Conversion to Museum Ship after 1974

The ship was officially withdrawn from service on January 18, 1974 and placed with the Dienst der Domeinen and later in the year transferred to the Municipality of Rotterdam, which took the former ramship on hire-purchase for a period of five years, for the service of the Prins Hendrik Maritime Museum.

On this date, her name also changed to “Buffalo” (without a name signal) since there was no longer a Naval officer, in command, on board.

1.9 million guilders was needed to restore the frequently rebuilt ship and turn it into a museum ship.

Eventually, the “Friends of the Buffalo Foundation” was established and the necessary funds were found from metal employers and the Municipality, so that April 17, 1975, restoration could begin at the yard of de Groot en van Vliet in Ridderkerk.

It was decided to restore the 1868 condition, but also to portray the era of lodge ship. It is decided to first restore the external silhouette of the ship based on the , probably most reliable, yard model.

Pipes, pipes and drains along the ship’s hull are removed.

The scrap-nailed armor box in the side walls, whose armor had been demolished in 1896 and where windows had been inserted, will be broken open and resealed.

The square windows installed in the skin will be eliminated, so that the ship’s wall will once again become a closed unit, except for a few portholes and gun ports.

The deck boards (8 cm thick teak) will be partly renewed, partly cut and turned and then caulked and pecked.

The cage bulwark and cap structure over the upper deck will disappear, and in its place will be a railing with pot lid and replica gun tower, a chimney with a replica “Refrigerator” at its base, command bridge, two steel masts and four windlasses, which used to supply air to the four boilers, a Cape helm and a large steering wheel.

Extensive plans are being made for the interior, including a lengthwise wide stairwell, fire-retardant walls and automatically closing fire doors.

After docking, during which the hull was painted black with an “apple-pink” stripe, the Buffalo was towed to Rotterdam on Oct. 30, 1976, where, lying in the Leuvehaven, restoration and furnishing continued, under the auspices of the Maritime Museum.

The period of restoration and mooring at the Maritime Museum

The ship was moored ashore and kept off the shore with two outriggers (braces), due to changing tides.

Two gangways to the upper deck were installed, and under one of these all the supply and return lines were installed.

A period of chipping, scratching and chipping paint followed to remove countless layers of paint, revealing the original hues: green for the Longroom and the wooded doors of the officers’ cabins.

Not much of the original inventory was left. After studying old photographs and ship inventory lists, a list of missing pieces was compiled. All over the Netherlands and sometimes in England, antique dealers and auctions were visited in search of the right objects.

What was still missing was recreated by the restoration crew.

The steam engines, which have been installed, come from former harbor tugs.

On the BB side is a Triple Expansion machine of 180 IPK and on the SB side is a Double-Compound Lentz Valve machine of 510 IPK. Both machines can be demonstrated by being driven by a small electric motor.

On Sept. 1, 1979, the ship was opened to the public. Immediately after opening, the ship proved to be a major attraction: by the end of 1979, more than 100,000 visitors had already viewed the Buffalo.

The restoration of the “foliage” on the bow and stern alone took 1.5 years.

In the first years after its opening, about 100,000 people visited the ship annually.

In 1995, the museum ship “Buffalo” received a medal of honor from the English “World Ship Trust” for the extraordinary way the ship was restored. From August 2007 to April 2008, the ship was closed to the public for several months due to an extensive refurbishment and redesign of the exhibition.

A good arrangement of the material on display with sufficient explanatory text pictures gives a good idea about the Buffalo as a warship and as a lodge ship.

Berth Hellevoetsluis 2013 – present

Due to budget cuts within the Rotterdam Maritime Museum, in 2013 the ship was moved to Hellevoetsluis, where it is currently berthed at Koningskade no.2. Management will come into the hands of the Museum Ship Buffalo Foundation, founded by historian Arie van den Ban, and transferred to the volunteers under the “Ramtorenschip Buffel Foundation” in Oct. 2016.

The Municipality of Hellevoetsluis has provided a structural grant to preserve the Buffalo as a unique 150-year-old Maritime Cultural Historical Heritage Site. A plan has been developed to develop the Buffalo together with Dry Dock Jan Blanken and the City Museum into a Historic Marine Quarter within the Hellevoet Fortress.