History
The Aagtekerke was built for use by the Zeeland chamber of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), but was lost on her maiden voyage to Asia. She ran aground and sank near Plymouth, England, in December 1721. The Dutch National archives hold a report on the loss in an archive connected to VOC archives, which indicates that there was a cargo of silver on board that was brought ashore by the crew during the loss. A part of it was stolen by the crew (Radermacher archive, 1.10.69, 247).
Description
Yard: VOC yard in Middelburg.
Tonnage: 800 tons (400 last).
| Skipper | Rabodus, Nikolaas |
|---|---|
| People on board | 250 |
| Length | 145 feet (44.2 m) |
Status
In 2010 a wrecksite was discovered by four commercial divers - Howard Jones, Ray Ives, Chris Bird and Mike Pellet, who after two years of work concluded this to be the final resting place of the Aagtekerke. There was no consent for their work on the wreck site and their claim that this is the Aagtekerke has not been confirmed. Jones self-published a book on the process: Blind Faith.
