Armored Ram turret ship^2nd class “Buffalo “
(from warship to museum ship)

What preceded the construction of the Buffalo

On June 3, 1864, a royal decree created a commission to investigate the coastal defense of the Netherlands. On October 22, 1864, this committee issued its report:

The government of the time decided to have 4 ram tower ships built. in foreign yards viz. the “Scorpion” in Toulon (France), the “Buffalo” in Govan upon Clyde/Glasgow (Scotland) and the Taurus in Birkenhead/Liverpool (England). In 1867 the “Guinea” was put into the shipyard in Amsterdam (the ship was almost identical to the “Buffel”).

The committee recommended arming the armored ships with a ram stern, designed to inflict damage on an enemy ship by ramming below the waterline. The ram stern-equipped ship needed to be highly maneuverable and was therefore fitted with two propellers.

On June 10, 1867, the Buffalo was launched at Napiers & Sons and launched on March 10, 1868. On July 4, 1868, the technical sea trial took place in which the ship managed a maximum speed of 12.82 knots.

On July 23, 1868, the ship was officially transferred to the Royal Dutch Navy as a ramtorenschip der tweede klasse and placed under the command of Lieutenant at sea J.A.H.Hugenholtz who brought the ship under bad weather conditions from Glasgow to Den Helder , where it entered the naval -port of Den Helder ( the Nieuwe Diep) on August 8, 1868. The ship attracted many interested people, who came from far and wide to witness this marvel of technology with their own eyes. The Buffalo was the first fully steam-powered unit within the Dutch navy.

From 1875 to 1880, the ship lay in reserve (out of service) at Willemsoord (Den Helder).

Travel Buffalo

During the period up to 1896, the Buffalo would not sail much and certainly would not make long trips. Not much is known about the early years beyond information from the ship’s log. In it, mainly daily routine -activities were recorded by the officer-writer. The commander who had to paraphrase daily ended with the comment “by the round all well,” after which the water levels at the bilge pumps were given.

The only ocean voyage the ship made began in September 1868 and was not very successful: the ship swung heavily (31˚ over SB and BB) and received a lot of water on deck as a result of a strong breeze. Of particular concern was the leakage on the sealing of the gun tower, deck, cuckoos and gun ports. The officer of the watch noted in the journal: a lot of “water in the pit, are persistently shoveling water in the gun tower, holds and cabin. When the wind subsided in strength, the turret proved unable to rotate because the turning mechanism was rusted as a result of incoming seawater. The heavy swaying was caused in part by an excessive center of gravity caused in part by the 150-ton gun turret. Also, the turret moves back and forth within the deck collar during swinging between 8 and 20 dash (mm).

To use heavy slotted artillery aboard a ship with advantage against an enemy on water, close combat is more necessary than ever.
_{Commander Hugenholtz:}

The Buffalo made regular practice trips offshore, developing and testing new tactical attack and defense maneuvers. Many shooting exercises were also conducted with targets on land as well as at sea. That it was difficult to hit a moving target with the heavy artillery at a distance between 800 and 1000 meters is evident from Commander Hugenholtz’s written conclusion: To use heavy slotted artillery aboard a ship with advantage against an enemy on water, close combat is more necessary than ever. For Buffalo itself, the shooting exercises also had quite an impact. The violence of the recoiling cannons caused the tower to thunder back and forth in its collar, causing quite a bit of damage on board. For the crew of the gun tower, the firing exercises were no fun: the noise of the guns was deafening and along with it the heat (50̊ C was not unusual). Wells of cold seawater were to provide cooling in the tower. Those who did not clamp a hardwood spool between their molars while shooting were at risk of ruptured eardrums. Powder smoke in the tower, despite the vents in the roof, created an even more unpleasant situation.

Ramming with the ram bow was also practiced, but was a relative success partly caused by the occurrence of damage to the Buffalo itself and especially to the ship’s interior and technical equipment.

That the ram bow could do serious damage was demonstrated on July 30, 1888 , when the Buffalo had a collision with ram monitor Hyena during an exercise , which quickly made water and sank.

The only official sea voyage took place in August 1871. Relations with Belgium had returned to some normalcy since the secession in 1830, and with some flag-waving, the Buffalo set out for Antwerp as the head of a squadron to retrieve the remains of Dutch soldiers killed in the defense of the citadel in 1832 and those of Van Speijk. On April 1, 1872, the Buffalo is still present during the commemoration of 300 years of liberation from the Spaniards in Den Briel.

On June 27, 1891, the Buffalo was temporarily returned to active service to accompany the imperial yacht “Hohenzollern” during German Emperor Wilhelm II’s visit to our country.