VOC ship Amsterdam

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Replica of the Amsterdam at the Netherlands Maritime Museum.

The VOC (Dutch East India Company) ship Amsterdam ran aground near Hastings, England on 26 January 1749, on her maiden voyage to Batavia. Commanded by Captain Willem Klump, 33, the ship had 203 crew, 127 soldiers and 5 passengers. On 8 January 1749 she left her moorings off the island of Texel at the mouth of the Zuider Zee. The Amsterdam was laden with textiles, wine, stone ballast, cannon, paper, pens, pipes, domestic goods and 27 chests of silver guilder coins. The whole cargo would be worth several million Euros in modern money.

The Amsterdam had problems in the English Channel tacking into a strong westerly storm. For several weeks she got no further than Beachy Head near Eastbourne. Black Death appeared amongst the crew and a mutiny broke out. Finally the rudder broke off and the ship, helpless in the storm, grounded in the mud and sand of Bulverhythe Bay, 5 km to the west of Hastings. She began to sink 6m into the mud, where much of the keel remains today, perfectly preserved. Some of the cargo, including silver coinage was removed for safekeeping by the local authorities. There had been some looting and English troops had to be called in to bring the situation to order. The crew were looked after locally before being returned to the Netherlands.

In 1969, the Amsterdam was discovered after being exposed by a low spring tide. It is the best-preserved VOC ship ever found. Archaeologist Peter Marsden did the first surveying of the wreck, and he advised further excavation.

The wrecksite was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 5 February 1974.

The VOC Ship Amsterdam Foundation started researching the wreck, followed by major excavations in 1984, 1985 and 1986, during which huge numbers of artifacts were found. Although the wreck is submerged in the sand and mud of the beach (and is even visible at very low tides) much of the excavation was done by divers, for whom a small tower was constructed near the wreck. Additionally the wreck was surrounded by an iron girder frame. The archeological output was so dense, that new ways of researching needed to be developed, all of which were needed to understand the technological, socio-economic and cultural features of the VOC. Some of the finds are on show at the Hastings Shipwreck Museum in Hastings, East Sussex, UK. The wreck is protected and diving on it or removing timbers or any artifacts is forbidden.The ship may be visited as the timbers are exposed at very low tides in the sand just opposite the footbridge over the railway line at Bulverhythe.

A ship replica was built in Iroko wood by 400 volunteers using tools of the period, between 1985 and 1990; It was floated to Amsterdam and is situated next to the Netherlands Maritime Museum (Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum) where it can be visited. As for the original ship, there had been hopes in the 1980s that the Dutch Government, which still owns it, might excavate the whole wreck and return it for restoration and display in Amsterdam, like the Regalskeppet Vasa in Sweden, or the Mary Rose in Portsmouth, but the funds were not forthcoming. Several decks and much of the bowsprit lie submerged in the mud and are in remarkably good condition, being naturally preserved by the mud and much of the cargo is still aboard.