History
Lost in the Indian Ocean
The Eendracht made a successful first voyage to Asia under skipper Thomas de Beukelaar, arriving in Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in 1774. The ship stayed in Asia for a few years and undertook its return voyage to the Netherlands in February 1778
The ship was lost somewhere between Batavia and the Cape of Good Hope, since she never arrived at the Cape after departing from Batavia. The archives of the Governor General of Batavia record skipper de Beukelaar as having gone down with his ship, which could imply that there were survivors to relay this information.
Dulwich Picture Gallery/Wikimedia Commons
Painting of a Dutch East Indiaman off Hoorn, by Castro Lorenzo, before 1690.
Description
It is most likely that the ship was a so-called spiegelretourschip (a type of East Indiaman) but this is not certain.
Yard: VOC yard Delfshaven
Tonnage: 850 tons/425 last
Het Scheepvaartmuseum
The replica of the Amsterdam, a VOC spiegelretourschip from 1748, at the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam.
| Skipper | Beukelaar, Thomas de |
|---|---|
| People on board | 249 |
| Length | 140 Amsterdam feet (39.6 m) |
References
- R. Bruijn, F.S. Gaastra, I. Schöffer.
DAS 8015.1. - Archive of the Governor-General and Councillors of the Indies (Asia),
Archive File: 2605 1778 January 1 - 1778 December 31.