Batavia: A Chilling True Story of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

by Daniel Turmoil

Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). She was built in Amsterdam in 1628 and was the flagship of one of the three annual fleets of company ships and sailed that year on her maiden voyage for Batavia, capital of the Dutch East Indies. On June 4th, 1629, Batavia wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos, a chain of small islands off Western Australia. As the ship slowly broke apart, approximately 300 of the her passengers and crew made their way ashore to Beacon Island, the rest drowning in their attempts. Her commander, Francisco Pelsaert, sailed in a longboat to get help, leaving the remaining crew and, ultimately in charge, senior VOC official Jeronimus Cornelisz, unaware that he had been plotting a mutiny for the entire journey, prior to the wreck. What followed was nothing short of pure savagery.

13 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 22, 2024