HR MS BUFFEL

Class: Buffel ironclad turret-ram
Launched: 1868
At: Robert Napier & Sons, Glasgow, Scotland
Commissioned: 23 July 1868

Length: 205 feet, 9 inches
Beam: 40 feet, 3 inches
Draft: 15 feet, 6 inches
Displacement: 2,261 tons
Armament: two 9.2 inch guns, ram bow, four 30 pounders

Address:
Maritime Museum Rotterdam
Leuvehaven 1
3011 EA Rotterdam
The Netherlands
31-10-4932680 (international), 010-4132680 (The Netherlands)
Fax: 31-10-4137342 (international), 010-4137342 (The Netherlands)
Email: w.heyveld@maritiemmuseum.nl
http://www.maritiemmuseum.nl
Latitude: 51.917062, Longitude: 4.482937
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Hr Ms Buffel was the first of three (Buffel, Schorpioen and Stier) ironclad turret-ram ships built for the Royal Netherlands Navy between 1867 and 1869. Her mission was coastal defense in the North Sea. The submerged bow ram was intended to disable an enemy warship either by making holes in it below the waterline, or by shearing off its rudder. The rotating turret-mounted gun increased the arc of fire and provided protection for the gun and gunners.

Buffel never engaged an enemy vessel during her 17 years in commission. Following her retirement from active service, Buffel became an accommodation ship, first at Hellevoetsluis and later at Den Helder. She served for many years as a stationary training hulk in the Amsterdam Navy Yard where she survived World War II. She is now fully restored as a museum ship.

The Maritime Museum Rotterdam is situated in the heart of Rotterdam. It is five minutes walk from the Coolsingel and the Erasmus Bridge.