In 1654, the largest ship measured 150 feet in length, 38 feet beam and 15 feet depth; it carried 58 guns. The next in size was 146 feet long, 26 feet beam and 14 feet deep; it carried 60 guns.
At the beginning of the second war with England, the two largest ships were 169 to 171 feet long. De Zeven Provinciën 163 feet long, 43 feet broad and 15 feet deep. The next in size was 150 to 160 feet in length, 40 to 42½ feet in breadth and 15 feet in depth, etc.
So the length and breadth increased but the greatest depth of 15 feet did not change, as the depth of our passes was against any increase of the draft.
When later, the direction toward larger sizes was continued abroad, and the necessity of following this example was felt among us, the question of the draught of water became a problem which, more and more, called for the attention of our shipbuilders. The larger the ship became and the greater its capacity had to be, the draught of water being limited, put us in a position of inferiority in regard to the vessels of foreign countries which ran more easily under sail. No account had to be taken of shallow passes in those countries, consequently ships of finer form could be built there. (VAN YK, 1697, p. 353.)
When in 1682 the vessels which composed our fleet were divided into classes or “charters”, a depth of 16 to 17 feet only is given as the first “charter”. The first three-deck ships built in our country belonged later to this last class. Hence it is not a matter of astonishment that, in the long run, our war vessels had to yield before those of other nations which were steadily becoming larger. This state of affairs did not arise from any inferiority on the part of our shipbuilders but had its causes solely in the condition of our passes.
The difference of draught of water appears clearly if the dimensions of the largest French and English ships be compared with those of our largest vessel at the end of the XVIIth and beginning of the XVIIIth centuries. Their dimensions were as follows:
| LENGTH | BREADTH | DEPTH | |
| m | m | m | |
| for the Dutch ship | 49.28 | 12.88 | 4.86 |
| ” ” English ” | 49.41 | 14.33 | 5.64 |
| ” ” French ” | 59.91 | 14.29 | 6.61 |
By depth was understood the inside height of the ship measured up to the load-water line. (WITSEN, p. 74, sub 9.) (See also Fig. XXXII, p. 56 of the same work, etc.)
A ship having a depth of 4 m. 86 required, with the height of the keel etc. included, a depth of water of at least 5 metres. Now, it is known that the depth of water over the “Pampus”, near Amsterdam, had already become sensibly less at the end of the XVIIth century. Large ships only succeeded in reaching that city at the cost of serious difficulties.