On 12 August 1655, the admiralty therefore got the entire western strip of Kattenburg island for the construction of an arsenal and ship yard.

From the arsenal and the north end of Kattenburg, dams reached to the west, and enclosed an almost square stretch of water called 's lands Dok.

The founding of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 meant a new start for 's Rijks Werf (national yard) Amsterdam.

It caused that the nation could no longer afford a naval budget comparable to that of major European powers.

General circumstances were not conducive for much activity on the yard, but on a national scale the Rijkswerf Amsterdam was lucky.

The final acts were the Ten Days' Campaign, the Siege of Antwerp (1832) and an English fleet blockading the Dutch coast, all ruinous for the state's finances.

The secession of Belgium also stripped the coal and iron deposits from the Dutch state, a further disaster during the Industrial Revolution.

Meanwhile, the Dutch state had found a new source of wealth in the Cultivation System implemented in the East Indies.

This was just as well, because the invention of screw propulsion had just obsoleted the entire fleet of sail and paddle-steam ships that the Dutch had.

The biggest screw ships that the Dutch needed, the steam frigates, were built in Vlissingen because of their draught.

This decision had to do with the overall defensive strategy that centered on only defending the places behind the Dutch Water Line.