Royal Netherlands Navy – Historic Ships

Historic Ships

Return to Auxiliaries and Other Ships

VOC Batavia (1995 replica of a 1628 ship, which had been shipwrecked off Western Australia) LOA 186′ TDISP 1,200 tons at Lelystad. Although the original vessel did not belong to the Dutch Navy, the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) was, in its own right, a powerful navy operating in the Far East in the 17th and 18th Centuries. This ship is pierced for 24 guns.

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The replica Batavia during filming, dressed as the Nieuw Hoorn during a 2007 filming. Credit: ADZee / Public domain

VOC Batavia 2019 LelystadVOC Batavia 2018 Lelystad

VOC Amsterdam (1748 ship) LOA 158′ TDISP 1,100 tons. The ship was wrecked in 1749 on Bulverhythe Beach, England. The shipwreck exists today, and the lower portions of the hull are well-preserved, due to being encased in mud. A replica was constructed for display and completed in 1990. It is at the Netherlands Maritime Museum, Amsterdam. This heavily-armed ship had ports for 42 cannon.

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VOC Amsterdam wreck at low tide, Bulverhythe Beach, ca 2017 Credit: Dr-Mx / CC0
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Replica VOC ship Amsterdam, built in 1990 on the lines of a 1748 ship which foundered in the English Channel the next year. Credit: Ashu Mathura from Amsterdam, The Netherlands / CC BY-SA 

VOC Amsterdam 2018 wreck Bulverhythe Beach

VOC Amsterdam 2018 wreck Bulverhythe Beachdistance
Composite view with 2017/05 Amsterdam view of Netherlands Maritime Museum replica overlaid onto 2018/05 Bulverhythe Beach, UK, capture, with the approximate length of the keel marked in yellow. The beginnings of the stem-post (bows) are inshore (to the North). The darker rectangular lines to the stern of the wreck are actually a dam structure that was erected to protect the slightly lower remains.

VOC Amsterdam 2017 replicaVOC Amsterdam 2019 replica

HNLMS Schorpioen monitor (1868-1909) LOA 214′ TDISP 2,200 tons. Built in France, used as an accommodation ship after 1909, and briefly acquired and used as such by Germany during the Second World War. Preserved as a museum ship since 1982 at the Dutch Naval Museum, Den Helder.

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HNLMS Schorpioen at the Dutch Naval Museum, Den Helder, July 2009 [cropped from original] Credit: Txllxt TxllxT / CC BY-SA
HNLMS Schorpioen Den Helder 2015

HNLMS Buffel ironclad ram (1868-1896) LOA 196′ TDISP 2,400 tons from 1896 until 1973 she was an accomodation ship. Restored and displayed for many years at Rotterdam, she is now on display in Hellevoetsluis.

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HNMLS Buffel ca. 2018 at Hellevoetsluis. Credit: Marion Golsteijn / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

HNLMS Buffel Hellevoetsluis 2018

HNLMS Bonaire screw-steamship, rigged as a barquentine (1877-1995) LOA 174′ TDISP: 830 tons deadweight

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Bonaire under continued restoration in a drydock near Dutch Naval Museum at Den Helder, ca. 2018. Credit: Ymnes / CC0

HNLMS Bonaire Den Helder 2018