The port of Den Helder lies at the northern tip of Western Friesland, between the Waddenzee and the open North Sea, opposite the island of Texel. It is linked with Amsterdam by the North Holland Canal. The lighthouse, completed in 1877, is the tallest cast-iron lighthouse in Europe. Den Helder is noted both as the largest
naval port in the Netherlands and is also home to the Royal Naval Academy. The town's principal sources of income are fishing and the textile industry.
Den Helder came into being about 1500, and until the end of the 18th century was no more than a fishing village. Then in 1811 it was strongly fortified by Napoleon, who saw it as the "Gibraltar of the North", and after his fall the Dutch government retained it as a fortress. After the construction of the North Sea Canal it lost much of its importance as an outer port for the Dutch capital to IJmuiden. In 1673 Admiral de Ruyter defeated a combined British and French fleet off Den Helder. In 1799 a force of 10,000 British troops and 13,000 Russians commanded by the Duke of York landed just south of the town. The Russians were sent to take the French in the rear but lost their way in the dunes, and most of them were taken prisoner in the battle of Bergen. The British troops were defeated by General Brune in a skirmish at Castricum and forced to sail home.
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