page_title: Willemsoord, Den Helder
section_title: Nieuwediep harbor: Origin of the naval base
hierarchical_section_title: Willemsoord, Den Helder / Nieuwediep harbor: Origin of the naval base
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: CollectieRijkswaterstaat - Kaarten voor 1850InventarisnummerNL-HlmNHA_269_0306NL-HlmNHA_269_0307BeschrijvingKaart van het Nieuwediep aan den Helder, aantoonende de aldaar gemaakte werken tot formeering van een veijlige haven, voor Landsscheepen van oorlog. 2 exemplaren. N.B. Verkleinde kaart met de voorgaande in proportie van vier tot een gebragte om het vervolg der werken an te tonen. Met ontwerp schetsje van een te maken concepthaven en van de Lands Kiel- of werkplaats gemaakt in 1790. Noord-Noord-Oost boven. KleurFotonummerNL-HlmNHA_269_0306NL-HlmNHA_269_0307DocumenttypeKaarten en plattegrondenLandNederland ProvincieNoord-Holland GemeenteDen Helder PlaatsDen Helder, Huisduinen GeografischHuisduinen Begindatum1785Einddatum1785TechniekTekening Afmeting hoogte (cm)41,5Afmeting breedte (cm)49Plaatsing08/27
context_page_description: Willemsoord is a large former Naval base of the Royal Netherlands Navy in Den Helder. It is now a maritime museum, housing the Dutch Navy Museum and the Nationaal Reddingmuseum Dorus Rijkers. In 2009 the replica of the Dutch East India Company ship Prins Willem which was located in a dock burned down.
context_section_description: In the seventeenth and eighteenth century it became increasingly difficult for big ships to regularly sail to the Dutch cities on the Zuiderzee. Many ships therefore anchored in the Roadstead of Texel were a lot of Transloading was done by small ships that anchored safely in the Nieuwediep. The Nieuwediep was a stretch of deep water close to the coast near what would later become Den Helder, and was well protected by a shoal.
  The importance of a protected base for the Dutch navy was stressed again by the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. The Nieuwediep was an ideal location, but not deep enough for warships and East Indies ships because there was a bump in the mouth of the Nieuwediep. A plan to make a useful and safe harbor for warships in the Nieuwediep was made by: Captain W. May equipage master of the Amsterdam Admiralty; C. Brunings, inspector general of the rivers; Surveyor B. Goudriaan, L. de Berge and P. Haage. They specified that such a harbor: should be big enough to lay ships at a sufficient distance from each other, should keep the ships safe from weather and Ice shove, should be deep 20 feet deep at ebb at the entrance, and 24 feet at ebb at the mooring places. The Nieuwediep only lacked the required depth. On 6 and 27 August 1781 a Commission was then mandated and ordered to execute this plan.
  On 5 September 1781 orders were given to create a stone dam east of the Nieuwdiep that would guide the ebb flow for 348,500 guilders. It was to be built in three parts (cf the map) The first part, the 'big stone and wood dam' (Groote Rijs en Steenen dam) was 475 meter long. The second part, a slate dam (Dutch: Lijdam) was 655 m long. The third part (Dutch: Keerdam) stretched east to catch the ebb flow and was 2260 m long. The second part was ready on schedule in June 1782. The delivery of the other parts was delayed by the difficulties in shipping the heavy stones required. In October 1782 the third part was finished, the first part following a few weeks later. Nevertheless, the first effects were shown when in August 1782 the bump in the mouth of the Nieuwediep was found to have been lowered by 1-1.5 feet. In October 1782 orders were then given to dredge out a way through the bump by December 1782. This became March 1783, but in April the depth had indeed reached 19 and more feet, and some armed warships had already anchored in the harbor.
  In June 1783 33,000 guilders were spent for a dam (lijdam) of 500 m stretching SSW from the southern entrance of the Nieuwediep, creating a funnel together with part 3. To facilitate ships, 8,800 guilders were spent on 7 dolphins (cf map). 58,000 guilders was reserved for further dredging, that (after delays) would be executed in 1784.
  Nieuwediep immediately became a harbor that was important for commerce. Traditionally many ships were reluctant to sail to the Zuiderzee in the winter, because ice would often block the harbors. Now they could sail to Nieuwediep, that was ice-free most of the winter. In the winter of 1783-1784 60-70 loaded ships wintered in Nieuwediep, safe from ice. It led to the creation of some more facilities for 30,000 guilders in 1784. A specific advantage was that ships from the south, loaded with perishable goods like fruits, could unload at Nieuwdiep. In the winter of 1784-1785 there were 150 ships at Nieuwediep, among them merchant men with a draft of 18–20 feet laying somewhat at the bottom of the harbor. The transloading business also changed. It became safer because it could now be done in port, but it also became cheaper, because it took less time.
  For big warships the depth was still not enough. Therefore, in 1785 the third part of the eastern dam was prolonged by 750 m, and then by another piece of 376 m stretching to the south west. In 1785 the ships of the line wintered in Nieuwediep. Still, Nieuwediep was nothing more than a harbor. It lacked facilities like stores and repair shops, that would make it a real naval base.
caption: The Nieuwediep with the dams that made it a deep harbor, also note the Nieuwe Werk of 1792 on the right.
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