History
On its final voyage in 1664-1665, the Muskaatboom was part of a fleet led by Admiral Pieter de Bitter which was to bring home the richest cargo in years.
The Muskaatboom was a 600-tonne ship acquired in 1659 for the Chamber of Amsterdam. On 8 March 1660, it first set sail under the flag of the VOC, although she likely already made some voyages in Europe. After a stop at the Cape, the Muskaatboom arrived in Batavia on 13 December 1660, where it likely transported cargo to and from Batavia, as was common for VOC ships at the time. Years of service in tropical Asian waters were detrimental to the longevity of ships. Therefore, ships serving in these waters, carried increasingly less valuable cargo as time progressed, in order to mitigate heavy losses. This makes it puzzling that the Muskaatboom was part of one of the richest of fleets the VOC sent homeward in years.
The value of the cargo carried by the entire homeward-bound fleet totaled a value of 3,648,490 guilders. The Muskaatboom carried a value of 293,688 guilders, and most of the fleet’s vessels carried a similar amount. The estimated sales value back in the Netherlands was around eleven million guilders, enough to finance a year of war.
Under the command of Admiral De Bitter, the homeward-bound fleet, consisting of thirteen ships, left Batavia for the Cape on 23 December 1664. The Muskaatboom became separated from the rest of the fleet in February, however, and while the rest of the fleet waited for her, she was never seen again. This means that she likely foundered either during the storm between 11 and 18 February 1665 or on the storm of the 1st of March.
Contemporary reports state that the men feared for the ship’s lack of stability and overall defectiveness. Both the lack of stability and the dilapidated state it was in, must have caused the ship to wreck. It is very likely that the Indian Ocean’s cyclone season, set between January and March each year, must have meant its end. What is clear though, is that it did not wreck in South African waters.
Description
| Skipper | Jan Hermans |
|---|---|
| People on board | 299 |
| Tonnage | 600 ton (300 last) |
Status
A ship, which was thought to be the Muskaatboom was reported near the Cape of Good Hope. This discounts the report, as the likely location of the wreck is somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
The exact location of this wreck and precisely how it was lost still remains unknown.
For more information, see the following article:
References
- Wouter Schouten (1676).
Reistogt naar en door Oostindiën III boek. - NL-HaNA 1.04.02 4932 0106.
- 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]. - Lorenzo Castro.
A Dutch East-Indiaman off Hoorn. - van Helsdingen (2019).
The Muskaatboom and its perilous last voyage of 1664-1665. [Unpublished paper].
Leiden University.
