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Some general information on the Courland's army and navy in 1700, at the eve of the Great Northern War (i.e. campaign start).
Ducal Army OOB in 1700:
6 mounted & 2 foot companies/regiments:
- 1 company of Garde du Corps;
- 2 company of Dragoon Guard;
- 2 mounted companies of Lehnsreiter;
- 1 company of Jäger zu Pferde;
- 2 foot companies.
Some of the cavalry troops took part in the 1700-1701 campaigns (allied Saxon/Polish/Russian armies included "Duke’s Guards" or "Duke’s Cuirassiers") while the foot evidently stayed in the garrisons of Mitau (capital) and Bauske. Source.
In contrast to quite rich information on the 17th century's ships and famous big fleet of Duke Jacob (around 100 armed vessels), the sources about Courland's fleet of early 18th century is quite scarce for a good reason as the navy was in terrible state. Nevertheless I managed to collect quite a good and probably complete information on the navy of dukes Friedrich Casimir and Friedrich Wilhelm.
The main Courland's shipyards worked in Libau, Windau and Goldigen until 1702/1718 when they were closed due to the great war devastation. The vessels that were in Courland's disposal in 1700 (the names are in original Ostseer Low Saxon archaic spelling):
1. Die Carpee (Carp) – built in 1680 in Libau, was very active as trade and convoy ship at the Baltics during 1696-1699.
2. St. Casimir - 200 lasts (about 1000 tonnes) double-decked frigate, built in Libau in 1678. Trade and convoy ship.
3. Den Engel (Angel) - since 1680, trade ship.
4. Garneele (Shrimp) - trade ship.
5. Hase (Hare) - since 1680s, active as trade vessel in 1680s-1690s.
6. Heringsfaenger (Herring Fisherman) - since second half of 1685, active as trade vessel in 1680s-1690s.
7. Die Durchlauchte Hertzogin von Churlandt (Serene Duchess of Courland) - double-decked frigate, 130 foot long (*probably German or Scandinavian foot, about 0,3 m.). Built in 1694, in 1698 was docked in Windau.
8. St. Jgnatius - since 1680, active as convoy ship.
9. Insull Tobago (Island Tobago) - convoy/trade ship active since 1689.
10. St. Sophia - double-decked frigate, built in 1678 in Libau.
11. Stadt Windau (City of Windau) - since 1688, convoy/trade ship.
12. Das Wappen von Tobago (The Shield of Tobago) - since 1687, probably a very good armed ship (frigate?) as in 1687 under command of governor Altenbockum it sailed across the ocean to West Indies in one of many unsuccessful Courlandian attempts to regain control over Tobago. It survived a very serious storm, was repaired at the Faroes and returned to Windau.
13. Der Hirschbock (Elk) - since 1691, used as trade ship. Was temporary arrested by the Swedes.
14. Stadt von Aventure (City of Adventure) - yacht/corvette/sloop, built in 1690 for the cost of 6.000 florins. Active since 1691.
15. Prins Friedrich Wilhelm (Prince Friedrich Wilhelm) - 41 meter long (the parameters: 132x32'6x14 Swedish foots), the biggest of the Courland's vessels, built somewhere in 1690s. It was quite nicely armed considering very poor state of the Courland's navy after Duke Jacob's death: it has 50 major cannons (22 x 8-pounders, 22 x 6-pounders and 6 x 4-pounders cannons), plus 20 smaller x 0,5-pounder guns (so, somewhere 70 with them). Usually such vessels were used as the convoys but during war time could be mobilised and armed for military actions. In 1702 it was captured by the Swedes, but in 1712 it was sunk (to straighten the pier) due to the fact that Sweden simply did not have any resources to repair and rearm it for any active military use.
Main source: Майлит, Ю., Богатырев, И. Судостроение в Курляндии в 1638-1718 гг. (Shipbuilding in Courland, 1638-1718) // Судостроение, №10, 1989, pp. 52-55
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