Batavia
Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia
What happened
Batavia was a new Dutch East India Company ship, built in Amsterdam in 1628 as the flagship of a fleet sailing to the East Indies, today's Indonesia. On 4 June 1629, on its first voyage, it struck a reef in the Houtman Abrolhos, a chain of small islands off Western Australia. Most of the people on board reached the islands.
Why it matters
Commander Francisco Pelsaert sailed nearly 3,000 kilometres in an open longboat to Batavia, today's Jakarta, to get help. While he was gone, some of the survivors took control, and the survivors were in great danger until rescue came. It is one of the best-known shipwrecks in Australian history.
What came next
Pelsaert returned in October 1629 aboard the rescue ship Sardam and put the mutineers on trial. Two of them were left on the Australian mainland and were never heard of again, so they may have been the first Europeans to live on the continent.
Did you know?
The wreck was first sighted in 1963 by lobster fisherman David Johnson, and a full-size replica of the ship was built in the Netherlands between 1985 and 1995.
Timeline
- 29 October 1628Batavia sails from Texel on its first voyage.
- 4 June 1629Batavia strikes a reef in the Houtman Abrolhos.
- October 1629Pelsaert returns on the Sardam to rescue the survivors.
- 1963A lobster fisherman first sights the wreck.
- 1970sThe Western Australian Museum excavates the wreck.