WILLEM VAN DE VELDE THE YOUNGER PORTRAIT OF THE ‘EENDRACHT’ The Eendracht was one of twelve large warships laid down by the Province of Holland in 1666. She was built at the Rotterdam Admiralty yard, and mounted 80 guns. In 1675 the Eendracht was Michiel de Ruyter’s flagship on his voyage to the Mediterranean, replacing his favorite Zeven Provinciën, which was undergoing repairs. During a battle near Catania in Sicily on 22 April 1676, De Ruyter was struck by a cannonball and died a few days later. His body was brought back to Holland in the Eendracht and he was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. The Eendracht was lost in 1690. Biography-Willem-van-de-Velde-the-Younger