Dutch Fleet off The Coast of Holland, November 1664. This belongs to a group of drawings identified by their subjects and watermarks as belonging to the time when van de Velde the Elder was with the Dutch fleet assembled near Goeree, in South Holland.

The most important of the series are in the Boymans-van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam. Van de Velde joined the fleet on 27 August [OS]/6 September 1664 and the fleet dispersed 21 November [OS]/1 December. The Dutch fleet is shown in a light breeze with some ships at anchor and others under sail. In the centre is a broadside view of the ‘Eendracht’ with boats alongside, and in the foreground to the left a stern view of the ‘Hilversum’, identified by van de Velde’s annotation ‘hilfesum’ below. To the right is a vice-admiral’s ship, with flag at the fore and pendant at the main, which is the ‘Oosterwijck’, Cornelis Tromp’s flagship. On the extreme left is the ‘Tijdverdrijf’, and there are five flagships in the background.