Batavia (1628 ship)

The Batavia was a Dutch East India Company ship that sank off the coast of Western Australia in 1629 during its maiden voyage. The ship was on its way to the Dutch East Indies capital of Batavia, which is today Jakarta, Indonesia. The wreck of the Batavia resulted in the immediate drowning of forty of the ship’s passengers. Those deaths marked only the beginning of the ship’s tragic fate. After the Batavia’s commander, Francisco Pelsaert, left the scene of the wreck to seek help, merchant Jeronimus Cornelisz took charge of the survivors. He subsequently embarked on a reign of terror during which approximately 125 men, women and children were murdered. When he was finally stopped, Cornelisz and six of his supporters were tried and convicted of their crimes. The men were the first Europeans to be legally executed on Australian soil.

Background

During its short time in existence, the Batavia sailed for the Dutch East India Company. The company was a successful seventeenth and eighteenth century trading venture that grew into one of the world’s earliest international corporations. At the apex of its operations, the Dutch East India Company monopolised the spice trade and as was as powerful on the global political stage as some countries.

The European spice trade was predominantly controlled by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. By the end of that century, the situation began to change as demand for spices across Europe started to grow. In addition, Portugal chose to unite with Spain in 1580. All of this encouraged officials in the Dutch Republic—which was then at war with Spain—to stake their own claim in the spice trade. In 1602, after some early successes in this fledgling venture, the Dutch government funded the establishment of the United East Indies Company, which later became known as the Dutch East India Company.

After forming a brief partnership with the English East India Company in 1620, the Dutch East India Company expanded its holdings in Indonesia and established numerous plantations where cloves and nutmeg could be grown for export. The company also engineered a new system of trade in Asia that provided the profits necessary to finance the entire European spice trade. By the middle of the seventeenth century, the company’s reach extended throughout Asia and into Africa. In short order, the company became the wealthiest enterprise of its kind.

The decline of the company was as rapid its ascent. Several factors sent it into a tailspin in the late seventeenth century. It collapse began with a drop in trade with Japan and China. The situation subsequently worsened with the 1672 outbreak of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, which severely disrupted the company’s ability to conduct trade in Europe. Fluctuations in demand and the rise of other trading companies also had a negative effect, leading to the company’s dissolution in the early eighteenth century.

Overview

When it embarked on its maiden voyage, the Batavia was the flagship of the Dutch East India Company. Like other company ships, the Batavia was meant to travel the often treacherous Indian Ocean trade route. Much of the danger of that route was due to the fact that it required ships to rely on the prevailing westerly trade winds out of Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to make it across the Indian Ocean to Indonesia and on to the Australian coast. Without the benefit of advanced positioning technologies, even the slightest miscalculation could easily lead ships into waters where hidden reefs lurked beneath the surface. This is exactly what happened to the Batavia.

The 46-metre Batavia was one of a fleet of eight ships that left from the Dutch port of Texel on 28 October 1628. It was named after its destination, the Dutch East Indies capital of Batavia in Indonesia. Most of the more than 340 people on-board were officers, sailors and soldiers. There was also a party of private travellers that included women and children. The journey was fraught with difficulties from the beginning. Storms quickly reduced the fleet to just three ships early on and eventually left the Batavia on its own. There were on-board troubles as well. As was tradition in the Dutch East India Company, the Batavia had a dual command structure headed by Commander Francisco Pelsaert and skipper Ariaen Jacobsz. The two men distrusted each other because of a previous dispute. At the same time, Jacobsz was conspiring with Pelsaert’s deputy Jeronimus Cornelisz to stage a mutiny.

On the morning of 4 June 1629, the Batavia struck Morning Reef just off Beacon Island near the western Australian coast. Estimates suggest that the shipwreck claimed as many as one hundred lives. Most of those who survived the initial wreck were quickly ferried to Beacon Island. Desperate to provide the survivors with food and fresh water, Pelsaert decided to make the 3,000 kilometre trip to Batavia with Jacobsz and others.

Soon after Pelsaert’s departure, Cornelisz seized control among the survivors. Fearing the commander knew of his and Jacobsz’ planned mutiny, Cornelisz surmised that doing so was the only way he could avoid being arrested for his treachery. Upon forming a council with some of his most loyal men, Cornelisz ordered the survivors to turn in all their weapons and then split the group into several small groups. He subsequently disbursed these groups to different nearby islands. In the weeks that followed, Cornelisz and his men slaughtered many of the survivors, women and children included. Approximately 125 people were murdered in all. He also sent a party of twenty-two soldiers to West Wallabi Island on the pretence that they were meant to find fresh water. In reality, he simply intended for them to die there. Although they were marooned, the men survived because they actually did find water. Cornelisz tried convincing one of the marooned officers, Wiebbe Hayes, to join his ranks so as to make peace. Hayes instead captured Cornelisz and brought his tyranny to an end.

Pelsaert soon returned from Batavia with a rescue party and witnessed the events that had unfolded in his absence. Cornelisz and six others were tried and convicted for their crimes and summarily put to death. This made them the first Europeans to be executed in Australia.

Bibliography

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Charleston, Libby-Jane. “The Batavia Mutiny and Massacre of 1629 Is Still Revealing Secrets.” Huffington Post, 18 July 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/07/01/the-batavia-mutiny-and-massacre-of-1629-is-still-revealing-secre‗a‗21422401. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.

Docevski, Boban. “It Didn’t End Well: The Batavia Mutiny of 1629 Is One of the Biggest Mutinies in History.” The Vintage News, 11 Feb. 2018, www.thevintagenews.com/2018/02/11/the-batavia-mutiny. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.

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Pentecost, Katie. “Barbarism and Brutality: Surviving the Batavia Shipwreck.” Australian National Maritime Museum, 4 June 2016, www.sea.museum/2016/06/04/barbarism-and-brutality-surviving-the-batavia-shipwreck. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.

Wattel, Arvi. “Picturing the Unimaginable: A New Look at the Wreck of the Batavia.” The Conversation, 11 Oct. 2017, theconversation.com/picturing-the-unimaginable-a-new-look-at-the-wreck-of-the-batavia-84269. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.

“Wreck of the Batavia.” National Museum Australia, 15 June 2020, www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/wreck-of-the-batavia. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.