Ernst Jongejan from Breezand has been diving for 30 years and as an underwater archaeologist he already has a nice list of beautiful finds. But he had not yet had an Admiralty ship, a warship from earlier times. Until during a dive a few hundred meters off the coast, between Den Helder and Julianadorp, he suddenly saw a series of heavy cannons.
video-caption">Diver discovers ‘dream find’ on the bottom of the North Sea: “It is the Prince Willem of 1781” – NH News
The Prins Willem was a warship that was on its way from Hellevoetsluis to Texel. From there it would be used to protect a convoy heading to the Baltic Sea to trade. The fourth Anglo-Dutch War was in full swing. With a captain of dubious reputation, he was accused of treason, the ship was lost under mysterious circumstances.
“I started the desk research in 2018,” says Jongejan at home in Breezand, “It started with an old drawing of the ship. It beautifully depicts how it beached on the Zuiderhaaks sandbank on September 14, 1781. A wonderful story because it was beautiful weather that day. During the night of September 24 to 25, it completely broke down and pieces of wreckage were found on the beach.”
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Photo: Diver discovers ‘dream find’ on the bottom of the North Sea: “It is the Prince Willem of 1781” – Ernst Jongejan
It is not entirely clear how the stranding happened. Errors were said to have been made in communication with the fleet off the coast. That happened with flags. But the pilot did not go unpunished either, says Jongejans. “That was a Texel, Jan Kock. He may have turned around the Zuiderhaaks too early and got stuck. In any case, he was handcuffed immediately after stranding.”
“You don’t experience this once a year, not once every ten years, this is unique”
Ernst Jongejan, underwater archaeologist
The first images of the location were taken last spring. At the beginning of May, Ernst Jongejan made the first dive towards the remains of the ship. There were already suspicions that it was Prince Willem, but let’s prove it. “There are several 24 pound cannons there and a few 12 pound cannons. From the list of weaponry and that of other ships you can conclude that it is the Prins Willem. The location also matches reports such as the ship’s log.”
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Photo: Diver discovers ‘dream find’ on the bottom of the North Sea: “It is the Prince Willem of 1781” – Matthijs Gemmink/NH News
“You don’t experience this once a year, not once every ten years, this is unique,” says Jongejan. He did not do the research alone, divers Leonard Smiet, Richard Kooistra and Hugo Raven also helped. Ernst Jongejan will give a lecture about the unique find to colleagues in Lelystad on December 8. “The discovery of the English ship HMS Apollo was of course also wonderful. But this is a Dutch ship, which is special.”
2023-12-02 08:00:00
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