|
HISTORY
De Zeven
Provinciën (Dutch: "the seven provinces") was a Dutch ship of
the line, originally armed with 80 guns. The name of the ship
refers to the seven autonomous provinces that made up the Dutch
Republic in the 17th century. The vessel was built in 1664-65
for the Admiralty of de Maze in Rotterdam by the master
shipbuilder Salomon Jansz van den Tempel.
The ship served as Admiral Michiel de Ruyter's flagship during
the Second Anglo-Dutch War, taking part in the Dutch victory at
the Four Days Fight and the defeat at the St. James's Day
Battle, and acting as a command post as well as blockading the
River Thames during the Raid on the Medway. The vessel performed
well throughout the war, though it was partially dismasted
during the Four Days Fight.
De Ruyter used De Zeven Provinciën as his flagship during the
Third Anglo-Dutch War of 1672-1673. The ship served in all four
major battles against the combined English and French fleet,
fighting in the Battle of Solebay, the first and second Battle
of Schooneveld and, in possibly its greatest moment, the Battle
of the Texel. In 1674 the ship visited the West Indies.
In 1692 the ship, now armed with only 76 guns, fought at the
Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue during the War of the Grand
Alliance. The vessel was severely damaged during the fight and,
in 1694, De Zeven Provinciën had to be broken up.
De Zeven Provinciën was 151 ft (46 m) long and 40 ft (over 12 m)
wide, and had a draft of over 15 ft (c. 4.7 m). It was 1600 tons
and had a crew of 420. It was originally armed with twelve
36-pounders and sixteen 24-pounders on the lower deck (although
this had changed to an all 36-pounder battery by the time of the
Third Anglo-Dutch War), fourteen 18-pounders and twelve
12-pounders on the upper deck, and twenty-six 6-pounders on the
forecastle, quarterdeck, and poop deck.
In 1995 a full-size replica of the ship was started at the
Batavia-werf (docks) in Lelystad; but due to severe technical
problems that work was completely wrecked. In 2008, a new
replica began to be constructed.
On the evening of October 13, 2008 a fire ripped through the
Batavia-werf. Although the sailmaking shed, several office
buildings and part of a restaurant were destroyed, as were the
sails of fellow replica ship Batavia, the replica of "De Zeven
Provinciën" nearby was undamaged. In 2014 work on the ship
stopped due to lack of funding. |
to top
