'Heemskerck, who dared to forge through ice and iron,
Left honour to the nation, here his corpse, for Gibraltar life.'
These lines by the poet P.C. Hooft grace the memorial stone of the sailor Jacob van Heemskerk. During his life Van Heemskerk undertook several long expeditions, including to the Dutch East Indies for trade purposes and the notorious failed quest for the Northeast Passage with Willem Barentsz, which stranded at Nova Zembla in 1597. Van Heemskerk was killed at the Battle of Gibraltar during the Eighty Years’ War, in which the Dutch managed to destroy almost the entire Spanish armada.
