welcome.cfm)

The archaeological excavation

Between 1972 and 1976 the Department of Maritime Archaeology conducted a series of excavations of the Batavia. The artefacts from these excavations were treated by the Museum Conservation Laboratory and may now be seen in the Shipwreck Galleries of the Maritime Museum in Fremantle and in the Western Australian Museum, Geraldton. During the excavation, the part of the hull of the vessel was uncovered. This was carefully recorded and raised. After a number of years of treatment by the Conservation Laboratory, the remains were rebuilt in the Shipwreck Galleries. This provides the centre-piece for the Maritime Museum display. The section is the stern quarter of the port side of the ship up to the top of the first gun-deck and includes the transom and stern-post.

The fashion piece of the Batavia being
raised onto the Museum workboat.

The vessel was built in an unusual manner with a double layer of planking and constructed by building the vessel up from the keel with planks and later adding the ribs. Many unusual and interesting artefacts were recovered from the site. These include a prefabricated portico, ornate silverware, ceramics and bricks, all of which were part of the 'paying' ballast of the vessel. The silver coins were the main cargo; this was used by the VOC to pay for their trade in the Indies. The coins from the Batavia are mainly Rijksdaalders from the Netherlands together with German thalers. The word thaler is the origin of the modern word 'dollar'. Some of the German coins were quite old, the oldest dated from 1542, suggesting that the coins were collected as bullion. It is known that Pelsaert recovered eight of the ten chests that the Batavia carried, the Museum has recovered about 7 700 coins 80% of which are in poor condition and represent the main contents of the missing two chests.

The portico facade**

During the excavation of the site, 137 shaped sandstone blocks were raised from the wreck site. On return to Fremantle and after conservation, work started on identification of their significance on board the ship. It became obvious that the blocks made up a portal or portico façade. Research in the archives identified it as destined for the Waterport of the Castle at Batavia. An engraving by Pieter van den Broecke in 1629 at Batavia shows the Castle, with scaffolding in place and the Waterport unfinished. Van den Broecke even recorded in his journal the arrival of Pelsaert in the Batavia's boat. An illustration from the mid-1630s shows the completed Waterport with a new portal, obviously sent out to replace the one lost on the Batavia. The stones have been masoned in the typical style of the ‘Weserrenaissance’ (c. 1530–1630) in north-west Germany. Quarries at Obernkirchen and Bentheim were the main sources of sandstone used for buildings and decorative stonework in this period. Comparative geological analysis of samples of the Batavia sandstone by German geologists Dr Jutta Weber and Dr Jochen Lepper has recently demonstrated strong evidence that the Batavia portico is of Bentheim sandstone. (See Webber, J. and Lepper, J., 2005, Tracing a 17–20th century odyssey: the provenance of the Batavia sandstone portico. Bulletin of the Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology, Volume 29, in press.)

The Lelystad Batavia

In the Netherlands, a foundation based in Lelystad built a full-scale replica of the Batavia based on historical research and information obtained from the Western Australian excavations. Research between the two organizations helped to provide a better understanding of the archaeology, the history and the craft skills that were involved in the building of 17th-century vessels. In 2000, the new Batavia visited Sydney, New South Wales, during the Sydney Olympics. Many people wonder why there are 17th century European shipwrecks on the Western Australian coast. The answer is spice. In the 16th and 17th century, Europe had an almost insatiable need for spice. Large quantities were brought to Europe by sea in the 16th century by the Portuguese.

By the early 17th century, companies formed by the English and the Dutch were trading in competition with each other and with the Portuguese. The route the VOC took to the East Indies across the Indian Ocean was long, unhealthy and slow. In 1611, the VOC pioneered a new route: ships sailed south from the Cape of Good Hope, then east and finally turned north to Batavia. The route was much faster and healthier, but passed close to the mythical and undiscovered Terra Australis Incognita. This land was finally sighted in 1616 and disasters soon followed. Ironically it was an English ship, the Trial, in 1622, following the Dutch route, that was first to be wrecked. The Batavia met the same fate in 1629, then the Vergulde Draeck (1656), Zuytdorp (1712) and Zeewijk (1727). Surprisingly, out of 8 190 outward and homeward voyages by the VOC, only 305 ended in disaster. Only one English and four VOC ships are known to be lost on the Western Australian coast and they have all been found!

