Another ship to avoid at all cost, the De Zeven Provinciën

This was Dutch ship of the line. Ships of the line were 3 deckers, two deckers, like that. The De Zeven Provinciën (The Seven Provinces) was a ship of 80 guns and helped defeat the English in the Four-days-battle in the first Anglo-Dutch War. In 1673 she was vital in the victory in the battle of Texel in the 3rd Anglo-Dutch War. In 1692 she was severly damaged in the Battle of Barfleur figting agains the French and was scrapped.

These monster gun platforms, though slow, were horrifyingly effective in close combat and at range since the 3 decks of guns could handle pitching seas. While single deckers had to fire on the up-roll the 3 deckers had the advantage.

I hated seeing these beasts on the horizon. Best just to avoid them.