The Oudkarspel was a frigate in the service of the Amsterdam Admiralty. it was active from the Second Anglo-Dutch war.

Convoy service

During the Nine Years' War, Dutch merchant ships needed to be protected from attacks by French ships. The Oudkarspel left from Torbay on January 23rd, 1691 to the Iberian Peninsula to make such a convoy voyage, together with the Zwolle.¹

They had a convoy with them of Dutch and English merchant ships with several destinations in Spain. In the Gulf of Biscay, at the height of Castro Urdiales in Northern Spain, they were attacked in the night of 29 to 30 January by three French warships and two privateers. The French had used the cover of darkness to get close to them unseen. Even though the Dutch ships were heavily outnumbered, they positioned themselves between the French ships and the merchant vessels, to give these the opportunity to escape. A heavy fight followed at one and a half miles from shore (here, probably the so-called 'German mile' of 7.4 km is used) in which both Dutch ships sunk yet most of the merchants managed to escape to several ports in Northern Spain.

The Zwolle sank first after her captain (Frederik Bontemantel) had fallen, and half an hour later the Oudkarspel sank. Captain Broeder managed to hold on to wreckage with a small part of his crew and was later saved. The French captain Augers, the leader of the squadron, sailed off without saving the drowning crew, something which caused some diplomatic unrest. Of the Zwolle, only a few men were saved, and thus only 32 or 33 of the total of over 400 men on board of the ships survived the fight.

Even thought the Dutch ships sank, the action was not very successful for the French. Only two small merchant ships were taken. The largest French ship was so badly damaged that it sank shortly after the battle and two others hardly made it to port.

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

During the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1673, the ship sailed in a squadron of lieutenant admiral Tromp. Then it had 34 cannon, 114 sailors and 14 soldiers on board.

• Schependocumentatie NIMH.
• Dutch Fifth Rate frigate 'Oudkarspel' (1667).
• NA_1.01.46 13 014.
• J. C. de Jonge.
  Geschiedenis van het Nederlandse Zeewezen, V.
  pp 334-336.
• Koninklijke Bibliotheek.
  Europische Mercurius, februari 1692.