Two ships with the same name

The ship's name Sint Paulus (also known as St. Paulo) appears two times in the list of ships from just before the Battle of Lowestoft on June 13th, 1665 (see Luiken p. 248). It concerns two ships with the same name. Both were rented by the admiralty from the VOC (the Dutch East India Company) in 1665, and they were called the Sint Paulus van Zeeland (under captain Cornelis Thomaszoon) and the Sint Paulus van Enkhuizen (under captain Jan Cornelis Raap). It is not clear for both ships if they were built and owned by the VOC or if they were rented by them as well.

National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

Second Anglo-Dutch War

The Second Anglo- Dutch War had broken out and the first major battle at Lowestoft had been won by the English. Because of this, many Dutch merchant vessels that were underway to the Netherlands had deviated to other ports. A large group had gathered in the neutral port of Bergen in Norway. The return fleet of the VOC from Asia had also ended up here. An English squadron had gotten wind of this and tried to conquer the VOC fleet in vain. This became known as the Battle of Bergen. In this, a British squadron under Thomas Teddeman tried to enter the port of Bergen, but the VOC fleet under Pieter de Bitter managed to thwart this (see van Dam, p. 18)

Wikimedia Commons

Auxiliary fleet

At the end of August of 1665, a large fleet (of 90 ships) was put out to sea under Michiel de Ruyter. He was to go and pick up the rich merchant fleet. Both Sint Paulus ships were part of this auxiliary fleet. The Sint Paulus van Enkhuizen was put in the squadron of Admiral Tjerk Hidde de Vries and the Sint Paulus van Zeeland in the squadron of Tromp (see Brandt p. 407). On August 30th, the fleet arrived at Bergen. A week later, the combined fleet left Bergen with destination the Netherlands.

Storm

On September 9th, a heavy storm broke out. The fleet got scattered. The English made use of this and managed to capture a number of VOC ships. Brandt relates that both ships called Sint Paulus accidentally ended up in an English fleet in the Vlie estuary in the Netherlands and were taken:

The four warships, called the Huist te Zwieten, the Geldersche Ruiter, de Sint Paulus van Zeelandt, and the Sint Paulus van Enkhuizen, who were commanded by the captains Karsten Krynszoon de Rechtere, Evert van Gelder, Cornelis Thomaszoon, and Jan Raap, were on the 18th of the month, after the heavy storm... they ended up in the dark, two hours after midnight, at five miles outside of the land of the Vlie, around the height of Ameland, in the middel of the English fleet... (see Brandt p. 434).

The Sint Paulus van Zeeland was taken and burnt during this action, the other came into English service (see Colenbrander p. 291). She fought under captain Holmes and was set on fire during the Four Day's Battle.

In another source we find Jan Raap on the ship Stavoren.

Armament: 40 or 44 cannon

The ship was taken and later shot on fire but it is not sure whether it was lost.

• Luiken, Jan.
  Leven en bedrijf van den vermaarde zeeheld Cornelis Tromp.
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• Brandt, G. (1677).
  Het leven en het bedrijf van den Heere Michiel de Ruyter.
  pp 407, 434.
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• Dam, Pieter van (1927).
  Beschrijvinge van de Oostindische Compagnie 1639-1701, deel I.
  pp 18.
  Den Haag: Martinus NijhofF.
• Wikimedia Commons.
  Slag in de Baai van Bergen.
• Kort en Bondigh Verhael...
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  Nederlandse oorlogen op zee 1652-1676.
  pp 291.
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