The Naarstigheid was a Dutch East Indiaman (spiegelretourschip) sailing for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). She was on her way from Bengal in the East, sailing homebound when she was demasted by a hurricane. During the six weeks that followed, they attempted to reach the Cape but failed. The ship was in very poor condition and they had to steer for Mozambique.

Painting of a Dutch East Indiaman.

The ship reached the Bay of Delagoa in very poor condition. She put into the bay dismasted and so leaky that it was difficult to keep her afloat. The anchor was cast in front of the ruins of the abandoned Dutch fort in the Bay of Delgoa, fort Lijdsaamheijd.

On 1 July 1757, she was set on fire after the company gave up on her due to the condition she was in. The crew remained on the location for two years before they were relieved by the ship Scholtenburg. Its cargo was transported to the cape and Patria by the ships Hector and Scholtenburg.

Dutch fort at Delagoa Bay, 1721 (source: vocsite.nl).

Map of Delagoa Bay from 1596 (source: atlasofmutualheritage.nl).

The Naarstigheid was a Dutch East Indiaman (spiegelretourschip) built in Delftshaven for the Delft Chamber of the VOC. She carried 250-295 souls.

Replica of a Dutch East Indiaman (Batavia).

Archaeologically we have no information regarding the wreck of the Naarstigheid. We only learn from the sources that they set her on fire in the Bay of Delagoa due to the poor condition she was in. No artefacts have been found. The only information about the wreck that we have is from the story written in 1761:

Rampspoedige reize van het O.I. schip de Naarstigheid in de terugreize enz., waarvan de schepelingen zijn thuisgekomen den 13en Juni 1760 met 't schip Scholtenburg.

This story was written by Jacob de Bucquoy, one of the people on board the ship.

Drawing of Jacob de Bucquoy.

• Gegevens VOC-schip Naarstigheid.
• Bucquoy, J. (1761) Rampspoedige reize van het O.I. schip de Naarstigheid in de terugreize enz., waarvan de schepelingen zijn thuisgekomen den 13en Juni 1760 met 't schip Scholtenburg.
• McCall Theal, G.(2010) History and Ethnography of Africa South of the Zambesi, from the settlement of the Portuguese at Sofala in September 1505 to the Conquest of the Cape Colony by the British in September 1795. Volume 3. Cambridge Library Collecti.
• NA-1.11.01.01-551, [s.a]. Lijst van alle zoodanige Schepen in soorten als bij de Generale Oostindische Compagnie zijn gemaekt oft gekocht als gehuurt alsmede waer oft de zelfde zijn agter gebleven ofte verongelukt als genoomen en verbrand, vermist of.
• RGP-GS166, 1979. Dutch-Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th centuries, Volume II, Outward-bound voyages from the Netherlands to Asia and the Cape (1595-1794). - Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979. - 765 p., [en] - ISBN 90-247-2270-5.
• RGP-GS167, 1979. Dutch-Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th centuries, Volume III, Homeward-bound voyages from Asia and the Cape to the Netherlands (1597-1795). - Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979. - 626 p., [en] - ISBN 90-247-228.