HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Rijkswerf (Dutch: ''State shipyard'') in Amsterdam was a Dutch shipyard that build a significant amount of warships for the
Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...
.


Predecessors of the Rijkswerf


Shipyard of the Amsterdam Admiralty

In 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 United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
naval affairs were handled by 5 local admiralties. 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 ...
was the most important of these. The
First Anglo-Dutch War The First Anglo-Dutch War, or simply the First Dutch War, ( nl, Eerste Engelse (zee-)oorlog, "First English (Sea) War"; 1652–1654) was a conflict fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic, ...
proved the need for a professional navy. On 12 August 1655, the admiralty therefore got the entire western strip of Kattenburg island for the construction of an arsenal and ship yard. The arsenal was quickly constructed on the southern extremity of Kattenburg island in 1656. It was called 's Lands Zeemagazijn and now houses the National Maritime Museum. The rest of Kattenburg island stretches north along the Kattenburgerstraat. On the west side of this street the former yard is still enclosed by a very long seventeenth century building and a long old wall that reaches almost to the north end of Kattenburg Island. The slipways of the yard were immediately on the other (west) side of this enclosure. From the arsenal and the north end of Kattenburg, dams reached to the west, and enclosed an almost square stretch of water called 's lands Dok. In this dock the ships of the admiralty could lay In ordinary. This was the usual condition for warships in the time of the Dutch republic. Upper parts of the mast, most of the rigging, sails, guns etc. were removed, and stored in the adjacent arsenal. Almost the whole the dock has now been filled up, and is occupied by modern buildings.


State ship yard in the French period

The events of 1795 created the
Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...
, the start of the French period in the Netherlands. The admiralties were replaced by a national committee for naval affairs. It meant that all assets of the admiralties were nationalized, leading to 5 state ship yards. In 1806 the
Kingdom of Holland The Kingdom of Holland ( nl, Holland (contemporary), (modern); french: Royaume de Hollande) was created by Napoleon Bonaparte, overthrowing the Batavian Republic in March 1806 in order to better control the Netherlands. Since becoming Emperor ...
became the owner of the shipyard. In 1811 this kingdom was annexed by Napoleon's empire, making the yard an imperial French ship yard. This came to an end in late 1813, when the Netherlands became independent again. The French period was a disaster for Dutch shipping. It could have become a disaster for the yard, because of the construction of Willemsoord, a naval base near Den Helder, and a possible competitor.


The Rijkswerf


Ship yard in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands

The founding of the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...
in 1815 meant a new start for 's Rijks Werf (national yard) Amsterdam. However, the context of 1815 was very different from that of 1795. The French time had been utterly ruinous for the Dutch economy. It caused that the nation could no longer afford a naval budget comparable to that of major European powers. Apart from that, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was a state focusing on its place in a coalition that should keep France in check, and was therefore focused on its army. General circumstances were not conducive for much activity on the yard, but on a national scale the Rijkswerf Amsterdam was lucky. While Willemsoord remained as a naval base and was greatly expanded, the proponents of moving shipbuilding over there did not get their way. Most of the few new ships of the line and frigates that were built, were laid down in Amsterdam again, with Vlissingen and Rotterdam also having a share. In 1816 the remnants of the 'competing' navy yard in Harlingen were sold. In 1828 the Rijkswerf
Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Medemblik was a prosperous ...
was shut down.


A difficult start (1830-1850)

The united kingdom broke up in 1830. The final acts were the Ten Days' Campaign, the
Siege of Antwerp (1832) The siege of Antwerp took place after fighting in the Belgian Revolution ended. On 15 November 1832, the French ''Armée du Nord'' under Marshal Gérard began to lay siege to the Dutch troops there under David Chassé. The siege ended on 23 D ...
and an English fleet blockading the Dutch coast, all ruinous for the state's finances. The secession of Belgium also stripped the coal and iron deposits from the Dutch state, a further disaster during the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. It all led to rigorous economizing on the navy. The Rijkswerf
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
would close in 1850. Meanwhile the Rijkswerf Amsterdam built a lot of small paddle steamers.


Screw Propulsion (1850-1860)

By the early 1850s the only Dutch state yards left were those in Vlissingen and Amsterdam. Meanwhile the Dutch state had found a new source of wealth in the Cultivation System implemented in the East Indies. It meant that more money became available for the navy, and investments went to these two establishments. This was just as well, because the invention of screw propulsion had just obsoleted the entire fleet of sail and paddle-steam ships that the Dutch had. The biggest screw ships that the Dutch needed, the steam frigates, were built in Vlissingen because of their draught. The Rijkswerf would built a large number of steam corvettes.


Facilities for armoring ships

When foreign powers started to armor their ships, the Dutch authorities decided to create facilities for armoring in Vlissingen, not in Amsterdam. This was a sound decision, because Vlissingen was the only Dutch harbor that had access to water deep enough to launch ships that could stand up to the biggest ships that foreign powers brought to bear. In 1867 the Dutch government decided to move the armoring facilities to the Rijkswerf Amsterdam. This decision had to do with the overall defensive strategy that centered on only defending the places behind the Dutch Water Line.


Building armored ships

The first armored ships that the Rijkswerf Amsterdam constructed were copies of foreign ships that the Dutch navy had purchased. The Cerberus is a prime example. Later ships were built to Dutch designs. The yard built among others
ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...
s, protected cruisers,
coastal defense ship Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of Littoral (military), coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized ...
s, gunboats,
monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West Vir ...
s and
unprotected cruiser An unprotected cruiser was a type of naval warship in use during the early 1870s Victorian or pre-dreadnought era (about 1880 to 1905). The name was meant to distinguish these ships from “protected cruisers”, which had become accepted in ...
s.


The end of the Rijkswerf Amsterdam

In 1915 the Rijkswerf Amsterdam ceased to exist.


Ships built on the Rijkswerf

file:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het gepantserde marineschip Zr. Ms. Koning der Nederlanden TMnr 10001802.jpg, ''Koningin der Nederlanden'' file:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het Marineschip de Wilhelmina op de reede van Ambon TMnr 60009712.jpg, ''Koningin Wilhelmina der Nederlanden'' file:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Hr.Ms. Hertog Hendrik Makassar TMnr 10001805.jpg, ''Hertog Hendrik'' file:Hr. Ms. Tromp (1907) KM.jpg, ''Marten Harpertszoon Tromp'' file:Jacob van Heemskerck (1906) a.jpg, ''Jacob van Heemskerck'' file:De Zeven Provinciën 1910.jpg, ''De Zeven Provinciën'' file:HNLMS Brinio.jpg, ''Brino''


Notes

{{coord missing, Netherlands Shipyards of the Netherlands Economy of Amsterdam History of Amsterdam