against the English, complete with Shrouds, Rigging, Sails, Anchors and Ropework, and also a large quantity of Cannon and all further accessories, more broadly specified in the Inventory kept by our Sales Master, that any whom it pleases may there see and inspect. Who has interest may come, on the next 31 July Old Style, in the College of their Noble Mightinesses within Harlingen, at ten o'clock before Noon, and buy according to the Conditions and Articles that can be read in advance by any Bystander from the prescribed Day. In the 18th century activities were minimal; the short revival later that century was dealt a serious blow when during the night of 12 to February 13, 1771, the townspeople couldn't prevent a fire laying waste to the building of the Frisian Admiralty in Harlingen. Not only did the vergaderhuis (council hall) and two associated warehouses burn down, but also the entire archive. After this fiasco the admiralty moved to the Havenplein. The time in Harlingen saw other mishaps as well. In 1781, during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, the Frisian Admiralty in Harlingen began building the two largest ships of the line in its history, the 74 gun Vriesland and Stadt en Lande (named after the provinces of Friesland and Groningen respectively), but construction was halted when it was realized, after new soundings, that they were too large to leave port, having too deep a draught to pass the Buitenhaven, the silted exit channel. After several years' indecision as to what to do with them, they were sold for scrap in 1792. The end At the end of the eighteenth century the Frisian Admiralty hit hard times, with Friesland suffering major financial problems. In 1795, during the Batavian Republic, the different admiralties of Netherlands were merged into a central committee to fulfil the wishes of the Patriot, in the context of transforming the Dutch confederation into a unitary state. The admiralty's shipyard, where warships were nearing completion and launch, moved into private hands. The last ship launched by the admiralty was in 1789, the 20 gun Syreene. Few opposed this merger, since the best days of this and the other admiralties were well behind them. The Dutch Navy's dominant role was over forever. Sea battles in which it participated Between 1596 and 1792 the Admiralty of Friesland participated in several sea battles, usually as part of a confederate fleet from