Kennemerland 1664
Marker: recorded wreck position (Age of Sail).
Key facts
| Name | Kennemerland | Historic Environment Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1664 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Age of Sail | derived from year |
| Sea / ocean | North Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Scotland | official dataset |
| Position | 60.4195, -0.7520 | Historic Environment Scotland Historic MPAs, wreck position (OGL v3) |
| Historic MPA | Out Skerries Historic MPA (HMPA5) | Historic Environment Scotland |
| Designated | 2013-11-01 | Historic Environment Scotland |
About the wreck
The Kennemerland was a Dutch East Indiaman (sailing ship) that was lost off the Out Skerries, Shetland, in 1664. It was carrying cargo from the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies, and had taken the northern route to avoid interception by the English, since the Second Anglo-Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667) was expected to start soon. There were just three survivors. The islanders salvaged what they could, but there were disputes over ownership of the spoil. The vessel's excavation in the 1970s was one of the earliest exercises in the new discipline of maritime archaeology.
Diving & visiting
This site lies within a Historic Marine Protected Area designated under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Check the HES designation record for what activities are permitted before diving.
The islanders salvaged much material, but agents of William Douglas, 9th Earl of Morton seized much of what they had recovered on the basis that he was Vice-Admiral of Orkney and Shetland.
King Charles I directed the Exchequer in Edinburgh to dispute the seizure, and Morton lost the goods as well as his position as Vice-Admiral.
Location
- Recorded position: 60.4195, -0.7520 (Historic Environment Scotland Historic MPAs, wreck position (OGL v3); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: North Sea
- Nearest coast: Scotland
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Kennemerland (1664) (revision 1357059482), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Early salvage efforts”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Contains Historic Environment Scotland data © Historic Environment Scotland – Scottish Charity No. SC045925 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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