Built in 1941, Johan de Witt is a motor beach lifeboat. It was the third in a new series of boats built by the K.N.Z.H.R.M. They sought new, lighter steel motor beach lifeboats. Johan de Witt was a gift from the Amsterdam Life Insurance Company Amstleven to the K.N.Z.H.R.M. This insurance company is known today as Aegon. The boat is named after statesman and mathematician Johan de Witt (17th century), who devised the table for life insurance premiums.

From 1941 to 1960, Johan de Witt made 30 rescue missions and saved 19 people, all from Schiermonnikoog and Scheveningen. In 1998, a committee saved the lifeboat from scrapping. Volunteers restored the boat to its original condition. Since 2006, the lifeboat has belonged to the National Rescue Museum and operates daily tours in the inner harbor of Den Helder.