Model of the screw-propeller steamship Watergeus

Rijkswerf Amsterdam (possibly), c. 1863

The design of the Watergeus was based on the CSS Alabama, a sloop-of-war deployed for commerce raiding by the southern states during the American Civil War. The vessel’s outward appearance of a merchant ship was misleading, as her high, armoured sides concealed some considerable firepower. She was fitted with a double-screw propeller, which could be raised, and had a retract-able steam funnel.

  • Artwork typeship model, show model, fully rigged model
  • Object numberNG-MC-1134
  • Dimensionsheight 35.5 cm x length 79 cm x width 17 cm
  • Physical characteristicswood, brass, rope and paint

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Model of a Screw Steamer
    • Model of the screw-propeller steamship Watergeus

  • Object type

  • Object number

    NG-MC-1134

  • Description

    Gepolychromeerd en getuigd model van een schroefstoomschip. Het model heeft een dek, voor de fokkemast een weinig verhoogd, en twee geschutpoorten in de zijden. Scherpe voorsteven zonder enige versiering. Elliptisch hek, dubbele parallelle schroef (Mangin-schroef) in schroeflichtinstallatie, roer met afgerond roerblad. Geen details aan dek behalve een uitschuifbare schoorsteen. Geheel vlakke zeeg, alleen het reehout is aangegeven. Gepiekt rondspant. Driemast tuig zonder zeilen. Schaal 1:100 (afgeleid).

  • Part of catalogue

Creation

  • Creation

    • model maker: Rijkswerf Amsterdam (possibly), Amsterdam (possibly)
    • after design by Bruno Johannes Tideman, Amsterdam

  • Dating

    c. 1863

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    wood, brass, rope and paint

  • Dimensions

    height 35.5 cm x length 79 cm x width 17 cm

Explanatory note

  • Het schroefstoomschip van zes stukken Watergeus, lang 56 m, werd door B.J. Tideman ontworpen, op verzoek van de Minister van Marine geïnspireerd op het Amerikaanse schip CSS Alabama van de Geconfedereerde Staten, en gebouwd in Amsterdam in 1863-1864. Het schip nam deel aan de blokkade van de kust van Atjeh en in 1877 in de expeditie tegen Samalangan. In 1881 naar de Indische Militaire Marine overgegaan; in 1883 afgekeurd, uit dienst en te Soerabaja voor de sloop verkocht.

This work is about

  • Person

  • Subject

Acquisition and rights

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

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

Documentation

    • J.M. Dirkzwager, 'Problemen en oplossingen bij de ontwikkeling van de stoomvaart in Nederland', Erfgoed van industrie en techniek 1 (1992) nr.3, p. 74-90, afb. p. 88.
    • J.M. Dirkzwager, 'Z.M. schroefstoomschip 'Watergeus'', Spiegel Historiael 26 (1991) nr. 7/8, p. 353-354.

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  • Model of the screw-propeller steamship Watergeus
  • Model of the screw-propeller steamship Watergeus

Rijkswerf Amsterdam (possibly)

Model of a Screw Steamer

? Amsterdam, Amsterdam, c. 1863

Provenance

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

Object number: NG-MC-1134

Entry

Polychromed rigged block model of a screw steamer.

The model has one deck, slightly raised before the foremast, and two gun ports in the sides. It has a clipper bow and an elliptical stern. Below the stern a double parallel Mangin screw fitted in a screw lifting frame and a rudder with a rounded blade are indicated. There are no details on deck except for a telescopic funnel. The sheer is completely flat. Only the sheer rail is indicated. The hull has an S-bottom and is painted a metallic copper colour below the waterline. The model has a three-masted rigging without sails.

The 6-gun screw steamer Watergeus, 56 metres long, was designed by Bruno Johannes Tideman (1834-1883), inspired by CSS Alabama, and built in Amsterdam from 1863 to 1864. Watergeus took part in the blockade of the coast of Aceh and in the Samalanga expedition of 1877. Transferred to the Dutch East Indian Military Navy in 1881, but decommissioned only two years later in 1883 and sold for breaking up in Surabaya.1A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 64.

Scale (derived) 1:100.

Literature

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1134; A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 64; J.M. Dirkzwager, ‘Z.M. schroefstoomschip “Watergeus”’, Spiegel Historiael 26 (1991), no. 7/8, pp. 353-54; A.J. Hoving, ‘The Watergeus (1864)’, Model Shipwright 84 (1993), pp. 63-66; A.J. Hoving, Message in a Model: Stories from the Navy Model Room of the Rijksmuseum, Florence, OR 2013, pp. 216-19

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'possibly Rijkswerf Amsterdam, Model of a Screw Steamer, Amsterdam, c. 1863', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200316078

(accessed 2 April 2026 17:32:34).

Footnotes

  • 1A.J. Vermeulen, De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962, The Hague 1962, p. 64.