Construction was said to have started at the end of 1876. Others say it started on 11 May 1877. When the ministers for the navy and the colonies visited the Koninklijke Fabriek in October 1877, substantial progress had been made. On 25 June 1878 "Onrust Dock of 5,000 tons" had been put together in Amsterdam. The Koninklijke Fabriek sent a model of the dry dock to the Paris Exposition Universelle (1878).