The Dutch years of the Swedish navy 1631–1654

Abstract

On 15 April 1644, a Dutch ship arrived in the harbour of Gothenburg. On board were nine captains, fifteen lieutenants, twelve gunners and ten gunner’s mates. They had been recruited for the Swedish admiralty by its agent in Amsterdam, Peter Trotzig, with the assistance of a Dutch naval captain, Jakob de Boer, who himself had joined Swedish service in 1641.1 One of the fresh recruits was lieutenant Jan Jansen Bockhorn, who, according to the Swedish admiralty, had been going to sea since his youth. He went on to have a successful and very varied career in Sweden.