 | This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Dutch. (January 2021)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
The Admiralty of Rotterdam, also called the Admiralty of de Maze, was one of the five Dutch admiralties in the Dutch Republic.
The Admiralty of Rotterdam was founded in 1574 during the Dutch Revolt, when (after the Capture of Brielle) William I of Orange's supporters decided to pool their naval resources at Rotterdam. After a number of reorganisations seeking to foster cooperation between the admiralties, the structure of the five admiralties was determined and defined in a 1597 decision of the States-General of the Netherlands. Each admiralty had branches for equipping warships, protecting overseas trade and traffic on the sea and rivers, collecting taxes, and jurisdiction over loot and prize-setting. This situation remained in place until the admiralties were dissolved in 1795.
The Admiralty of Rotterdam or the Admiralty of the Meuse was the oldest of the admiralties. The admiralty was based in the Prinsenhof (Rotterdam), the former St Agnes convent at Botersloot . An artilleriehuis (arsenal) was built in the convent brewery, and an admiralty prison was built elsewhere in the complex. In 1644 the Prinsenhof was demolished to make way for the construction of Nieuwemarkt, with the admiralty moving to the northwest corner of Haringvliet. The artilleriehuis was, however, spared due to its noncentral position on the Prinsenhof site by the end of the Huibrug, but was demolished and rebuilt in 1759, probably using stone from the demolished late 16th-century frontage of the admiralty building. One of these stones shows the admiralty's arms, with the crossed anchors and an abbreviation of its motto Pugno Pro Patria ("I fight for the fatherland").
The admiralty's new 1644 building, the Admiraliteitshof (its name recalling that of the Prinsenhof), was an imposing classical building with a facade showing the coat of arms, and a square plan centered on a courtyard. It was demolished in 1884. (The remains of a gate with the coat of arms can be seen in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.)
From the end of the 16th century, the admiralty also owned the 's-Landswerf shipyard at the northeastern corner of the Nieuwe Haven. It was demolished and rebuilt on the same site in 1660, then extended in 1662 with a second arsenal accessed by a very wide entrance opposite the east gate. In the second half of the 17th century, the Nieuwe Haven was extended to the Buizengat harbor. Because of this extension, the 's-Landswerf shipyard was moved to the south bank of the Buizengat after 1688. In 1701, a part of the complex at the Groenendaal end was destroyed by fire. The rebuilding of the affected wing was commemorated with a foundation stone laid by Diderik Hogendorp. In the 18th century, the second arsenal closed and was modernised by the architect Jan Giudici. G. D. Wijckerheld Bisdom laid its first stone on 8 May 1783.
Resulting from all these extensions, a large rectangular building gradually took shape. In 1823, the second arsenal was refurbished for the marines. In 1846, the marine corps was disbanded, and in 1868 it returned. After the dissolution of the admiralties in 1795, the complex was known as the Naval Shipyard (Marinewerf). It closed in 1849, the last building becoming a state-run bonded warehouse in 1855.
The admiralty also had a ropewalk (lijnbaan) with associated buildings at the Lagendijk just outside the Oostpoort. It was used from 1697 to 1847 and was 265 m long by 10 m wide.