A comparison between the Mary Rose and the Batavia

If you are viewing this through the wreckfinder:

The Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie retourschip Batavia Batavia 1629: A seventeenth century shipwreck
	A view of the *Batavia* Gallery Have a look at some of the Artefacts from the *Batavia*
The reconstructed section of the VOC (United Dutch East India Company) ship *Batavia* is on display in the *Batavia* Gallery at the Shipwreck Galleries, Western Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle. Other galleries within this museum show the Western Australian shipwrecks and the work of the Departments of Maritime Archaeology and Materials Conservation. The Western Australian Maritime Museum on Victoria Quay, Port of Fremantle, has exhibits from the Department of Maritime History collection. The Western Australian Museum, Geraldton, also has displays of shipwreck material, including that of the Batavia.
A view of the stern section of the *Batavia*
The *Batavia* is Australia's second oldest known shipwreck; the oldest is the English East India Company ship *Trial* lost off the north-west of Western Australia in 1622. Contrary to popular opinion, it was the Dutch in 1606 who discovered Australia, not Captain Cook! In 1616, Dirk Hartog left a plate on Dirk Hartog Island, Shark Bay, commemorating his landfall. This is the earliest European artefact and is at present in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The de Vlamingh plate which replaced it in 1697 may be seen in the Shipwreck Galleries. The history of the loss On the morning of 4 June 1629, the VOC ship *Batavia* was wrecked on Morning Reef in the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coast of Western Australia. The shipwreck was a prelude to an extraordinary tragedy. Commander Francisco Pelsaert, all the senior officers, some crew and passengers, 48 in all, deserted 268 people, on the wreck and on two waterless islands, whilst they went in search of water. Abandoning the search on the mainland coast, they made their way to Batavia (modern Jakarta), to obtain help; the journey took 33 days. On arrival, the high boatswain was executed, on Pelsaert's indictment, for outrageous behaviour before the loss of the ship. Skipper Adrien Jacobsz was arrested for negligence. The Governor General dispatched Pelsaert in the jacht *Sardam* to rescue the survivors. With extraordinary bad luck, it took 63 days to find the wreck site, almost double the time it took the party to get to Batavia. At the Abrolhos, Pelsaert discovered that mutiny had taken place. A small group of mutineers had massacred 125 men, women and children. Pelsaert arrested the mutineers and executed some of them. When the *Sardam* finally returned to *Batavia, some of the lesser offenders, who had been flogged, keelhauled and dropped from the yard-arm as punishment on the voyage, were executed. Out of 316 people aboard the Batavia, only 116 survived. Pelsaert died in the following year. For the VOC it was a political and financial disaster. In the years that followed, the events were not forgotten, a book was published entitled Ongeluckige Voyagie van't schip Batavia* and it was through this and Pelsaert's Journal that the wreck was finally rediscovered. The modern discovery In 1840, Commander John Wickham and Lieutenant John Lort Stokes visited the Abrolhos in HMS *Beagle, as part of an early survey of the Western Australian coast. They erroneously identified the very southern end of the Abrolhos, as the site where the Batavia* was lost. For many years the shipwreck was thought to lie in the Pelsaert Group. In the 1950s, Western Australian historian, Henrietta Drake-Brockman published a book *Voyage to Disaster, which included a translation of Pelsaert's Journal (by E.D. Drok). Drake-Brockman suggested that the wreck site was to the north, in the Wallabi Group. Subsequently, journalist Hugh Edwards searched unsuccessfully for the site. In 1963, a crayfisherman, Dave Johnson, took two Geraldton divers, Max and Graham Cramer and Greg Allen to the wreck site. They were the first people to dive on the site. Following the discovery of the wreck site in 1963, an expedition was made to the Batavia. Many items were recovered and Edwards published an account of this in Islands of Angry Ghosts. In 1964, the State Government enacted legislation (later revised to the *Maritime Archaeology Act 1973 ) to protect this and other historic wrecks. In 1972, the Netherlands Government transferred their rights to the Dutch shipwrecks on the Western Australian coast to the Australian Government. Finally, in 1976 the Commonwealth Government enacted Federal legislation that also helps to protect this site (Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976). Legislation is designed to protect all shipwreck sites for the Australian community. The public is encouraged to explore and enjoy these sites, either in the water or in the museums. All that is asked is that the wreck sites and associated land sites should not be disturbed so that they may be available for future generations. Information sheets and publications about the different wreck sites in Western Australia are available from the Museum. The Department of Maritime Archaeology at the Western Australian Maritime Museum can be contacted for advice or information on shipwreck sites on +61(0)8 9431 8444. (See also the WA Ships database and the National Shipwreck Database: http://eqd.ea.gov.au/nsd/public/welcome.cfm)**
