Leiden gunpowder disaster

Though ostensibly an independent nation, the new Dutch kingdom was heavily tied to Imperial France and functioned as a political satellite.

As a result, the French and Dutch authorities feared that Great Britain and the Fourth Coalition (both of which were preparing for war with France) would invade the Netherlands.

As the majority of the kingdom's 12 gunpowder factories were located in Amsterdam and Zeeland, it was decided that convoys of civilian ships would be used to transport the vast quantity of explosives around the country; the final destination of the powder was the Dutch Army's arsenal in the town of Delft.

However, the captain of one of the three ships (the Delfs Welvaaren, translating to Prosperity of Delft City),[1] Adam van Schie, became ill before he set off for Amsterdam.

The barrels were covered with horsehair sheets to ward off an accidental ignition, and the ship's hold was sealed to prevent theft.

However, by the time the rest of the convoy was fully loaded, the cold January weather had frozen parts of the Amsterdam canal system, preventing the two remaining ships from rendezvousing with the Delfs Welvaaren.

[1] The two van Schies, who had a sister living in Leiden, planned to spend the weekend in the town center, but Saloman injured his leg or back and decided to stay with the ship.

Several Dutch newspapers (including one in Delft, van Schie's hometown) reported falsely that the captain had ignited the gunpowder by walking below decks with a lit pipe.

Eventually it was concluded, on the basis of multiple reports of the crew of the Delfs Welvaaren preparing a meal of potatoes and fish prior to the blast, that a spark from a cooking fire or from metal utensils had ignited the gunpowder.