Kaatje

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

The "Kaatje" is a so-called training or instruction ship, which was initially located at the School for Maritime Studies on the Prins Hendrikkade in Amsterdam and was relocated in 2002 to the Enkhuizer School for Maritime Studies. The training ship was used in the education of seafarers. In an illustrative and practical manner, all necessary knowledge about the rigging and sailing manoeuvres of a square-rigged sailing ship could be taught and practised, without it actually being necessary to venture onto the water. The history of the training ship "Kaatje" has several phases and sheds light on an interesting piece of maritime history.

After many glorious years as a colonial and seafaring nation, Dutch maritime trade had entered calmer waters. There was less interest in a career in merchant shipping or in the Navy. The tide turned as a result of the American War of Independence. England was directly involved in this war and thus could not trade, whereas the Netherlands, as a neutral country, benefited from this: Dutch merchant shipping received an enormous boost. Subsequently, the Dutch Navy re-established itself during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War that broke out in 1780 and the victory at the Battle of the Dogger Bank in 1781. One consequence of this war was the establishment of the "Fatherland Fund for the Encouragement of the Nation's Maritime Trade". Four years after its foundation, the fund had accumulated sufficient resources to establish the School for Maritime Studies in Amsterdam. In addition to theoretical training, practical exercises for future seafarers were essential. However, the combination of theory lessons with training on a real ship was difficult to implement, but a training ship on the grounds of the maritime school would be an ideal solution. With the help of a number of important sponsors such as the Admiralty of Amsterdam, the banker Hope and Vice-Admiral J.A. Zantman (hero of the Battle of the Dogger Bank), the first training ship was built in 1785. This wooden ship, a frigate which we now call Kaatje I, was a waterline model of 70 Amsterdam feet and 10 feet wide. Kaatje I was a three-masted ship. In 1831 the hull of Kaatje I was replaced due to its poor structural condition, and it was replaced by an exact scale copy of a merchant ship of that time, 5 feet longer than Kaatje I. Kaatje II was also a three-masted ship. All usable components of Kaatje I were reused for Kaatje II. The ship also received a figurehead. The figure represented a female figure with maritime attributes, as also stood above the main entrance of the School for Maritime Studies. This figure was known in the vernacular as "Kaatje", from which the training ship has owed her name to this day. The figurehead of Kaatje II was kept in the attic of the School for Maritime Studies until the nineteen seventies. It is unknown whether Kaatje I had a figurehead as well.

In 1935 Kaatje II was in need of renovation: as before, the hull was in poor condition. The choice for renovation is remarkable, because by this time the professional shipping industry had already fully switched to diesel. However, the School for Maritime Studies attached great importance to a number of skills that could be learned on the training ship. For this reason, it was decided to proceed with renovation of Kaatje. Kaatje III received a hull of modern material, namely iron-reinforced concrete (ferroconcrete). On this occasion too, the model was updated to the times: a scale model of a two-masted schooner was chosen, the last type of ship that was actively used in sailing in the Netherlands. Apart from the hull, much material from Kaatje II (and thus from Kaatje I) was also reused for Kaatje III.

After a long period of decline in sailing, it regained interest from the nineteen seventies onward. Sailing professional shipping recovered and professionalized itself. In 1978, as a result of this, the Enkhuizer School for Maritime Studies was established. Practical experience was gained especially on the water. But when a demolition permit was requested in 2000 for Kaatje III, which lay in a neglected state for the meanwhile closed Amsterdam School for Maritime Studies, the idea arose to bring the little ship to Enkhuizen. With the help of sponsors, former alumni from Amsterdam and volunteers, this wish was realized. Kaatje was laid up for the Enkhuizer School for Maritime Studies and fully restored, whereby it turned out that much authentic material was present. In 2002 the restoration was complete and from then on Kaatje (IV) was again put to her original purpose: supporting practical education at the maritime school. Knowledge of rigging, practical work with the rigging of a square-rigged ship and the execution of various sailing manoeuvres can be taught and safely practised on Kaatje. With the exception of a rigging installation without a ship model in Livorno (Italy), Kaatje is the only remaining and functioning training ship in Europe.

Description

TRAINING OR INSTRUCTION SHIP "Kaatje" located for the Enkhuizer School for Maritime Studies; relocated to this location in 2002. The ship is a so-called waterline model, whereby ground level can be regarded as a fictitious waterline. It is rigged as a two-masted schooner brig. For the purposes of instruction, the training ship is positioned with the bow towards the most common wind direction, with the hull parallel to the Kuipersdijk.

Originally "Kaatje" was built in 1785 as a training ship of the School for Maritime Studies in Amsterdam, as a scale model of a three-masted rigged frigate and renewed in 1831 to a three-masted rigged merchant ship. The current hull dates from 1935 and is made of ferroconcrete. The round timber, which date from different periods, were reused where possible during the 2002 restoration. The copper fittings date back to 1785. On the bowsprit is a master's mark present in the fittings, consisting of a firm stamp with the letters BBH and a crown above it. The 19th-century capstan has been restored and put back into use.

The sails and the standing rigging and running rigging have been replaced for the purposes of current use in instruction at the maritime school. Where possible, new elements have been reconstructed to the original model. Added to the original rigging are two staysails. The rigging as of 2002 can be described as follows: the instruction ship of the Enkhuizer School for Maritime Studies is rigged as a schooner brig and carries double main course yard, double main topsail yard at the foremast. At the main mast no square sails are carried. There is no boom; the mainsail is fixed to the gaff; in front of the mast a fore topmast staysail, a jib and a jumper are carried; there are still two staysails between the masts. Staysails can be set at the foremast. All parts of the running rigging follow a fixed direction and are set at a fixed place on deck.

The "Kaatje" is 20.90 m long (length over deck 20.16 m), the breadth at the waterline is 16.90 m, the under-deck height 18.40 m and the maximum sail area that can be carried is 235 m2. The ship weighs 70 tons.

Valuation

Dating from 1935 and partly from 1831 and 1785, TRAINING OR INSTRUCTION SHIP "Kaatje". So-called waterline model, rigged as a two-masted schooner brig. Hull of ferroconcrete, originally eighteenth-century fittings, nineteenth-century capstan and partly still original round timber. Many generations of Dutch seafarers learned and learn to apply their theoretical knowledge of square-rigged sailing ships for the first time in practice on Kaatje.

Of cultural-historical significance

- as the only remaining training ship for sailing professional shipping in Europe;

- because of the still present components from the different phases of the ship, which as a model was constantly adapted to the prevalent ship types of that time;

- as an expression of the history of the Netherlands as a seafaring nation;

- because of the fact that the training ship Kaatje is still used for her original purpose.