De Zeven Provinciën

"Een schip dat de Vloot-vooghd voert past wel dat kostelijk is en in aanzien allen overtreft”
(A ship well suited to our Fleet Commander, nice to see and better than all others)
(Nicolaes Witsen).

Summer 1665. An imposing two-deck ship has just been launched and is now moored to be rigged and outfitted. Two private ship-builders are busy outfitting the ship, which has been ordered by the Admiralty of the Maze in Rotterdam. The name of the ship – third in a row with this name – has been known for a while, and the commander of this imposing war-ship has recently been named the Commander in Chief of the Dutch fleet.

Autumn 1665. Lieutenant-admiral Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is proud of his new flagship – De Zeven Provinciën. The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, founded in 1579, lives in troubled times, and the tense situation with England in particular demands a strong ship and powerful leadership. The ship won’t be at fault. With a length of 163 feet (around 46 metres) from stern to bow it has a water displacement of 700 Dutch “last” (about 1400 tonnes). This makes the ship very stable in the water, even with full armament of 84 cannons and a crew of 420. All built-up knowledge and experience of the Dutch masters of shipbuilding has been combined into this ship. Her imposing appearance, with its heavily ornamented stern, will put fear into the hearts of the enemies of the Republic during the years to come. The commander won’t be at fault either: he feels himself capable of heroics with this ship.

Indeed, in the period from 1666 to 1674 Michiel de Ruyter commanded several victories. This was both through his very good insight in naval battles and the force and quality of his ship and her crew. De Zeven Provinciën participated as flagship in the four-day and two-day battles in 1666, in the famous trip to Chatham in 1667, the battle of Solebay in 1672 and the battles of Schooneveld and Kijkduin in 1673. De Zeven Provinciën was so robust that she could be re-equipped for battle quickly and without much effort. Only in 1694 – almost 30 years after her launch – was the ship demolished and did the name transfer to a triple-deck ship with 92 cannons.

The Kolderstok model of De Zeven Provinciën has been built on a scale of 1:72 - from several available sources. Because these sources differ on a few points, the ship’s lines have been completely redrawn for this model kit. The stern has been made after one of the drawings of Willem van de Velde (the elder), on display in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, UK.

The model consists of laser-cut keel and frames, complete (single) planking in a combination of walnut and basswood, fully outfitted deck, 3D formed and hand-cast resin ornaments, masts and accompanying rigging. Sails can be ordered separately as a DIY kit consisting of drawings, manual, sailcloth and blocks. The model is fully equipped with complete cannons on all ports.