The sheets are part of a series of drawings of the expedition to the Sont, made aboard on his ‘Galjoot’ by Willem van de Velde the Elder, dealing with the course of events in October 1658. At this expedition two Dutch admirals would ultimately lose their life: Witte de With, on the Brederode, probably the ship on the right of the drawing, and, Pieter Florisz on the ‘Joshua’, seen on the right behind the Brederode.

The drawings were made on his famous drawing table with rolling technique. The artist was eye witness on a ‘Galjoot’ which was made available by the Admiralty with a skipper. In the drawing, the sails of the ships have been carefully observed and the sterns of the ships carefully delineated. In this drawing Willem van de Velde employed a comparatively low viewpoint which enabled him to show the multitude of sails, flags and pennants of the ships.       

Baron Jacob Wassenaer van Obdam (1610-1665)

The Northern Expedition, 1658 under command of Lieutenant- Admiral J. van Wassenaer (Obdam)

A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the United Provinces commanded by L.- Admiral J. van Wassenaer (Obdam) attacked an English fleet of equal size commanded by James, Duke of York, forty miles east of the port of Lowestoft.

A reconstruction of the series of drawings by Van de Velde the Elder, dealing with the course of events in October 1658:

07/10         Krijgsraad op het vlaggenschip Eendracht op de Vlierede, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. nr. A.1115(01)

[15/10]       The Dutch Fleet lying at anchor before Terschelling, British Museum, London, inv. nr. 1877,1013.976

17/10         A Council-of-war in the Dutch fleet off Terschelling, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. nr. PAJ2589

17/10         Het vertrek van de Nederlandse oorlogsvloot naar Denemarken, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. nr. A.1115(02)

18/10         The Dutch fleet beating up the coast off the North Frisian Islands, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. nr. PAJ2590

19/10         The Dutch fleet beating up the coast off the North Frisian Islands, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. nr. PAJ2395

19/10         The Dutch fleet tacking off the North Frisian Islands, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. nr. PAJ2527

 20/10         The Dutch Fleet under Van Wassenaer Obdam on its way to the Sound, trying to beat around The Skaw, the present sheet, Kunsthandel Rob Kattenburg BV, Bergen NH, collection 2017

21/10         The Dutch Fleet approaching the Jutland Coast, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. nr. PAI7677

22/10         The Dutch Fleet rounding the Point of Skagen in Jutland, British Museum, London, inv. nr. SL,5214.27

23/10         The Dutch Fleet on its way to the Sound, trying to beat around the Skaw, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. nr. PAJ2583

24/10         The Dutch Fleet getting under way off the Jutland coast, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. nr. PAJ2393

24/10         The Dutch Fleet under Van Wassenaer Obdam gaat voor anker tussen Skaw en Hirtshals, private collection, Amsterdam

27/10         Nederlandse oorlogsvloot ten anker in het Skagerrak, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. nr. A.1115(03)

29/10         Nederlands Eskader voor Varberg, Maritiem Museum, Rotterdam, inv. nr. P775

31/10         The Dutch Fleet lying at anchor near Lessö in the Sound, British Museum, London, inv. nr. SL,5214.46

4-7/11        The Dutch Fleet lying at anchor near Zealand, Denmark, on the eve of the Battle of the Sound, British Museum, London, inv. nr. SL,5214.36-37

08/11         The Battle of the Sound, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. nr. PAJ3044

Some sheets that might as well be associated with this series: Louvre, Département des Arts Graphiques, Paris, inv. nr. 23075 (annotated); National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, inv. nos. PAG 6176, PAI 7298, PAI 7676

Two other drawings belonging to the same series are said to be preserved in the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, UK (Presumably these last sheets are concerned with the course of events on 25/10 and 26/10).

The Battle of Lowestoft  June  3/13  1665

On June 13, 1665, The Eendracht blowing up under command of L. – Admiral J. van Wassenaer     (Obdam).

The Eendracht was the flagship of the confederate navy of the United Provinces between 1655 and 1665 and carried 57 pieces. She fought succesfully in the Northern Wars, defeating the Swedish fleet at the Battle of the Sound on 8 November 1658. the Eendracht became the flagship of Tromp’s successor Lieutenant- Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer van Obdam between 1655 and 1665.

In the Battle of Lowestoft, on 13 June 1665, the first battle of the Second Dutch-Anglo War, the Eendracht then armed with 73 guns, duelled with the much heavier 80-gun English flagship the Royal Charles. The Dutch chain shot killed a number of courtiers standing next to Lord High Admiral James Stuart on the English ship, but in the early afternoon the Eendracht was hit in the powder room and exploded, killing Van Obdam. There were only five survivors out of a crew of 409.