Skip to content
side

Explore the Pinas

A walk on the ship

(Click on the icon to start. The program will open in a new tab, feel free to read on while it loads)

(Click here for the English version)

12. pinas copy

Reconnaissance

(Opens in new tab, feel free to read more while the program loads)

Although the design of this part of the Witsen Scheepsbouw program is strongly based on the game world, deliberately no attempt was made to make the interior appear emphatically 'real'. Masts and yards, for example, are made according to the measurements in Witsen's book, but they are not equipped with ropes and sails. What matters here is the construction of the ship and the way it was built. As a result, some parts seem somewhat stylized and too sharply defined. We have tried to provide the user with an idea of both the exterior and interior of the ship, without going beyond romantic parts of the interior, except where the measurements have been expressly given by Witsen.

12. pinas copy

The 17th century Pinas

A pinas was an armed merchantman with a flat tuck, three masts and a bowsprit. It was the most important trading ship for navigation within Europe and North Africa, but the type was also used (mainly by the West Indian Company) on shipping to North America and the Caribbean. The East Indian Company (VOC) also sailed with pinasses as return ships, although they had been adjusted in size, armament and dimensions during the long voyage to the Indies. The pinas is known as the iconic image of the 17th century Dutch ship with its billowing sails, flapping flags and menacing cannon barrels from the gunports.

witsen_desktop

Not suitable for mobile