Object data
wood and brass
model: height 51.5 cm × width 26.6 cm × depth 36.5 cm
packaging capsule: height 48.5 cm × width 56.5 cm × depth 44.5 cm
's Lands Werf Amsterdam
Hull Construction Model
Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1785
Provenance
...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-112
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Demonstration model of the longitudinal section of the hull of a wooden ship, the length of three station frames amidships and the height of one deck. The planking is partially left off, but the interior is ceiled. Three brass scarves join the false keel to the keel. The three station frames and five filling frames consist of seven parts. The deck is indicated with three deck beams, the binding strake and the waterway. The beams are supported with knees, of which two are dagger knees (diagonal).
The model specifically demonstrates a new way of nailing and bolting proposed in 1785 by William May (1725-1807), Dockyard Superintendent of the Amsterdam Admirality, to solve the problem of galvanic corrosion caused by the practice of copper sheathing. The section with the two dagger knees shows May’s proposal, whereby the heads of the bolts stay underneath the exterior planking, while the straight knee shows the ordinary practice with bolts coming through the planking. His proposal was accepted by the Amsterdam Admiralty despite heavy criticism from the Dutch naval shipwrights.
Literature
J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 112; A.A. Lemmers, ‘Over kruisverbanden en kippekonten’, in H. Stevens (ed.), The Art of Technology: The Navy Model Collection in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam/Wormer 1995, pp. 26-29; A.A. Lemmers, Techniek op schaal. Modellen en het technologiebeleid van de Marine 1725-1885, Amsterdam 1996, pp. 67-69; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 86-89; A.A. Lemmers, ‘Shipworm, Hogbacks and Duck’s Arses: The Influence of William May on Sir Robert Seppings’, The Mariner’s Mirror 99 (2013), no. 4, pp. 410-28
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, ''s Lands Werf Amsterdam, Hull Construction Model, Amsterdam, 1785', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.243922
(accessed 23 November 2024 00:31:07).