From: "Kim Mackey" <mackeys@cvinternet.net>
Date: Sat Sep 14, 2002 07:03:54 PM US/Pacific
Subject: Some tidbits from Jan Glete

Well I have just finished "Warfare at Sea 1500-1650" by Jan Glete. Here are some interesting facts to consider for the future of the 1632verse.

1) The WIC fleet of warships (not just armed merchantmen) in 1630 was about the size of the Swedish warship fleet, 15,000 to 20,000 tons. WIC took Pernambuco in 1630 with a fleet of 67 ships and 7,000 men. Most of these were probably financed with the spanish silver fleet that was captured in 1628. With the addition of the warships from the fleet action in September 1633, this could put the next Spanish silver fleet due to leave Havana in march 1634 (if the typical schedule is followed) in serious jeopardy, especially given the damage done to the spanish in the battle of Dunkirk. WIC will be keen, I think, to grab the march 1634 silver fleet both to keep the silver out of Spanish hands (the fleet captured in 1628 was worth 11.5 million guilders. About 200 million livre.) and to provide themselves with a grubstake. Given the cost of the siege of Amsterdam, the siezing of the 1634 silver fleet could seriously affect the Spanish treasury and possibly drive them into bankruptcy. This could then lead to earlier revolts in Catalonia and Portugal then in our timeline if the Spanish try to raise taxes to compensate.

2) The Danish warship fleet in 1630 was 19,000 tons. Based on 1633, 5-6 Danish warships have been destroyed either at Lubeck or at Wismar with a total tonnage near 3,000 tons. This represents 15 percent of Danish warship strength. No wonder Christian IV is a little antsy.

3) Trade and voyages to get products to trade in 1633 worldwide was a lot more extensive then people might appreciate. Here is just one interesting example from page 173

"...the main impetus for expansion (into west indies) came with the Spanish embargo in 1598 which cut off the Dutch from Iberian salt for their herring industry and export trade to the Baltic. In order to get salt, fleets of Dutch merchantmen sailed from 1599 to the large salt pan at Punta de Araya in Venezuela. This had not been exploited by Spain and in the following years it became a major source of salt, especially for ships from northern Holland."

If the Dutch would go to Venezuela to get salt, might they not go to those islands off the coast of Peru to get Potassium Nitrate if encouraged to do so by USE?

There was also a cross-pacific trade route used by the Spanish between Manila and Acapulco.

4) between 1626 and 1635 in OTL the East Indies were a comparatively calm time with Spain, Portugal, England and the Dutch focusing on defending their own areas and working on their commercial activities. Guess this might change now, heh.

regards, Kim

p.s. In 1630 the ottoman fleet of Galleys (no sailing warships) was in the 20,000 to 30,000 ton range. This is about the range of the Venetian galley fleet.