History
On September 21, 1639 ten DEIC Heren XVII in Amsterdam received a letter from the national government requesting that ships be made available for the country's fleet. The 80 Years War was still in full swing. A Spanish armada had been sent to the North Sea to land troops in the Netherlands. With this, the Spanish crown wanted to decide the war against the Republic.
The Dutch fleet under Admiral Maarten Harpz. Tromp had managed to stop the Spanish invasion force in the summer. The armada had fled to Duins in England. Tromp could use all the help he could get to destroy the encircled enemy.
The Great Battle of Duins by Claes Jansz. Visscher (II) made in 1639.
In the top center: Commander Jol's squadron in battle. This is the only squadron in which two flute ships are clearly visible. There is a good chance that these are the Rob and the Zaaijer - according to the extensive text on the engraving, both in the squadron of Commander Houtebeen Jol (enlarge).
DEIC ships available
The Heren XVII then decided to make four DEIC ships available. The yacht Ackersloot, recently returned from Asia. And three (newly) purchased ships Neptunes, Saijer and Robbe. All four ships were in Amsterdam to be equipped for a trip to the Indies.(1)
Purchased
Because none of these 3 are on the leveling levels for the carpentry*, it is almost certain that they were purchased shortly before by the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC. For two (as yet unnamed) flutes, the resolution of 22-8 states that one flute has already been purchased, and a second will be purchased.(2)
Battle of Duins
The 4 ships, including De Rob, joined the national fleet off Dover/Duins on October 6. They then took part in the battle under Commander Houtebeen on October 21, 1639. The Spanish fleet was devastatingly defeated.
Reward
Commander Jol and the skippers of the 4 ships received a bonus for services rendered on 11/15. The 4 VOC ships then returned to the Texel roadstead and are further equipped for the journey to Asia.
The Rob perished
At the beginning of January, seven VOC ships were ready to sail off Texel. All four ships that were loaned to the admiralty in October were among them. On 7-1-1640 it was written from Texel that a big storm had knocked the Rob off its anchor. She was cracked and decayed. Money and jewelry had not yet been brought on board, but part of the cargo had.
Some of those on board also survived the disaster, because they were placed on the other ships that left Texel for Asia between January 17 and 19, 1640. In addition to De Zaaijer, Neptunis and Ackersloot, these were the Snoek, Oranjeboom and the Zee Haan. As replacement was the flute Heemstede appointed (3)
In February 1641, the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC purchased the flute Buis for 170 to 180 lasts to replace the (flute) Rob.