Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam (1610 – 13 June 1665) was a Dutch States Navy officer and nobleman who became lieutenant admiral, and supreme commander of the Dutch navy. He had as official titles Banner Lord of Wassenaer, and Lord Obdam, Hensbroek, Spanbroek, Opmeer, Zuidwijk and Kernhem. The name Obdam was then also spelled as Opdam. Contemporary English sources typically refer to him as Admiral Opdam or Lord Obdam because it was not until 1657 that he bought the Wassenaar Estate from relatives and thus acquired its title. Modern Dutch sources sometimes less correctly insert a second "van" between "Wassenaer" and "Obdam" or use the modern spelling "Wassenaar".
Early life Jacob was born in 1610, the eldest son of Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Duivenvoorde, born 1574, and Anna van Randerode. After early military training, he joined the army and, in 1631, commanded a company of cavalry, soon rising to the rank of colonel.van der Aa, Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden pg. 65 In this capacity, he took part in several sieges and was commended for his bravery fighting against the Spanish at the siege of Maastricht in 1632, and in 1643 he became drost (political governor) of Heusden, an important fortress town, and soon after military governor of its garrison.van der Aa, Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden p. 66
In 1647, when the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel proposed peace with Spain, Van Wassenaer was delegated by the majority of provinces that wished to continue the war in alliance with France to visit the two provinces, and he succeeded in convincing them to continue to fight. In 1648, in another mission on behalf, this time, of all the Netherlands provinces, he attended the baptism at Kleve of the eldest son of Frederick William of Brandenburg, and in 1651 he visited Frederick William at Düsseldorf to discuss a possible military alliance.
On 28 April 1633, at Maarssen, he married Agnes Renesse van der Aa and had three children by her.van der Aa, Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden pp. 67-68.
First Anglo-Dutch War As a member of the nobility of Holland, Van Wassenaer was delegated to the States of Holland to represent their interests as one of the ten members of the ridderschap (the "knighthood" Estate within the States). In 1650 when stadtholder William II of Orange died, he opposed installing the latter's infant son as nominal stadtholder. His opposition to the House of Orange was based on socio-economic and religious grounds: the stadtholders had their political base in the artisan class, which consisted mainly of puritan Calvinists. Many members of the Van Wassenaer family were still Catholic and feared religious oppression.
When the First Anglo-Dutch War started in 1652 he, then a cavalry Colonel, was again delegated to the States-General. There he supported the faction of Johan de Witt and Cornelis de Graeff, which proposed to build a strong professional confederate fleet, at the expense of the army. Because his father had been Lieutenant-Admiral, and through the influence of De Witt, he was made "Delegate of the States to the National Fleet", thereby becoming responsible for all day-to-day dealings between the States-General and the navy, a position that carried much power.Bruijn, The Dutch Navy of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, pg. 66
Near the end of the war, in the Battle of Scheveningen, the supreme commander of the confederate Dutch fleet, Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp, was killed in action. His second in command had been Vice-Admiral Witte de With, both a courageous and competent sailor and a man seen as politically reliable as he was not a supporter of the Orangist faction. He would thus seem to have been the natural choice for a successor to Tromp. De With, however, was a brusque and quarrelsome man who had made himself profoundly disliked throughout the fleet, both by its commanders and by the ordinary seamen, to the extent that many of the former complained about him to De Witt and a few refused to serve under him, while there were desertions among the latter.Rowen, John de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, pg. 193Warnsinck, Van Vloot Voogden en Zeeslagen, pg. 243
Third in command had been Vice-Admiral Johan Evertsen, a brave sailor much admired by his men. However, Evertsen held his appointment from the Admiralty of Zeeland. As Holland was not only the richest Dutch province but the home of three of the five Dutch admiralties, including the two largest, its politicians and flag officers were not prepared to be subordinated to an admiral from one of the smaller Admiralties. He had also been a personal friend of the late stadtholder and was known to be a supporter of the plan to make his infant son stadtholder.Rowen, John de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, pg. 194 Evertsen had also been accused by de With of cowardice when, during the Battle of Scheveningen he had withdrawn in his damaged ship rather than moving his flag to another vessel.Warnsinck, Van Vloot Voogden en Zeeslagen, pp. 165-66.
