Lot Essay
On the assumption that this is an acccurate broadside view of a warship of the Batavian Republic, the 38 visible gunports indicate that she carried 76 guns on her main decks; in all probability she also carried the usual pair of bow and stern-chasers from which it can be deduced that she was a 3rd rate mounting 80 guns in total. The only vessel in the Batavian Navy to fit this rating appears to be the Wreeker (or Revenger) noted in the 1801 list [of ships in the Batavian Fleet] published in Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Zeewezen, vol. 5 (J.C. de Jonge, 1862), although, reegrettably, no other specific details of her are available.
When the Revolutionary Wars began in Europe in 1793, the armies of France were markedly more successful than her naval forces. One of their earliest conquests was Holland which, once occupied, was thereafter controlled by the establishment of the so-called Batavian Republic. A French puppet state in all but name, the new republic was obliged to declare war on England in 1795, thus adding the not insignificant former Dutch Navy to those forces which already opposed the Royal Navy. Even after the British victory at the Battle of Camperdown (11 October 1797), the Batavian Navy still remained a threat to English seapower until after the final defeat of Napoleon although the Republic itself was dissolved in 1806 when Holland was forced to accept Napoleon's brother Louis as King.
When the Revolutionary Wars began in Europe in 1793, the armies of France were markedly more successful than her naval forces. One of their earliest conquests was Holland which, once occupied, was thereafter controlled by the establishment of the so-called Batavian Republic. A French puppet state in all but name, the new republic was obliged to declare war on England in 1795, thus adding the not insignificant former Dutch Navy to those forces which already opposed the Royal Navy. Even after the British victory at the Battle of Camperdown (11 October 1797), the Batavian Navy still remained a threat to English seapower until after the final defeat of Napoleon although the Republic itself was dissolved in 1806 when Holland was forced to accept Napoleon's brother Louis as King.