Halve Maen

Halve Maen was a Dutch East India Company jacht[1] (similar to a carrack) that sailed into what is now New York Harbor in September 1609. She had a length of 21 metres and was commissioned by the VOC Chamber of Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic to covertly find a northern passage to Asia. The ship was captained by Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the service of the Dutch Republic.[2]

In 1909, the Kingdom of the Netherlands presented the United States with a replica of Halve Maen to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Hudson's voyage; the replica was destroyed in a fire in 1934. Over 50 years later, in 1989, the New Netherland Museum commissioned a second replica, which sailed for several decades along the Hudson River until it was transported in 2015 to the Westfries Museum in Hoorn, Netherlands, where it is permanently moored.

History

Halve Maen was built on a wharf on Rapenburg.

Replicas

1909 replica

In 1909 a replica of Halve Maen was given to the United States by the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Hudson's voyage. The ship was constructed at the Rijksmarinewerf in Amsterdam. The keel was laid on 29 October 1908, and on 15 April 1909 the ship was launched and then transported to the US on the Holland America Lines freight liner Soestdijk in order to attend the 1909 Hudson-Fulton Celebration in New York, arriving in July.[7] She appeared in a parade with the American replica ship Clermont celebrating Robert Fulton. This replica was eventually towed to Cohoes, New York, and perished in a fire in 1934;[8][9] the Clermont was broken up for scrap 3 years later.[10]

1989 replica

Another replica of Halve Maen (officially Anglicized as Half Moon) was constructed in Albany, New York, in 1989 by Andrew Hendrickson, founder of the New Netherland Museum. The museum contracted with Nicholas S. Benton to design and build the replica. Benton, a master ship-rigger and shipwright, was president of the Rigging Gang of Middletown, Rhode Island, which specialized in colonial ship restoration and design. To prepare for building Half Moon, a $1 million project, Hendrickson and Benton visited maritime museums in the Netherlands and the United States. After Benton’s death while assisting with the rigging of another vessel,[11] the construction of the Half Moon was completed following delays and additional expenses.[12]

The year 2009 marked NY400, the 400th anniversary of Halve Maen's voyage. For the anniversary, the crown prince of the Netherlands and his wife were on board, as well as students from a Dutch school. This anniversary was marked in September 2009 with festivals, music, and sailing ships parading around New York Harbor.[13]

The New Netherland Museum, a non-for-profit organization, was assisted in the operation of the Half Moon by a crew of volunteers that ranged in age from their teens to octogenarians.[14]

In April 2015, the ship was transported on loan to the Westfries Museum in Hoorn, Netherlands. The replica took part in SAIL Amsterdam 2015.[15] In 2019, the Hoorn Council decided not to renew their lease. The Halve Maen was re-located to the port of Enkhuizen and made open to the public.[16]

Weathervane

At 10 ft in both height and length, the model of Halve Maen on top of the SUNY System Administration Building in Albany, New York, is claimed to be the largest working weathervane in North America.[17]

country	Dutch Republic
flag	Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg
owner	Dutch East India Company Chamber of Amsterdam
completed	1608
fate	Destroyed

History

Replicas

1909 replica

1989 replica

Weathervane

In popular culture

See also

External links

References