Prince of Prussia (ship)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Prince of Prussia was a so-called East Indiaman of the Prussian Asiatic Company founded in 1750 and confirmed by King Friedrich II of Prussia in 1751 .

The ship, which was built by Jan van Reenen in 1719 as a third-rate ship of the line with 64 cannons at the Admiralty shipyard in Amsterdam and sailing under the Dutch flag as Zoeterwoude , was bought by the company in 1753 as the third ship. After it was converted into an armed merchant ship in 1753 and renamed the Prince of Prussia , the first trip to China began on December 31, 1753 . On the return voyage, the ship ran aground off Borkum in 1755 , but was released again and reached Emden in July of the same year .

At the beginning of the Seven Years' War , the company ships Prinz von Preußen and Burg von Emden lay in the home port of Emden and were dismantled. When Emden was conquered by French troops in 1757, the ships fell into the hands of the French. After their withdrawal in 1758, the trading company was liquidated by the majority of the shareholders until 1765 due to the previous French occupation of Emden and the lack of profits, and the company's remaining ships were sold.

Ship data
  • Year of construction: 1719 in Amsterdam as Zoeterwoude
  • Type: Three-masted 64-gun ship of the line, converted to an East Indiaman
  • Length: approx. 51 m (152 feet)
  • Width: approx. 14 m (42 feet)
  • Draft: approx. 5.5 m (16.75 feet)
  • Armament as East Indiaman: 36 cannons
  • Crew as East Indiaman: approx. 190 men

swell