History
The Tholen was a ship of the line of the Dutch Zeeland Admiralty and she exploded due to an accident in 1687. It was under the command of captain Barend Maertense and had about 200 men on board.
In this period, two ships with the name Tholen were built and used by the Zeeland Admiralty relatively close to one another. The other Tholen was built in 1688 and was burnt at the Battle of Beachy Head.
Lost by its own gunpowder
On the way back during a convoy voyage to Cádiz in Spain, an explosion took place in the powder room due to unknown causes before they entered the British Channel, causing the ship to be lost.
On October 13th, Maertense wrote a letter from the Cádiz roadstead to the Admiralty Council of Zeeland. The Tholen had received 80 rifles, 80 pistols and 80 sabres on board and at departure there were 15.400 pounds of gunpowder on board.
On January 3rd, 1687, the convoy left Cádiz with destination the Netherlands. The following ships were part of it:
Ship; captain/skipper
Vogel Phenix; Daniel Witboom
Concordia; Adriaen van de Vyver
Postilion; Jost de Clerck
Vrede; Huybert Petit
Jonge Leendert; Pieter Meyster
Rosendael; Cornelis van Beveren
Wapen van Portugael; Pieter Jansz.
Salamander; Luytje Symons
Wakende Leeu; Hendrik Opmeer
Santa Maria; Albert van der Laen
Explosion in the Atlantic Ocean
On January 28th, 1687 the Tholen exploded 70 miles outside of the English Channel in the Spanish Sea (the name of that part of the Atlantic in the past), maybe on account of its own gunpowder. The designation '70 miles' is problematic since various miles were in use in that period. The most likely used mile is the Duytsche Mijl ('German mile') of roughly 7400 meters which was the usual Dutch distance measuring unit at sea at the time. The news spread in the Netherlands from the other ships in the convoy. The Tholen was lost with all hands.
Description
Yard: Middelburg (?)¹
Armament: 48 cannon (4 bronze cannon and 44 cast iron cannon) with the following calibers:
- 4x 12-pounder (bronze cannon)
- 2x 24-pounder
- 8x 18-pounder
- 8x 12 pounder
- 16x 8-pounder
- 4x 6-pounder
- 4x 4-pounder
- 2x 3-pounder
| Master | Barend Maertense |
|---|---|
| Length | 135 Amsterdam feet (38.2 m) |
References
- NL-HaNA_1.01.46_13_010 lijst schepen 1700.
- Poortvliet, P.F.
Monsterol Tholen. - Bemanningslijsten Admiralteit.
RCE. - Amsterdamsche Courant.
Amsterdamsche Courant.