History
The Aagtekerke was built for use by the VOC chamber of Zeeland, 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
Built in 1720, on the VOC yard in Middelburg for the Zeeland Chamber.
Tonnage: 800 tons (400 last).
Muzeeum/Wikimedia Commons
A painting of a different Dutch East Indiaman of the Zeeland Chamber: The Slot ter Hoge on the Roads of Rammekens, Jan Voermans, ca. 1780.
| Master | Rabodus, Nikolaas |
|---|---|
| People on board | 250 |
| Length | 145 feet (44.2 m) |
| Tonnage | 800 ton (400 last) |
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.
Howard Jones with a cannon on the wreck site. Western Morning News, 31 October 2012.