''Delft'' was a Dutch 56-gun

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

ship 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 tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

of the navy of the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

and the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic (; ) was the Succession of states, successor state to the Dutch Republic, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 after the Batavian Revolution and ended on 5 June 1806, with the acce ...

History

The order to construct the ship was given on 27 May 1782 by the Admiralty of the Meuse. ''Delft'' was commissioned on 16 May 1783 by the

United Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

. On 24 December 1787, ''Delft'' set sail on a mission against the

Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

and protected Dutch traders in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. For the ship's second mission starting 31 May 1793

Theodorus Frederik van Capellen Vice-Admiral Theodorus Frederik van Capellen, GCMWO, KCB (6 September 1762 – 15 April 1824) was a Dutch naval officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.Frederiks Career Van Capellen entered service in 1781 in the ...

became the new commanding officer. During this mission he freed 75 Dutch

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

from

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. In 1795, the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

conquered the Dutch Republic and the new Batavian Republic was founded. The French initially disarmed ''Delft'' because they feared that Orangist rebels would use her, but later the Dutch reactivated her to participate in the war with Britain. Gerrit Verdooren van Asperen became her captain. On 11 October 1797, ''Delft'' took part in the

Battle of Camperdown The Battle of Camperdown (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Zeeslag bij Kamperduin'') was fought on 11 October 1797 between the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief, North Sea, North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan, Adam Duncan and a ...

. After heavy fighting she

struck Struck is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Struck Adolf Hermann Struck (1877–1911) was a German sightseer and writer. He is known for his Travel literature, travelogue ''Makedonische Fahrten'' and for surveying the ...

to the British; she sank off

Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

four days later while being towed to Britain. During the battle the British captured the Dutch under Captain G. J. van Rijsoort. They renamed her HMS ''Delft'', in honour of the brave resistance ''Delft'' had made in the battle.J.F. Fischer Fzn. ''De Delft: De dagjournalen met de complete en authentieke geschiedenis van 's Lands schip van oorlog Delft en de waarheid over de zeeslag bij Camperduin'' (Franeker: Van Wijnen, 1997), 394. From 2001 to 2018, work had been under way in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

to build a

replica A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...

of ''Delft'' at Historical Shipyard 'de Delft' () in

Delfshaven Delfshaven () is a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the right bank of river Nieuwe Maas. It was a separate municipality until 1886. The town of Delfshaven grew around the port of the city of Delft. Delft itself was not located on a major ri ...

, near to the place where the original ship was built.

Citations

External links

Ships of the line of the Dutch Republic Ships of the line of the Batavian Republic Ships built in the Netherlands 1783 ships Maritime incidents in 1797 Shipwrecks in the North Sea Replica ships {{Netherlands-hist-stub