Captured ship: Constance otherwise Constancy , Constant , Juffrouw Constantia , or...

Captured ship: Constance otherwise Constancy, Constant, Juffrouw Constantia, or Madam Constance of Amsterdam (master Albert Jacobsen, otherwise Albert Jacobs, or Albert Jacobs Cromwell of Amsterdam).

History: a Dutch merchant ship, hired as a naval auxiliary by the Amsterdam admiralty (galliot hoy, 120-160 tons/60 lasts, 7 men, built at Amsterdam), bound from Amsterdam, via the Amsterdam flagship Dolfijn off the Maas, to the Amsterdam ships of the Dutch fleet at sea, laden with round- and bar-shot of various calibres, fresh water, three great anchors, a cable, a maintopmast and cordage; having delivered part of the stores (said to be only some of the water and 5-600 shot) to the Amsterdam warships between the North and South Foreland, was taken on 6/16 May 1672 to the west of Beachy Head by HMS Crown ([William] Finch commanding) and HMS Dover ([Roger] Strickland commanding) and brought [first to the fleet flagship HMS Royal Prince, off the Isle of Wight, on the same day] and then into Portsmouth on 8/18 May. The remainder of the water, 77 casks, was distributed to British warships on 7/17 May.

Documents:-

Court Papers, numbered CP 1- 2:-

• [CP 1]: two examinations taken at Portsmouth, 10 May 1672;
• [CP 2]: two examinations at Dover, 19 May 1672;
• [CP 3]: wrapper.

Ships Papers, numbered SP 1-6 [originally numbered Charles Moore no 1-8 (including the wrapper), but no 1 is missing]:-

• SP 1: one examination [taken aboard the fleet flagship HMS Royal Prince;
• SP 2: lighthouse due, for Dungeness light;
• SP 3: a note of the British warships receiving the remainder of the water, 7/17 May 1672;
• SP 4-SP 5: passes in Dutch and French;
• SP 6: a detailed manifest of the stores and equipment aboard, bound for seven specified Amsterdam admiralty ships and and others, signed by the Admiral of Amsterdam, Baron Willem Joseph van Ghent, aboard the Amsterdam flagship Dolfijn, 7 miles off the Maas, 3/13 May 1672.

Extra information: See also Calendar of State Papers Domestic, 1671-1672, p. 473 (6 May 1672); [SP 29/307 No. 110], [HCA 30/882, p. 56: 7 ships papers received 21 May 1672]