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Adriaen van Trappen Banckert
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Joost van Trappen Banckert
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at this time it is unconfirmed to me
whether the ship was named after
Vice Admiral
Joost van Trappen Banckert,
his son
Admiral Adriaen van Trappen Banckert
or both
you can help me to clear this problem
by sending me informations concerning the
name-giving of the ship.
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Adriaen van Trappen Banckert
(born: ca. 1615 in Vlissingen – died: April 22, 1684 in Middelburg) was a
Dutch admiral. In English literature he is sometimes known as Banckers. His
first name is often rendered in the modern spelling Adriaan. Van Trappen was
the original family name, but the family was also and better known under the
name of Banckert. In the 17th century Netherlands such a situation was solved
by combining the two names.
He was born, probably in Flushing (Vlissingen), somewhere between between
1615 and 1620 as the second and middle son of Rear-Admiral Joost van Trappen
Banckert and Adriana Jansen. Both his brothers were navy captains, serving
the Admiralty of Zealand, also.
Adriaen started his career on the ship of his father, fighting the Dunkirk
Raiders. In 1639, at the Battle of the Downs, Adriaen was master on that
ship. In 1642 he became a captain himself.
During the First Anglo-Dutch War Adriaen was flagcaptain of the Zealandic
Vice-Admiral Johan Evertsen on the Hollandia. In the Battle of Portland in
1653 his elder brother Joost was killed; he himself was taken prisoner the
same year when his ship foundered during the Battle of Scheveningen.
During the Northern Wars he fought in 1658 against the Swedish fleet in the
Battle of the Sound as captain of the Seeridder and subcommander of the
squadron of Vice-Admiral Witte de With. Though the battle was a Dutch
victory, Adriaen because of adverse currents failed to assist De With when
the Brederode was grounded and surrounded. De With was fatally wounded. During
the winter campaign of 1659, the Seeridder lost all her anchors by a storm,
grounded and then was frozen solid near Hven. The Swedish army tried to
exploit this situation by sending a company of soldiers over the ice to
destroy the ship, but Banckert successfully beat off all attacks for three
days, until he could work his ship free. Banckert was granted a special
audience by Frederick III of Denmark who personally thanked him for the
courage shown. The Admiralty of Zealand honoured him with a golden chain
worth a hundred golden dollars.
When in 1664 the Second Anglo-Dutch War threatened, the five Dutch
admiralties appointed many new flag officers. Banckert was made Rear-Admiral
of the Zealandic admiralty on 16 December 1664 and soon after temporary
Vice-Admiral. After the Battle of Lowestoft in which his younger brother
Johan was killed, he was appointed Vice-Admiral on 15 July 1665. In 1666 he
participated in the Four Days Battle; in the St James' Day Battle his ship
the Thoolen sank and he was forced to move his flag to the Ter Veere. He
managed to cover the retreat of the Dutch fleet on the second day of the
battle. In that fight Zealandic Lieutenant-Admiral Johan Evertsen was killed
and Banckert was appointed as Lieutenant-Admiral of Zealand on 5 September
1666, and thus held the highest navy rank of that province. In 1667 because
of recruiting problems, Banckert was too late with his squadron to
participate in the actual Raid on the Medway.
In the four naval battles of the Third Anglo-Dutch War Banckert played an
important role, especially by fighting the French squadron within the
combined Anglo-French fleet. At the Battle of Solebay Banckert managed to
lure away the French fleet allowing the main Dutch force under
Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter to attack the English fleet with some
parity. In the first action of the double Battle of Schooneveld the French
fleet broke formation to attack Bankert's squadron, which allowed
Lieutenant-Admiral-General De Ruyter to split the French squadron and out-manoeuvre
the allies. In the second action Banckert's attack drove the French away. In
the Battle of Texel Banckert managed to prevent a joining of the French and
English fleet, again allowing De Ruyter to fight the English with more equal
forces. Because of the crucial part he played in these battles Banckert's
fame among the French and English was assured; ironically in The Netherlands
his importance wasn't understood by the larger part of the population, also
because most writers were Hollandic and felt little inclination to honour a
Zealandic hero.
In 1674, he joined with Hollandic Lieutenant-Admirals Cornelis Tromp and Aert
Jansse van Nes in the expedition against the French coast, in which the
island of Noirmoutier was taken and devastated. When Tromp took his squadron
to join the Spanish, the command of the remainder of the Dutch fleet was
given to Van Nes, although Banckert had seniority. Banckert didn't show his
discontent with this situation to his friend Van Nes, but did express his
offended feelings in a letter to the Zealandic admiralty. They shared his
opinion and decided never again to send out their Lieutenant-Admiral in a
confederate expedition, to make sure he wouldn't be humiliated by the
Hollanders. This way Banckert left active service on 3 December 1674, though
remaining commander of the Zealandic fleet. In 1678 he joined the admiralty
council, which was exceptional for a navy officer. After his death he was
buried in the St Peter's in Middelburg.
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Joost van
Trappen Banckert (born ca. 1599 in Vlissingen – died September 12, 1647 at
sea) was a Dutch Vice Admiral who worked most of his sailing life for the
admiralty of Zeeland. He was the father of Admiral Adriaen van Trappan
Banckert.
He was born in 1597 or 1599. Early in his career he was active against the
Dunkirk Privateers and was promoted to captain in 1624. That year he took
service for the Zeeland Chamber of the Dutch West India Company (WIC),
remaining there until 1636. Banckert often fought together with Piet Hein
with whom he attacked and captured the Portuguese settlement Salvador on the
coast of Brazil in 1624 and as a Vice Admiral helped capture the Spanish
treasure fleet in the Bay of Matanzas in 1628. Thanks to these and other
feats in the years 1630 to 1639 he earned the nicknames "Scourge of the
Maranos" (the latter word then being used as a pejorative nickname for
the Spanish in general) and "Terror of the Portuguese".
Having rejoined the navy he was promoted to Rear-Admiral on 3 May 1637. Being
a Vice-Admiral in the WIC didn't imply an equivalent rank in the navy. From 1
October 1637 till 11 January 1638 he was a temporary Vice-Admiral. In 1639,
again Rear-Admiral, he served under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp and was
present at the first skirmish (the Action of 18 September 1639) against a
large Spanish fleet in the English Channel and the subsequent Battle of the
Downs. He again came into the service of the WIC in 1645 till his death. He
again got the navy rank of temporary Vice-Admiral on 10 December 1646. In
1647 he once again set sail for the coast of Brazil and on the return voyage
suddenly fell ill and died at sea. He was married with Adriana Janssen. One
of his sons was the later famous Lieutenant-Admiral Adriaen Banckert, another
captain Joost Banckert de Jonge who was killed at the Battle of Portland, a
third captain Jan Banckert who was killed on the Delft in the Battle of
Lowestoft.
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