Well-known fleet-guardians (Vlootvoogd ) of the Rotterdam Admiralty include:
In the 1673 Battle of Texel, the last big battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the Admiralty of Rotterdam provided the following ships and captains:
Ships of the line:
De Zeven Provinciën 80 (vlaggeschip der vloot, lieutenant-admiraal-generaal Michiel de Ruyter, vlaggekapiteins Gerard Callenburgh en Pieter de Liefde)
Delft 62 (Philips van Almonde)
Ridderschap 64 (Eland du Bois)
Voorzichtigheid 84 (Jan van Brakel)
Gelderland 63 (waarnemend schout-bij-nacht Cornelis de Liefde, dodelijk gewond)
Vrijheid 80 (viceadmiraal Jan Evertszoon de Liefde, gesneuveld)
Eendracht 72 (lieutenant-admiraal Aert Jansse van Nes)
Maagd van Dordrecht 68 (viceadmiraal Jan Jansse van Nes)
Dordrecht 44 (Frans van Nijdek)
Zeelandia 42 (Simon van Panhuis)
Schieland 58 (Adriaan Poort)
Wassenaer 59 (Barend Rees)
Frigates:
Schiedam 20 (Cornelis van der Hoevensoon)
Utrecht 34 (Jan Snellensoon)
Rotterdam 30 (Jacob Pieterszoon Swart)
Harderwijk 24 (MozesWichmansoon)
Adviesjachten:
Hoop 6 (Isaac Anteuniszoon van Anten)
Rotterdam 6 (Wijnand van Meurs)
Branders:
Sint Pieter (Gerrit Halfkaag)
Jisper Kerk 4 (Lens Harmenszoon)
Blackmoor 4 (Abraham van Koperen)
Maria 4 (Dirk de Munnik)
Eenhoorn (Willem de Rave)
Louise 4 (Jan Daniëlszoon van Rijn)
The naval Battle of Texel or Battle of Kijkduin took place off the southern coast of island of Texel on 21 August 1673 between the Dutch and the combined English and French fleets. It was the last major battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, which was itself part of the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), during which Louis XIV of France invaded the Republic and sought to establish control over the Spanish Netherlands. English involvement came about because of the Treaty of Dover, secretly concluded by Charles II of England, and which was highly unpopular with the English Parliament.
Philips van Almonde was a Dutch Lieutenant Admiral, who served in his nation’s maritime conflicts of the 17th and early 18th centuries.
The Eendracht or Eendragt was the flagship of the confederate navy of the United Provinces between 1655 and 1665. Eendragt was the more common spelling in the 17th century; Eendracht is the modern Dutch standard spelling.
J.C.M. Warnsinck was a Dutch naval officer and naval historian.
Gerard Callenburgh was a Dutch admiral.
The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic. The administration of the various admiralties was strongly influenced by provincial interests. The territory for which Amsterdam was responsible was limited to the city itself, the Gooi region, the islands of Texel, Vlieland and Terschelling, the province of Utrecht and the Gelderland quarters of Arnhem and of the Graafschap (county) of Zutphen. Amsterdam had developed into the most important of all the admiralties and often compensated for the other admiralties' deficiencies. When the "Committee for Naval Affairs" replaced the Admiralty Colleges on 27 February 1795 during the reforms by the Batavian Republic, the lower civil servants were kept on, but the officers were dismissed.
Ridderschap van Holland is a name that has been held by various Dutch naval and merchant ships, including:
Hendrik Gravé was a Dutch admiral.
The Admiralty of Friesland or Frisian Admiralty was one of the five Dutch admiralties of the Dutch Republic. Set up on 6 March 1596, it was dissolved in 1795 during the reforms by the Batavian Republic.
The Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier, also known as the Admiralty of West Friesland, was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic, made up of West Friesland, a region in the north of the province of Holland.
Engel Michielszoon de Ruyter was a Dutch vice-admiral.
Johan Evertsen de Liefde was a Dutch naval commander who served as vice admiral of Holland and West Frisia within the Admiralty of Rotterdam. His elder brother, Cornelis de Liefde, was also a naval commander. Johan was killed in the battle of Texel.
Cornelis "Kees" Evertsen de Liefde was a Dutch naval commander, a role also fulfilled by his younger brother Johan de Liefde
Oud Eik en Duinen is a cemetery in The Hague, the Netherlands, formerly called Eik en Duinen and also nicknamed "the Dutch Père-Lachaise". The cemetery is built around a chapel constructed around 1247 by William II of Holland in honor of his father, Floris IV, Count of Holland. This chapel was partially demolished in 1581, and in the 17th century the area was again used as a cemetery. When Eik en Duinen was full, a new cemetery, Nieuw Eykenduynen, was constructed in 1891 across the road, and since then the old cemetery is known as "Old" Eik en Duinen.
Willem Bastiaensz Schepers was a Dutch admiral. Having made his career as a shipping magnate in Rotterdam, Schepers was rewarded in 1673 for his political support to the new Orangist regime, by being made lieutenant admiral. In 1688, he organised the transport fleet for the Glorious Revolution.