400 years Netherlands-Australia: Explorers: Shipwreck: The Zeewijk (1727)

Map made in 1727 by captain Jan Steyns, showing the wreck of the Zeewijk, and the home-made sloopfgebouwde sloep.

The Zeewijk (1727)

After the Zuytdorp, the only other ship known to have foundered is the Zeewijk, in 1727. With Jan Steyns as master, Jan Nebbens as the VOC representative, and 208 people on board, it left Zeeland on 7 November 1726. The cargo included ten chests of silver coins to the value of 316,000 guilders. After leaving Table Bay, the Zeewijk went aground on a reef on 9 June. The spot was later identified as Gun Island, one of the most north-westerly of the Abrolhos group.

When Jan Steyns came on deck at 7.30 that evening he thought he saw something in the water. A closer look revealed that it was breakers. He put about right away, but it was too late. The ship grounded on the reef with a terrible crash and within 15 minutes the hold was eight feet deep in water. Steyns had all three masts chopped down and at daybreak he ordered the barrels of drinking water and the boxes of ship’s biscuit to be taken to the highest part of the vessel.

It took the 125 survivors many attempts to make it through the breakers to one of the islands. There they found the remains of an earlier shipwreck. On 11 July the first mate and eleven seamen set off in the longboat, in which a mast and sail had been rigged, in an effort to reach Batavia. Nothing more was ever heard of them.

The rest of the survivors stayed on the island for nine months, hunting seals from rafts. On one of these expeditions they found one of the ship’s boats that had been swept away in the wreck. In the spring, they used it to fetch much-needed supplies, tools and water from the ship. Realising that the attempt to fetch help had failed, they decided to dismantle the wreck and in five months built a seaworthy single-masted yacht, which they named Sloepie. After weighing anchor on 26 March 1728, 81 survivors reached Batavia on 28 April.

In 1840 the British navy launched an expedition to survey the Australian coast. Commander Stokes of HMS Beagle found wreckage on Houtman’s Abrolhos which he believed to be from the Batavia. In fact, this was the island where the survivors from the Zeewijk had chopped wood. Stokes called it Pelsart Island, although Steyns Island would have been more appropriate. Stokes also landed on other islands, naming the largest Gun Island because he found a bronze VOC cannon. It was clear that this was where the men of the Zeewijk had struggled to survive for nine months. The channel between the Pelsaert Group and the Easter Group was named the Zeewijk Channel.

The wreck of the Zeewijk was actually found in 1966. An elephant tusk from its cargo was discovered on the inner curve of the fatal reef, together with wreckage scattered more widely. Because of its shape, Jan Steyns had called the reef Half Moon Reef, a name which it bears to this day.

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	Map made in 1727 by captain Jan Steyns, showing the wreck of the Zeewijk, and the home-made sloopfgebouwde sloep. The Zeewijk (1727) After the Zuytdorp, the only other ship known to have foundered is the Zeewijk, in 1727. With Jan Steyns as master, Jan Nebbens as the VOC representative, and 208 people on board, it left Zeeland on 7 November 1726. The cargo included ten chests of silver coins to the value of 316,000 guilders. After leaving Table Bay, the Zeewijk went aground on a reef on 9 June. The spot was later identified as Gun Island, one of the most north-westerly of the Abrolhos group. When Jan Steyns came on deck at 7.30 that evening he thought he saw something in the water. A closer look revealed that it was breakers. He put about right away, but it was too late. The ship grounded on the reef with a terrible crash and within 15 minutes the hold was eight feet deep in water. Steyns had all three masts chopped down and at daybreak he ordered the barrels of drinking water and the boxes of ship’s biscuit to be taken to the highest part of the vessel. It took the 125 survivors many attempts to make it through the breakers to one of the islands. There they found the remains of an earlier shipwreck. On 11 July the first mate and eleven seamen set off in the longboat, in which a mast and sail had been rigged, in an effort to reach Batavia. Nothing more was ever heard of them. The rest of the survivors stayed on the island for nine months, hunting seals from rafts. On one of these expeditions they found one of the ship’s boats that had been swept away in the wreck. In the spring, they used it to fetch much-needed supplies, tools and water from the ship. Realising that the attempt to fetch help had failed, they decided to dismantle the wreck and in five months built a seaworthy single-masted yacht, which they named Sloepie. After weighing anchor on 26 March 1728, 81 survivors reached Batavia on 28 April. In 1840 the British navy launched an expedition to survey the Australian coast. Commander Stokes of HMS Beagle found wreckage on Houtman’s Abrolhos which he believed to be from the Batavia. In fact, this was the island where the survivors from the Zeewijk had chopped wood. Stokes called it Pelsart Island, although Steyns Island would have been more appropriate. Stokes also landed on other islands, naming the largest Gun Island because he found a bronze VOC cannon. It was clear that this was where the men of the Zeewijk had struggled to survive for nine months. The channel between the Pelsaert Group and the Easter Group was named the Zeewijk Channel. The wreck of the Zeewijk was actually found in 1966. An elephant tusk from its cargo was discovered on the inner curve of the fatal reef, together with wreckage scattered more widely. Because of its shape, Jan Steyns had called the reef Half Moon Reef, a name which it bears to this day.



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