The Admiralty of Amsterdam and the Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier both suggested Michiel de Ruyter even though his rank was only that of Commodore. De Witt took this recommendation seriously, but de Ruyter steadfastly declined to be considered for the post.Bruijn, The Dutch Navy of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, pg. 65 As de With and Evertsen were unacceptable and de Ruyter had ruled himself out, De Witt turned to alternatives, without naval experience but with experience of command and the prestige of belonging to the Dutch nobility. The first candidate to be approached, Louis of Nassau-Beverweerd, an illegitimate son of Maurice, Prince of Orange and experienced military commander who had agreed to cooperate with the republican administration of Johan de Witt and the regents of the Dutch cities, becoming First Noble of Holland, declined but recommended his fellow noble, Van Wassenaer.Rowen, John de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, pp.194-5 De Witt was also impressed by the performance of English army officers as Generals at Sea and, also influenced by the performance of earlier Dutch military men as sea officers, he finally proposed Van Wassenaer, who was a political ally to take over command.Bruijn, The Dutch Navy of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, pp.65-6 Van Wassenaer at first refused, then made his acceptance conditional on his appointment as full Admiral, a post normally reserved for a Prince of Orange, not merely Lieutenant-Admiral. De Witt finally pressured him to accept by threatening to appoint a foreigner as Lieutenant-Admiral to command the Dutch fleet.Rowen, John de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, p.195
New tactics In 1654, the Dutch Navy found a new commander in Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam, Lieutenant-Admiral of Holland and West Frisia. He admitted to his lack of naval experience, and requested the appointment of a "counsellor and assistant"' to deal with naval tactics, while his own high rank, personal qualities and fighting reputation would allow him to prevent disputes between the various flag officers and captains. De Ruyter was persuaded to act as his counsellor after persuasion by De Witt.Rowen, John de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, pp. 195-96
He had to solve the fundamental problem facing the Dutch fleet in that century: how to beat an enemy who was equipped with much more powerful ships.Warnsinck, Van Vloot Voogden en Zeeslagen, pp. 244-45 As the Dutch home waters were so shallow building very heavy ships was out of the question.
Although De Witt had convinced the States General to spend four million guilders in agreeing to building sixty new warships to augment the existing fleet in the First Anglo-Dutch War, including several comparable to the all but the largest English ships and much heavier than the average existing Dutch warship, many were relatively small convoy escorts of 44 cannon, little more than frigates by English standards, and not all those planned had been completed or fitted out by 1665.Bruijn, The Dutch Navy of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, pp. 64-66.
Before the Anglo-Dutch wars, the typical solution when fighting Spanish galleons had always been the direct attack having the weather gauge, using superior maneuverability and numbers, or if that failed: employing fireships and boarding. Against the English however this was generally unsuccessful; they were at least as competent in these aggressive tactics and they had too many ships. Maarten Tromp then tried an informal line of battle, but this ploy came back with a vengeance. Robert Blake created a very formal version that worked even better for the English as they had powerful ships and a more professional navy, while the Dutch employed many armed merchants.
Studying Blake's Sailing and Fighting Instructions Van Wassenaer saw a new solution to the old problem. Now that a professional Dutch Navy was being created, this navy would soon be the equal in competence of the English. That left only the inequality in firepower to be solved. He understood that this could be achieved by abandoning the traditional aggressive stance and embracing defence. Sailing in a battle line in a defensive leeward position, the wind, blowing from the side of the enemy, would give the guns of the Dutch ships a higher elevation and therefore a better range. That same wind would decrease the range of the enemy ships or even force them to close the gun ports of their lower gun deck, the one that carried the heaviest guns. This became Van Wassenaer's favorite method: to damage the enemy ships from a safe distance and then disengage. Whether the enemy was destroyed or his own fleet damaged too was immaterial as, with their superior shipbuilding capacity the Dutch could always make quicker repairs. Simply keeping the enemy fleet inoperational would suffice. Dutch trade wouldn't be disturbed and while a few battles might well deplete the enemy's treasury, the Republic would always have plenty of reserves. In Van Wassenaer's opinion, naval warfare was a gigantic battle of attrition that the Dutch were guaranteed to win.
Northern Wars
In 1655, Charles X of Sweden began a series of aggressive campaigns (part of the Northern Wars) intending to make Sweden the dominant power in the Baltic. The Dutch saw this as a threat to their vital interests.Anderson, Naval Wars in the Baltic, pg. 75 Although they are today better known for their exploitation of the East Indies, in fact, their Baltic trade was more profitable in absolute terms. Also, the Republic was critically dependent on Scandinavian wood to build ships and Polish grain to feed its large urban population.Warnsinck, Van Vloot Voogden en Zeeslagen, pp. 246-47
When Charles conquered Poland, Amsterdam under his regent Cornelis de Graeff supported the subsequent rebellion and sent Obdam with a fleet to relieve Danzig in 1656Edmundson, History of Holland, pg. 229 In 1657, Van Wassenaer blockaded Lisbon and captured fifteen ships of a Portuguese sugar fleet,Warnsinck, Van Vloot Voogden en Zeeslagen, pg. 248 but, in 1658, had to return to the Baltic as the situation there had grown even more critical.
After the failure of his Polish campaign Charles had turned his attention on Denmark and had invaded Jutland from Germany. He then made peace with Frederick III of Denmark but treacherously broke it a few weeks later in an attempt to take Copenhagen by assault. This failed and he laid siege to the Danish capital, the last part of his kingdom still under Frederick's control.Edmundson, History of Holland, pg. 230