Eight other vessels wrecked on the 21st of May 1737, which resulted in 208 lives and £160 000 of cargo being lost. At the time of the gale, the commanders of the ships were onshore to get the documentation for the fleet to leave for the Netherlands.

The Flora, Iepenrode and Paddenburg were enroute to the Netherlands from Batavia. However, prior to reaching the Cape, the convoy was separated in a storm off the Agulhas reef. Despite taking about a month longer to reach the Cape than the Flora and the Paddenburg, the Iepenrode was the only ship in the convoy that had not been damaged by the storm.

The Iepenrode did eventually meet its demise when a north-westerly gale on the morning of 21 May caused her to break free from her anchors and she was driven ashore. The shock of her striking the beach caused her masts to fall, and she broke up in the surf.

Some of the crew reached the shore, but many lives were lost

The wreck of the Iepenrode has not yet been found as it lies beneath reclaimed land.

• Dutch-Asiatic Shipping.
  Details of voyage 6991.2 from Batavia.
  Huygens ING.
• Generale missiven van gouverneurs-generaal en raden aan heren XVII der Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie.
• SAHRA Database.
• Lesa la Grange, Martijn Manders, Briege Williams, John Gribble and Leon Derksen (2024).
  Dutch Shipwrecks in South African Waters: A Brief History of Sites, Stores and Archives [Unpublished].
• Dijkman, A.E. (2019).
  Ramp van 21 mei 1737. Het verhaal van de grootste scheepsramp uit de VOC-geschiedenis. [Unpublished paper].
  Leiden University.