Dutch ship Vrijheid

Vrijheid was a Dutch 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the navy of the Dutch Republic, the Batavian Republic, and the Royal Navy. The order to construct the ship was given by the Admiralty of Amsterdam. The ship was commissioned in 1782.

The Battle of Camperdown, 11 October 1797, by Thomas Whitcombe. The Vrijheid is being dismasted during the battle.
History
Dutch Republic
Name: Vrijheid
Launched: 1782
Commissioned: 1782
Decommissioned: 1795
Batavian Republic
Name: Vrijheid
Commissioned: 1795
In service: 1795
Out of service: 1797
Captured: 11 October 1797
Fate: Captured
UK
Name: HMS Vryheid
Acquired: 1797
Commissioned: 1797
Decommissioned: 1811
Reclassified:
Fate: Disposed in 1811
General characteristics
Class and type:
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament: 74 Guns

In 1783, a squadron consisting of the ships Vrijheid, Noordholland, Hercules, Drenthe, Prins Willem and Harlingen was dispatched to the Mediterranean to deal with differences that had arisen with Venice. On 2 February 1784, the squadron docked at the coast near the island of Menorca. In the night between 3 and 4 February a storm blew up which lasted for 48 hours. Vrijheid was almost smashed on the rocks and only just managed to stay afloat, while Drenthe keeled over and sank.[1]

In 1795, the ship was commissioned in the Batavian Navy.

On 11 October 1797 Vrijheid took part in the Battle of Camperdown as the flagship of Admiral Jan Willem de Winter. At a certain point, Vrijheid was engaged by four British ships, and after heavy fighting the ship surrendered.[2]

A model of the ship.

The ship was renamed HMS Vryheid, and from 1798 she served as a prison ship. In 1802 she became a powder hulk until she was sold in 1811.[3]

References
  1. Irene de Groot and Robert Vorstman, Sailing Ships: Prints by the Dutch masters from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century (Maarssen: Uitgeverij Gary Schwartz, 1980), 171-172.
  2. J.F. Fischer Fzn. De Delft: De dagjournalen met de complete en authentieke geschiedenis van 's Lands schip van oorlog Delft en de waarheid over de zeeslag bij Camperduin (Franeker: Van Wijnen, 1997), 341-347.
  3. "Design histories of rated warships... "tracing the family trees" [Archive] - Sails of Glory Anchorage". sailsofglory.org.
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