From accommodation ship to museum

After being struck in 1906, Schorpioen became an accommodation, storage, and lodging ship rather than disappearing from naval use. During the Second World War she supported German personnel, including submarine crews, and in 1947 she was recovered from Hamburg and towed back to Den Helder. She then served as barracks for the Dutch women's naval service and did not formally decommission until 1982. A private foundation restored her as a floating museum at Middelburg before the Royal Netherlands Navy reacquired her in 1995 and transferred her to the Dutch Naval Museum. Further restoration preceded her reopening in 2000, preserving an exceptionally tangible example of 1860s engineering and a century of changing naval support roles.