The Otter was a fast yacht, a warship deployed by the Dutch West India Company (WIC) to attack Spanish ships in the Caribbean. In the early seventeenth century, the Netherlands had been at war with Spain for decades (from 1568-1648). The Otter was one of the official privateers of the WIC. The WIC was not only a commercial company but also a war instrument against Spain.

Cornelis Cornelisz Jol

One of the most successful privateer captains - besides Piet Hein - was Cornelis Jol (nicknamed 'Peg Leg' because he had lost a leg). The Otter was his ship.

Jol took dozens of Spanish ships as prizes in the Caribbean. He made the crossing from The Netherlands to the Caribbean nine times between 1627 and 1640. He rose from skipper to admiral in the WIC.

Taken himself

In 1635 he returned to the Netherlands after a successful hunting season. Almost home, in the English Channel, he was attacked by another famous privateer captain, Jacob Collaert. He was the most feared Dunkirk privateer of his generation. The Otter was seized and towed to Dunkirk. The crew and captain Jol were imprisoned. After six months they were finally bought free by the States General.

The Otter probably sailed again as a privateer from 1635 but from then on under the Spanish flag. it is not clear what became of the ship.

Rijksmuseum

Tonnage: 90 last

Crew: 68 (in 1628), 78 (in 1634)

Armament: 14 cast iron cannons (De Laet)

• Laet, J. de (1644)
  Historie ofte iaerlijck verhael van de verrichtinghen der geoctroyeerde West-Indische Compagnie, zedert haer begin, tot het eynde van 't jaer sesthien-hondert ses-en-dertich; begrepen in derthien boecken, ende met verscheyden koperen
  pp 4, 13, 15, 18
• N. Noordervliet- Jol, (1994)
  De geschiedenis van de oudste geslachten van de familie Jol