Jacob van Heemskerk

Jacob van Heemskerk, also called " Hemskerck " written, (* March 1, 1567 in Amsterdam, † April 25, 1607 in Gibraltar) was a Dutch admiral and navigator, Vice Admiral of the Admiralty of Amsterdam and captain of the Dutch East India Company.

Life

Jacob van Heemskerk was the son of Hendrick Cornelis van Beest van Heemskerck from the family of Van Heemskerck. He was probably a descendant of Gerrit van Heemskerck, the lords of the island of Terschelling from 1417th Heemskerk was married to Maria Houtman and had a son.

Van Heemskerk participated in two expeditions to the Arctic and wintered 1597/1598 during his third expedition of Willem Barents in search of the Northeast Passage in a built of driftwood hut on Novaya Zemlya. With Barents, however, died after a week, and the other members of the remaining crew of the expedition he left in June 1598, the northern tip of the island double in home-made boats. This last reached the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia. In a Dutch merchant ship, which was led by Jan Corneliszoon Rijp, he returned to Amsterdam back in 1598 yet.

1603 van Heemskerck was sent as an admiral in the South Asian seas, where he scored military successes in dealing with the Portuguese fleet. On April 25, 1607, he served as admiral, a fleet of 27 ships in the Battle of Gibraltar and destroyed the Spanish Armada completely, but found himself doing the death.

Jacob van Heemskerk is buried in the Ouden Kerk in Amsterdam. He received the first state-funded Praalgraf for a sailor.

After Jacob van Heemskerck, a frigate of the Dutch Navy was named.