The Cattenbau was a small yacht from a fleet of admiral Cornelis Jol of the Dutch West India Company (WIC). His nickname was 'peg leg' since his leg needed to be removed when he was wounded in battle and was replaced with a wooden leg. The Cattenbau could be used as a fireship.

The name Cattenbau can also be spelled as Kattenbou. It could be a reference to Kattenburg (a shipyard in Amsterdam), which is often abbreviated or sloppily noted as Kattenb., Kattenburch, or phonetically as Kattanbau(w).

Rijksmuseum

Jol made nine voyages across the Atlantic for the WIC. In 1640 his fleet was involved in the Second Battle of Salvador da Bahia in Brazil,in which 27 Portuguese sugar mills were destroyed. After this they went on to plunder Spanish settlements in the Bay of Matanzas in Cuba. It is around this time that his fleet was caught in a violent storm, and on 11 September 1640 the Cattenbau stranded near Havana. The crew was rescued and imprisoned in Havana.

Rijksmuseum

Type: yacht, fitted as a fireship The Cattenbau was designed as a so-called fireship filled with highly combustible material. In battle a fireship was intended to ram enemy ships and set them on fire, sacrificing the ship in the process. It took much courage from the crew, who had to leave the ship at exactly the right time.

Tonnage: 25 tons/50 last

Crew: 15 sailors and 5 soldiers

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

The wreck has not been found and possibly remains in situ.

• Archivo General de Indias., Audiencia de Santo Domingo.
  ref. no. Legajo: 101. No.: 143B., pp Fecha: 11 de septiembre de 1640.
• Nationaal Archief, Oude West-indische Compagnie
  ref. no. 1.05.01.01, 68, 1567, pp fol. 123
• Nationaal Archief, Oude West-indische Compagnie
  ref. no. 1.05.01.01, 55,35,134
• Wright, I. A.https://www.delpher.nl/nl/boeken/view?coll=boeken&identifier=MMKB05:000038084:00092 (1934)
  Nederlandsche zeevaarders op de eilanden in de Caraïbische zee en aan de kust van Columbia en Venezuela gedurende de jaren 1621-1648(9)..., II
  pp 45