Model of part of a floating dock

Vlissingen & Dudok van Heel, Koninklijke Fabriek P. van, 1863 - 1864

This model was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1867–1868 in Paris. It represents a floating iron dry dock built in 1863–1864. The dock had been shipped in parts to Surabaya in Indonesia, whereit was assembled and towed to the island of Onrust. The dock comprised two halves. This model represents part of one half.

  • Artwork typescale model, demonstration model
  • Object numberNG-MC-1187
  • Dimensionsheight 44.5 cm x width 201 cm x depth 50.5 cm
  • Physical characteristicsbrass

Koninklijke Fabriek P. van Vlissingen & Dudok van Heel

Model of Part of a Floating Dry Dock

Amsterdam, Netherlands, Netherlands, 1863 - 1864

Provenance

…; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883

Object number: NG-MC-1187

Entry

Model of part of one half of a floating dry dock.

The model is made entirely of brass with a wooden covering over the upper deck. The construction consists of angle-iron frames with diagonal trussing, reinforced with bulkheads. The bulkheads divide the construction into flooding compartments. The model has a steam engine with a boiler underneath the upper deck, driving two centrifugal pumps in the hold that empty the flooding compartments. The trusses for the ship are not detailed on the model.

This model was shown at the Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris. It was returned in a damaged state and restored at the factory. The iron dry dock represented by this model was made by the Koninklijke Fabriek voor Stoom- en Andere Werktuigen, Paul van Vlissingen & Dudok van Heel in Amsterdam from 1863 to 1864.

The original design was by C. Scheffer, then a Navy engineer in Surabaya, and improved by August Elize Tromp (1801-1871) and J. Strootman. It was 90 metres long and had a load-bearing capacity of 3,000 tons. It was taken apart and shipped to Surabaya in 1864, where it was assembled again and towed to the island of Onrust to replace the wooden dry docks there. At the end of the 1870s, it was considered worn out and was consequently replaced by a larger floating dock of which NG-MC-1411 is a model.

Scale (on model) 1:25.

Literature

A.E. Tromp and J. Strootman, ‘IJzeren drijvend droogdok voor de dienst der Marine in Oost-Indië’, Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs (1865-66), pp. 10-18, pl. 4-9; B.J. Tideman, Memoriaal van de Marine, bevattende opgaven betrekkelijk de afmetingen, constructie, ... van Nederlandsche oorlogsschepen en omtrent enige havens, dokken, sluizen, werven enz., Amsterdam 1876-80, 2de afd., p. 154, pl. 24, fig. 22; J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1187; M.G. de Boer, Honderd jaar machine-industrie op Oostenburg, Amsterdam 1927, p. 40; J.B. Kist (ed.), Van VOC tot Werkspoor. Het Amsterdamse industrieterrein Oostenburg, Utrecht 1986, p. 190, fig. 17; A.A. Lemmers, ‘Asmus op de klippen’, in H. Stevens (ed.), The Art of Technology: The Navy Model Collection in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam/Wormer 1995, pp. 38-41; A.A. Lemmers, Techniek op schaal. Modellen en het technologiebeleid van de Marine 1725-1885, Amsterdam 1996, pp. 268-90; A.A. Lemmers, ‘The Historical Experience of a Scaled-Down Nineteenth Century Drydock’, The Northern Mariner/Le marin du Nord 8 (1998), no. 3, pp. 63-87; A.A. Lemmers, ‘Het oog op Onrust’, Marineblad 109 (1999), no. 6, pp. 260-69; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 224-27

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Koninklijke Fabriek P. van Vlissingen & Dudok van Heel, Model of Part of a Floating Dry Dock, Amsterdam, 1863 - 1864', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200316095

(accessed 2 December 2025 01:36:12).