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stepping stones of maritime history

History

In the summer of 1719, Amsterdam shipbuilder Jan Gerbrandse Slegt started work on the construction of a frigate called the Leusden. The vessel had been ordered by the Dutch West India Company (WIC) to serve in the transatlantic slave trade, and was ready just eight months later.

Between 1721 and 1736, Leusden made nine successful voyages, sailing to Elmina on Africa's Slave coast to buy African captives, delivering them to the slave markets on St. Eustatius and Suriname.

The Brookes slave ship plan
Wikimedia Commons


The Brookes slave ship plan (1789), showing how the captives were stowed on board, was an image widely used by campaigners for the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade (source: Wikipedia Commons).

While being comparable in size to the well known slave Danish slave ship Fredensborg, which provided a space of only 180 x 40 x 70 cm per captive, the Leusden carried an average of 658 captives on board - more than double that of the Fredensborg. This is an indication of the harrowing circumstances on board. Not surprisingly, over the years several slave uprisings took place on board.

Tragedy of the Leusden

At the very end of the year 1737, the Leusden had reached the South-American coast in record time, owing to favourable weather conditions. However, on 31 December, a heavy storm broke out, covering Leusden in a thick fog.

The next day, when the weather had cleared up, Leusden's crew found themselves and their ship in the shallow murky waters of the Marowijne river delta, between modern day Suriname and French Guiana.

Part of an old chart with a river delta.
Nationaal Archief
The Marowijne river, detail of a chart of the eastern Caribbean and Surinam by Gerard Hulst van Keulen, 1785.

While a scout was sent out on a sloop to establish their precise location, the flood slowly dragged the ship towards even shallower water, until the bottom of the ship hit the river bed. Attempts to free the ship only caused more damage to the hull, and the vessel started to leak.

A photo of a sand bank in a river.
Panoramio
The Marowijne delta during low tide.

Panic

At this point, panic broke out. The enslaved people locked up in the ship's cargo hold desperately tried to escape to the upper deck. In fear of being overpowered, the crew of the Leusden nailed the hatches shut, trapping nearly 700 African men, women and children inside the sinking ship. Almost all of them drowned and only 16 enslaved people survived the disaster.

The next morning, the crew left for Paramaribo with the 16 survivors. Upon arrival in the city, these 16 people were sold on the slave market.

Trailer - Slave ship Leusden (Boschtion Media).

Description

Status

Historical-archaeological research into the Leusden

Despite the Leusden's demise arguably being one of the greatest human tragedies in Dutch and Surinamese history, the story had never reached much attention until independent historian Leo Balai wrote his PhD thesis on the subject in the period 2006 - 2011.

The completion of this research spawned a project which is coordinated by Balai and Jerzy Gawronski of the University of Amsterdam, and is aimed at locating the wreck.

Precise historical and archaeological data on slave ships are scarcely available. The only known wreck site is that of the slave ship Fredensborg (lost in 1768), which has been excavated in 1998. Therefore the wreck of the Leusden would offer tremendous research potential regarding the construction and equipment of slave ships, the daily reality of slave transportation and the material culture and physical backgrounds of the African slaves.

In addition, the wreck site - a grave to nearly 700 African captives - would be of great spiritual value to the local community.

First results

In August 2013, a first survey of the Marowijne delta was conducted by an international team of scientists. The aim of the project was mainly to test magnetometer equipment and to explore the availability of facilities necessary for the HAR Leusden project.

Despite the limited scope of the survey, scans of the riverbed already resulted in two very clear and three weaker iron signals, indicating the locations of several shipwrecks waiting to be identified. The research involved the University of Amsterdam, the Suriname Directorate for Culture, and the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE).

The cover of a book with the titel: 'The slave ship Leusden', with a photo of a ship at sea underneath.
Walburg Pers
Leo Balai wrote a book about the last voyage of the Leusden.

The slave voyages

According to Slavevoyages,org, the Leusden transported enslaved people on the following voyages:

1721 North Congo to St. Eustatius under captains Jacbo Teijl, Pieter Ras and Jan Schamp, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 465 people taken on board, 406 survived the voyage.

1722 Elmina to St. Eustatius under captain Pieter Ras, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 562 people taken on board, 471 survived the voyage.

1724 Elmina to Berbice under captain Pieter Ras, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 605 people taken on board, 535 survived the voyage.

 1726 Elmina to St. Eustatius under captain Jan Schamp, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 747 people taken on board, 676 survived the voyage.

1727 Gold Coast to Paramaribo under captain Jan Schamp, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 748 people taken on board, 862 survived the voyage.

1729 Jaquin to Paramaribo under captains Simon Ovens and Jochem Outjes, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 708 people taken on board, 636 survived the voyage.

1731 Jaquin to Paramaribo under captain Bruijn Harmensz, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 629 people taken on board, 553 survived the voyage.

1733 Badagry and Apa to Paramaribo under captain Andries Graan, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 714 people taken on board, 673 survived the voyage.

1735 Badagry and Apa to Paramaribo under captain Daniel de Velde, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 645 people taken on board, 280 survived the voyage.

1738 Elmina to Paramaribo under captains Jochem Outjes and Lodewijk Lodewijcksz, main investor Jan Vessuijp. Of the 700 people taken on board, 14 survived the voyage.

References

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