Model of an Apparatus for Inspecting Ships under Water

Olke Uhlenbeck, c. 1800 - c. 1858

Model van een mandvormig raamwerk met vier kleine wieltjes aan de zijkant en ogen voor touwen aan de bovenzijde. De kooiconstructie, in werkelijkheid in ijzer uit te voeren, was volgens ontwerper Uhlenbeck bedoeld 'Om onder wat de uitwendige deelen van den romp der schepen te kunnen onderzoeken'. De kooi bood plaats aan een duiker, die daarmee enoge bescherming en houvast genoot.

  • Artwork typedemonstration model
  • Object numberNG-MC-75
  • Dimensionsheight 19.5 cm x width 19.5 cm x depth 15.1 cm
  • Physical characteristicsbrass

Olke Uhlenbeck

Model of an Apparatus for Cleaning Ships under Water

Netherlands, c. 1800 - c. 1858

Inscriptions

  • label:75 former inventory label

Conservation

  • Ab Hoving, juni 2010: metal cleaned; revarnished

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-75

Entry

Construction model of a quarter circular, basket-like structure with four small wheels on one side.

The number attached to the model identifies it as what Obreen calls an apparatus for cleaning ships under water.1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 75. A drawing by Pieter Glavimans (1755-1820) of a contraption to enable people to approach a leak from outside the ship shows a similar basket-like structure. Covered and made watertight with tarpaulin, it could be lowered against the side and people could work in it. It was positioned and held in place by means of ropes going under the keel, and ropes going up over the ship’s side. The wheels are missing from his design, however.

A similar contraption was described by Julius Constantijn Rijk (1787-1854) during his visit to North America in the sloop of war Pallas in 1825.2J.C. Rijk, Generaal Rapport Z.M. Pallas, s.l. 1825, manuscript with 6 appendices in HSM, inv. no. NII (03144), Bijlage 1, p. 202. It is not clear if it was ever tested in the Netherlands.

Literature

J.C. Rijk, Generaal Rapport Z.M. Pallas, s.l. 1825, manuscript with 6 appendices in HSM, inv. no. NII (03144), Bijlage 1, p. 202; J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 75; A.A. Lemmers, Techniek op schaal. Modellen en het technologiebeleid van de Marine 1725-1885, Amsterdam 1996, pp. 217-18

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'Olke Uhlenbeck, Model of an Apparatus for Cleaning Ships under Water, Netherlands, c. 1800 - c. 1858', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20053224

(accessed 12 December 2025 21:47:47).

Footnotes

  • 1J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 75.
  • 2J.C. Rijk, Generaal Rapport Z.M. Pallas, s.l. 1825, manuscript with 6 appendices in HSM, inv. no. NII (03144), Bijlage 1, p. 202.