The 'Batavia' .

[Ferry_vO]

Not much of a ship fan (Despite being Dutch!) but I couldn't miss the opportunity to visit the replica of the Batavia in Lelystad. The 'Bataviawerf' is a project to reconstruct some of the ships of the golden age (Back when we conquered the Dutch East Indies (Nowadays Indonesia), Surinam, the Dutch antilles and did some other not quite politically correct things by today's standards...). These boats have to be reconstructed with the help of drawings, apintings and remains since there are no original ships left from those days.
The original Batavia was built in 1628 as a trade vessel (But still it was armed!) to use on a route to the East indies, but in sank in a storm on June 4th 1629. The construction of the replica was started in 1985 and lasted for ten years. A second is under contruction and unlike the Batavia it will be a warship.

 

[Panther_99FS]

That's quite the colorful ship!

 

[Cazzie]

Beautiful!

Is there any way to get on her?

Caz

 

[Ferry_vO]

Is there any way to get on her?

Sure there is! Couldn't do any HDR shots on deck or inside but I crawled all the way through the different decks.

On the bow:

From the bow looking aft:

The lowest deck; here they keep the ballast, cargo and kegs of gunpowder:

One deck higher is the soldier's deck; here they kept the soldiers on the journey to the East Indies, seperate from the crew to avoid fighting.
I'm a bit over six feet tall, and was on my knees to move around in there. No daylight and maybe four feet high. Can you imagine being stuck in there for eight months....?

The gun deck:

The captain's quarters, with an actor demonstrating old navigation tools (Yes I know, the solar hood was still on the lens..):

A closer look at the stern of the ship:

The lion on the bow:

 

[Ferry_vO]

The second ship under construction is a replica of the battleship De 7 Provinciën (The Seven Provinces) and to quote their website:

The battleship De 7 Provinciën (The Seven Provinces) was built in 1664-1665 for the Admiralty of Rotterdam. It was part of a larger fleet intended to strengthen the maritime power of the Dutch in relation to the English. Under the guidance of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, the Netherlands won a great many sea battles, including the Four Days' Battle during the Second Dutch-Anglo War. In 1694, the ship was sold and scrapped because of its old age.The aim of building De 7 Provinciën is to make as authentic a reconstruction as possible of this 17th-century battleship, using existing source materials. Castles, country estates and canal-side houses still provide us with a glimpse of how some people lived in those days, but these key ships have all been lost. Reconstruction is an appealing way of reviving the past. Construction drawings were not part of the building process in the 17th century, but using specifications (= construction descriptions) and the paintings of Willem van de Velde, it is possible to get very close to historical reality.
The reconstruction of this 17th-century ship is one of the largest historical shipbuilding projects in the world. The character of this legendary battleship will be in complete contrast to that of the Batavia, a trading ship. This will be primarily expressed in the amount of woodcarving work being done on the hundreds of images and ornaments as well as the 80 bronze cannons on board.

And here's how it looks today:

And their website: http://www.bataviawerf.nl/who-are-we.html

 

[Panther_99FS]

Looks great from the inside!

 

[michaelvader]

Has anyone of Erwin Welkers Batavia or Zewen Provinzen an update so that they do not fly incontrable in the air but do sail as they should?
Best regards
Michael