Jacob Pieter van Braam (

Werkhoven Werkhoven is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Bunnik, and lies about 5 km east of Houten. Castle Beverweerd is located on the other side of the river. Werkhoven used to be a separate municipality. I ...

, 27 October 1737 –

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

, 16 July 1803) was a Dutch

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

. Van Braam joined the

Admiralty of Amsterdam The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven ...

in 1748 as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

. In 1751 he was captured by

Barbary corsairs The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...

and would be a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

until 1753. On 25 February 1753 he was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

and in 1758 to lieutenant-commander. In 1764 he made the transition to the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

(VOC) where he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 14 July 1766. From 1767 until 1773 he was provisions master in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. In 1776 he temporarily left the VOC to become a Dutch post-captain; in 1782 he was in the rank of captain, commander of a regiment of marines under lieutenant admiral Willem van Wassenaar Spanbroek. In 1783 he was appointed commander of the VOC, commodore and member of the

raad van Indië The Council of the Indies ( nl, Raad van Indië; id, Dewan Hindia) was a body established in 1610 to advise and limit the powers of the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies. Initially the council had four members and a chairman, all Dutch na ...

(Council of India; the governing council of the VOC colonial empire). From 1784 until 1786 he served as vlootvoogd (fleetguardian; admiral in charge of a fleet) in the Indian waters with four

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colum ...

and two

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s. In this function he was responsible for ending a siege of

Malacca City Malacca City ( ms, Bandaraya Melaka or ') is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Malacca. As of 2019 it has a population of 579,000.https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/uploads/files/6_Newsletter/Newsletter%202020/DOSM_DOSM_MELAKA_1_2020_Siri-81. ...

Riau Riau is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of Sumatra along the Strait of Malacca. The province shares land borders with North Sumatra to the northwest, West Sumatra to the west, and Jambi to the south. Accord ...

troops and conquering

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

. In 1786 he returned to the Netherlands and once again joined the

admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

. On 12 June 1788 he was appointed

schout-bij-nacht () is a Dutch Naval rank, with a NATO rank of OF-7. The ' was responsible for ensuring that fleet continued to sail in the prescribed order at night. The title comes from the title of the officer who replaced the admiral at night and was therefo ...

. On 10 May 1793 Van Braam was appointed vice admiral with the Admiralty of Amsterdam, and he retired on 27 February 1795.

External links

*
Jacob Pieter van Braam
at Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum * at Nationaal Archief {{DEFAULTSORT:Braam, Jacob Pieter Van 1737 births 1803 deaths Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic 18th-century Dutch people People from Bunnik Sailors on ships of the Dutch East India Company Dutch military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars 18th-century Dutch military personnel