Van Ravesteijn Ship Warf

On this site, the ‘NV machinefabriek Leidschendam annex shipyard’ was located between 1919 and 1974. Engines, steam engines and ‘all common machinery’ were built or repaired there. The complex was later expanded to include some warehouses and was commonly known as the ‘Van Ravesteijnwerf’.

During World War II, the yard was part of a network that helped people escape to England via the North Sea. Central figures in this organisation were ir Anton Schrader (1917) and skipper Kees Koole (1912). Schrader worked at the National Food Agency in The Hague, as head of the Raw Materials Bureau. With financial help from relations, boats were bought. At Van Ravesteijn's shipyard, brothers Piet (manager) and Jo Meijer (mechanic) secretly made them as seaworthy as possible.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Fon Linders