The archaeological excavation
Between 1972 and 1976 the Department of Maritime Archaeology conducted a series of excavations of the *Batavia*. The artefacts from these excavations were treated by the Museum Conservation Laboratory and may now be seen in the Shipwreck Galleries of the Maritime Museum in Fremantle and in the Western Australian Museum, Geraldton. During the excavation, the part of the hull of the vessel was uncovered. This was carefully recorded and raised. After a number of years of treatment by the Conservation Laboratory, the remains were rebuilt in the Shipwreck Galleries. This provides the centre-piece for the Maritime Museum display. The section is the stern quarter of the port side of the ship up to the top of the first gun-deck and includes the transom and stern-post.
	The fashion piece of the *Batavia* being raised onto the Museum workboat.
The vessel was built in an unusual manner with a double layer of planking and constructed by building the vessel up from the keel with planks and later adding the ribs. Many unusual and interesting artefacts were recovered from the site. These include a prefabricated portico, ornate silverware, ceramics and bricks, all of which were part of the 'paying' ballast of the vessel. The silver coins were the main cargo; this was used by the VOC to pay for their trade in the Indies. The coins from the *Batavia* are mainly Rijksdaalders from the Netherlands together with German thalers. The word thaler is the origin of the modern word 'dollar'. Some of the German coins were quite old, the oldest dated from 1542, suggesting that the coins were collected as bullion. It is known that Pelsaert recovered eight of the ten chests that the *Batavia* carried, the Museum has recovered about 7 700 coins 80% of which are in poor condition and represent the main contents of the missing two chests.
The portico facade
During the excavation of the site, 137 shaped sandstone blocks were raised from the wreck site. On return to Fremantle and after conservation, work started on identification of their significance on board the ship. It became obvious that the blocks made up a portal or portico façade. Research in the archives identified it as destined for the Waterport of the Castle at Batavia. An engraving by Pieter van den Broecke in 1629 at Batavia shows the Castle, with scaffolding in place and the Waterport unfinished. Van den Broecke even recorded in his journal the arrival of Pelsaert in the Batavia's boat. An illustration from the mid-1630s shows the completed Waterport with a new portal, obviously sent out to replace the one lost on the Batavia. The stones have been masoned in the typical style of the ‘Weserrenaissance’ (c. 1530–1630) in north-west Germany. Quarries at Obernkirchen and Bentheim were the main sources of sandstone used for buildings and decorative stonework in this period. Comparative geological analysis of samples of the Batavia sandstone by German geologists Dr Jutta Weber and Dr Jochen Lepper has recently demonstrated strong evidence that the Batavia portico is of Bentheim sandstone. (See Webber, J. and Lepper, J., 2005, Tracing a 17–20th century odyssey: the provenance of the *Batavia* sandstone portico. *Bulletin of the Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology*, Volume 29, in press.)
	The Lelystad Batavia
In the Netherlands, a foundation based in Lelystad built a full-scale replica of the *Batavia* based on historical research and information obtained from the Western Australian excavations. Research between the two organizations helped to provide a better understanding of the archaeology, the history and the craft skills that were involved in the building of 17th-century vessels. In 2000, the new *Batavia* visited Sydney, New South Wales, during the Sydney Olympics. Many people wonder why there are 17th century European shipwrecks on the Western Australian coast. The answer is spice. In the 16th and 17th century, Europe had an almost insatiable need for spice. Large quantities were brought to Europe by sea in the 16th century by the Portuguese. By the early 17th century, companies formed by the English and the Dutch were trading in competition with each other and with the Portuguese. The route the VOC took to the East Indies across the Indian Ocean was long, unhealthy and slow. In 1611, the VOC pioneered a new route: ships sailed south from the Cape of Good Hope, then east and finally turned north to *Batavia. The route was much faster and healthier, but passed close to the mythical and undiscovered Terra Australis Incognita. This land was finally sighted in 1616 and disasters soon followed. Ironically it was an English ship, the Trial, in 1622, following the Dutch route, that was first to be wrecked. The Batavia* met the same fate in 1629, then the *Vergulde Draeck* (1656), *Zuytdorp* (1712) and *Zeewijk* (1727). Surprisingly, out of 8 190 outward and homeward voyages by the VOC, only 305 ended in disaster. Only one English and four VOC ships are known to be lost on the Western Australian coast and they have all been found! A comparison between the *Mary Rose* and the *Batavia*