiyuan.

So this was the first time that Nuez saw this ship, and it was also the largest galleon he had ever seen. If you don't count those giant carracks that looked good but were useless, 1400 tons was also a super tonnage in the navy of Spain, the European maritime hegemon. The latter was famous for its many deep-water ports, and the tonnage of its warships had always been the highest in Europe.

Nuiz was speechless for a long time, and he only heard Bangkut continue to introduce: "Then there is the Rotterdam, 500 Rast, also with a double-deck gun deck. It was launched in Rotterdam in 1621. The captain should have seen this ship in Batavia..."

"Then there is the Mauritius, also 500 last, but with one less gun deck than the Rotterdam. This ship is quite old, launched in Amsterdam in 1612 and sailed from Texel in January 1618. Mr. Anthony van Diemen was a soldier on this ship at the time. It was during this voyage that we first discovered the west coast of New Holland..."

"Then there's the Zeeland, 400 rust, built in Zeeland in 1616..."

"The Zierzik, also 400 ras, was also built in Zeeland and launched a year later than the Zeeland..."

"There is also the Delft, also 400 Rastas, launched in 1620. I don't need to tell you which branch it was built in..."

"Finally, there are the Hollandia, the Leyden, and the Orange. These three ships are all around 350 last, and without exception, they all have double hulls..." Boncutt said at last, "Sir, now you know why the Lioness is on guard outside the port, right?"

Nuyiz was stunned. The Lioness was indeed only fit to do odd jobs in this fleet! Bangkut didn't need to say much about this. It was obvious the moment he entered Magong Port.

He was speechless for a long time. After a long time, he took a deep breath and said, "I think this should be the most powerful fleet in the history of the East Indian Sea!"

What Nuiz said may not be completely correct, but at least it is absolutely correct in the history of VOC so far.

The 1400-ton giant flagship, plus two 1000-ton, three 800-ton, and three 700-ton fully armed galleons. Two of these nine main battleships have double-deck gun decks, and all of them have double hulls, which would have qualified them to join the battle line in Europe more than 9 years later.

Even if the Lioness was only used for odd jobs, it would have no problem serving as a main battleship on the Asian seas...

(End of this chapter)