Jacques Colaert

Who was Jacques Colaert?

Jacques Colaert or Jacob Collaart was a Flemish privateer who during the Dutch Revolt sailed in royal service as one of the Dunkirkers.

A privateer based in Dunkirk, Colaert in August 1600 sailed with a fleet under command of Vice Admiral Anton of Burgundy, Lord of Wacken. The fleet consisting of six Spanish royal ships and six independent privateers, Colaert commanded the six-gun vessel Crabbelcat with a crew of 43 sailors.

Leaving Dunkirk on the night of August 9 or 10th, the privateering expedition faced problems early on when two Flemish privateers Sibrant Pietersen and Rippert Rippertsen failed to rendezvouz with the fleet on 11 August. Three days later, a fishing fleet under the protection of six warships was sighted off the coast of Scotland. Ordered to attack, the warships eventually fled after a cannonball hit the gunpowder room of the warship Den Dolphijn, the resulting explosion killing its crew and commander Captain Willem Dirkszoon Cloyer. After the death of Captain Mathieu Jacobsen of the warship Parel, the fishing fleet was defenceless against the privateers.