In the seventeenth century it got to play a prominent part in the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

[1] By that time, the French period had entirely ruined the Middelburg economy, leading to a drastic drop in population.

One of the things that was thought to be missing was a modern dry dock, larger than the old Vlissingen Navy Drydock.

Anyway, in the late evening of 17 December 1873 the frigate Bato captain H. Kramer of 1,501 ton capacity, arrived in Vlissingen from Batavia.

[7] With the new port and canal, the Rotterdam Shipping Line Van Zeijlen & Decker saw opportunities in Middelburg.

[8] Van Zeijlen en Decker almost immediately made plans for a dry dock in Middelburg.

[9] On 18 June 1874 the council then treated a request by the company to have the terrain and a 50,000 guilder subsidy to establish the dry dock.

Another first step was the construction of a dam, do pumps could make the designated stretch of the harbor dry.

By then the Dambrug had been removed completely, brickwork on the quay walls was underway, and the temporary dam was ready.

[17] On 17 September part of the quay and sewers near the old Dambrug collapsed over 30 meters, but this accident did not significantly delay the works.

The wall that enclosed the new dry dock was ready enough to place a commemorative stone on 23 September 1875.

It was placed by Willem Lodewijk van Leeuwen and Cornelis de Decker Jz.

By then a very deep pit had been dug for pile driving below the prospective caisson door bateau-porte (French) and Pumphouse.

[28] Minister Fransen van de Putte was brought into the Achterdok (back dock).

Therefore, the water could not be pumped high enough at first, and later the dock could not be made dry enough to lower the ship on the blocks.

The amount of water that has to be pumped out to set the ship on the blocks, is then much smaller, and the backward chamber is generally very dry.

By the time that Middelburg Drydock was under construction it was in general use in Dutch graving docks, and at some other places in the Netherlands.

[31] Even while the first ship that was serviced, i.e. Minister Fransen van de Putte was still on the blocks, an accident happened to the dry dock.

[32] On 5 August 1876 Minister Fransen van de Putte was brought into the forward dock chamber, but after the ship caisson had been removed it got stuck on the remains of the dam which had been used during construction.

At many points the ground was reinforced by putting clay and basalt in place to stop water infiltration.

By 10 October the news was different, stating that water continued to flow below the gate to the backward dock.

[41] By late January a screen of piles was being driven into the ground around the caisson lock, just like this had been done during the repairs of Willemsoord Dry Dock I.

By 24 April the dry dock had 50 cm of water on its v-shaped floor, after not pumping for many days.

This time the big clipper Utrecht of 2,009 Dutch ton capacity was put on the blocks.

Next the two steamers of the Zeeland shipping line were docked, and then P. Caland of the Rotterdam America Steamship Company.

[48] Middelburg profited from the railway connection, the Port of Vlissingen and the Canal through Walcheren, but did not recover her former glory as a commercial center.

As these numbers show, the harbor of Middelburg was not busy enough to generate enough traffic for the dry dock.

In 1895 the armored warship Evertsen of 3,464 tons displacement used the dry dock to get her propellers attached.

The last ship that was docked in Middelburg Drydock was Destroyer Van Ghent, still named De Ruyter at the time.

She entered in late August 1927,[56] On 13 October 1927 she left the dry dock for trials in Scotland.