Nieuw Walcheren

The island off the north coast of South-America known today as Tobago, was first colonized by the Dutch West India Company in 1628. Nieuw Walcheren, as they called it, provided the Dutch with an abundance of local products, such as sugar, rum and cacao. The island would play an important role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade for several years.

 After the second and third Anglo-Dutch wars of 1665-1667 and 1672-1674, during which the island temporarily fell to buccaneers and to the British, the colony was left devastated, and had to be resettled. The arrival of 500 new colonists on the island in June 1676 and the building of the Sterreschans fortress would, however, not restore Dutch control overNieuw Walcheren for long, as a former ally to the British - France - had also set its eye on the island.

The first battle of Scarborough (3-3-1677)

 On March 3rd 1677 the French fleet, under command of Vice Admiral Jean II Comted'Estrees, launched an attack on Nieuw Vlissingen, the main settlement on the island, now named Scarborough. After an initial failed attempt to take the Sterreschans overland, d'Estrees decided on a final two-pronged attack from both sea and land. Both sides suffered severe losses: the French lost five of their vessels, including their flagship Le Glorieux, and around a thousand men. The Dutch lost ten of their ships (see table below), but managed to repel the attack, only to suffer a final defeat in December the same year.

Tobago 1677 Shipwreck Project

In 1991, during large scale dredging operations in Scarborough harbour, rumours were that many ship's timbers, bottles, clay pipes and coin, were being found at the site. When someone was caught while trying to smuggle a bronze cannon, thought to be from the French flagship Le Glorieux, through the port, the authorities stepped in to protect the remains of the 1677 battle. In the mid 1990's, a magnetometer survey and limited excavations at the site revealed the location of several shipwrecks. Based on the known positions of the ships during the battle, it is likely that those vessels were Dutch.

Within the scope of the Tobago 1677 Shipwreck Project, led by Kroum Batchvarov of the University of Connecticut, preliminary investigations were carried out in 2012. A first systematic investigation of the wrecks will be conducted in 2013. As of now, five wrecks have been investigated, and promise not only to reveal important information about the course of the naval battle at Tobago in 1677 and its consequences, but also to expand our understanding of the technology, economy and environment of the 17th century. Also, project aims to aid Trinidad & Tobago in the protection of underwater heritage by establishing conservation facilities on the island and to provide educational opportunities to local students.

Expected wrecks

Tobago 1677 Shipwreck Project

In April 2012, after 5 years of lobbying, the THA issued Batchvarov and his project team a permit to conduct an archaeological investigation of the shipwrecks located in Rockley Bay, Scarborough Harbor.

The primary objective of the RBRP is to locate and survey 17th century shipwrecks associated with the Franco-Dutch naval battle of 1677. The next stage of the Rockley Bay Research Project will be to conduct a thorough survey Scarborough Harbour, assess Site TRB-4, and relocate sites along both the ferry jetties and the Navy station jetty where construction cut through ship remains.

During the first ten day expedition in 2012, the team located and recorded multiple cannon, anchor, ceramic, and metal artifacts as well as wooden hull remains of five to seven shipwrecks in Rockly Bay, Scarborough Harbour, Tobago. In 2013 and 2014, the team conducted test excavations at three potential shipwreck sites, pioneered new 3D recording techniques and collected samples of intact hull structure for dendrochronological dating. Based on the material observed at TRB-5, the RBRP team believes it has discovered a coherent and potentially historically significant 17th century Dutch wreck, possibly the Huis de Kruiningen. Beyond this important archaeological find, the team also tested and successfully produced new recording methods utilizing Structure from Motion technology. SfM allows field projects to better understand, plan, and disseminate information about a site in real time.

Field school 2023
I n 2023, Rockley Bay in Tobago was the site of a UNESCO training program on the protection and management of underwater cultural heritage (UCH). This event, which ran from November 20 to December 8, 2023, trained 13 students from the Caribbean and Latin America on UCH management and included practical dive work at the presumed wreck of the Huis te Kruiningen, The site, officially called TRB-5,

Although underwater cultural heritage is invisible for most people, it is an important part of the joint Caribbean past and it links up the area with other parts of the world. From 20 November through 8 December 2023, UNESCO and the RCE organise this field school to train local archaeologists in taking care of this underwater cultural heritage for future generations. The RCE finances this field school as part of its International Heritage Cooperation Programme.

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