Arnhem (ship)

Arnhem
History
Dutch Republic
Name: Arnhem
Owner: Dutch East India Company
Builder: Dutch East India Company, Amsterdam
Fate: Wrecked on Saint Brandon Rocks (off Mauritius) on 12 February 1662
General characteristics
Class & type: Dutch East Indiaman
Tons burthen: 1,000 tons
Propulsion: Sail
Sail plan: Three masts

The Arnhem or Aernem[1] (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑrnɛm]) was a Dutch East Indiaman sailing vessel that featured in several notable historical events. It was shipwrecked off Mauritius on 12 February 1662.

Description

The Arnhem was built by the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC) chamber of Amsterdam at their wharf in 1654.[2] It was named after the city of Arnhem in the Netherlands.

The sailing ship was an East Indiaman or spiegelretourschip.[2] It had a capacity of 1,000 tons.[2]

Fate

The Arnhem, captained by Pieter Anthoniszoon, was one of seven VOC ships that left Batavia on 23 December 1661, homeward bound via the Cape of Good Hope. The other vessels were the Wapen van Holland, Prins Willem, Vogel Phoenix, Maarsseveen, Prinses Royal and Gekroonde Leeuw.

On 11 February 1662, the fleet was scattered by a violent storm. The Wapen van Holland (920 tons), Gekroonde Leeuw (1,200 tons) and Prins Willem (1,200 tons) disappeared without trace. The following day Arnhem ran aground on the Saint Brandon Rocks (also known as Cargados Carajos), a group of atolls and reefs some 200 kilometres north-east of Mauritius.[3]

Volkert Evertsz and other survivors of the wreck came ashore on an islet and are thought to have been the last humans to see live dodos.

References

  1. ↑ Jack, Robert. Northmost Australia: Three Centuries of Exploration, Discovery, and Adventure in and around the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, with a Study of the Narratives of All the Explorers by Sea and Land in the Light of Modern Charting, Many Original or Hitherto Unpublished Documents, Thirty-Nine Illustrations, and Sixteen Specially Prepared Maps, Vol. 1. 1921
  2. 1 2 3 (Dutch) Arnhem, 1654, De VOCsite. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Arnhem (+1662)". Wrecksite. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
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