Willem Johan Cornelis, Ridder Huijssen van Kattendijke (22 January 1816 – 6 February 1866) was a career officer of the

Royal Dutch Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

and a politician. As an officer, he reached the rank of Commander. He was Dutch Naval Minister from 1861 to 1866, and interim Dutch Foreign Minister in 1864.

Biography

van Kattendijke was born in Princenhage,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, as the son of Jan Willem Huyssen van Kattendijke, foreign minister of the Netherlands from 1841 to 1843. He entered the

, becoming a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

in 1831, and attended the KIM (Royal Naval Institute) in

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Medemblik was a prosperous ...

from 1831 to 1839. He became a lieutenant 2nd class in 1839 and served on various vessels until 1842. From 1842 to 1846, he was

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

to the Director-General of the Navy, and aide to the Minister of the Navy from 1846 to 1849, and as an aide to

King William III of the Netherlands William III (Dutch: ''Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk''; English: ''William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis''; 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in 18 ...

from 1846 to 1851. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander 1st class in January 1851. In 1859, van Kattendijke replaced

Pels Rijcken Gerhard Christiaan Coenraad (Gerrit) Pels Rijcken (10 January 1810 – 2 May 1889) was a career officer of the Royal Dutch Navy and a politician. As an officer, Pels Rijcken reached the rank of Vice-Admiral. He was Dutch Navy Minister from 1866 ...

as commandant of the

Nagasaki Naval Training Center The was a naval training institute, between 1855 when it was established by the government of the Tokugawa shogunate, until 1859, when it was transferred to Tsukiji in Edo. During the Bakumatsu period, the Japanese government faced increasing ...

, teaching the principles of a modern naval science (navigation, cannonry, ship-handling) to

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

including Katsu Kaishu. He arrived as captain of the ''

Kanrin Maru ''Kanrin Maru'' was Japan's first sail and screw-driven steam corvette (the first steam-driven Japanese warship, ''Kankō Maru'', was a side-wheeler). She was ordered in 1853 from the Netherlands, the only Western country with which Japan had ...

'', a steam warship that had been purchased by the ruling

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

of Japan. He was promoted to commander on May 1, 1858. On the closure of Nagasaki Naval Training Center in 1859, he returned to the Netherlands. From 14 March 1861 until 6 February 1866 he was Navy Minister for the Netherlands, first in the cabinet of

Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt Jacob Pieter Pompejus, Baron van Zuylen van Nijevelt (29 June 1816 – 4 November 1890) was a Dutch politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands from 1852 to 1853, and again in 1861. During his second term as minister ...

and then in the second cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Johan Rudolph Thorbecke Johan Rudolph Thorbecke (14 January 1798 – 4 June 1872) was a Dutch liberal statesman, one of the most important Dutch politicians of the 19th century. Thorbecke is best known for heading the commission that drafted the revision of the Consti ...

. In the latter he also served as interim Foreign Minister from 2 January 1864 to 15 March 1864. He died in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

as Navy Minister at the age of 50.

Honors and decorations

NLD Order of the Dutch Lion - Commander BAR

- Commander of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

References

Parliamentarian Documentation Center, University of Leiden
*

Biography

Honors and decorations

References

Notes

Missions to Japan

See also