The Paddenburg made two outwardbound voyages to Asia. The first started from Texel 5-11-1732 to Batavia and back to The Netherlands (14-8-1734)

On 1 February 1735, the Paddenburg left Texel for Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) and Batavia. For its return voyage, the Paddenburg left Batavia on 2 January 1737, together with the Flora and the Iepenrode. Near cape Agulhas, a storm caused the convoy to separate, and left the Paddenburg in a damaged state (18-4-1737. Still, the journey could continue, and it arrived at the Cape on 27 April 1737 where it underwent repairs.

The Flora arrived two days later. On 20 May, the Iepenrode finally arrived. In the meantime, another six ships had entered the anchorage, which were the Goudriaan on 6 May, the Rodenrijs and Westerwijk on 7 May, the Papenburg on 10 May, the Buis on 11 May and the Duinbeek on 16 May.

Storm
On the night of 20 May, however, just as the return fleet was complete, a north-westerly wind started to build up towards a crescendo of disaster. Unaware of the imminent danger, the command of the ships had gone to shore in the morning of the 21st to pick up the usual documents at the Castle so that the fleet could leave for the Republic.

By the time they returned to the waterside, the storm was about to take its toll. The Iepenrode was torn from its anchors and the crew decided to beach at the mouth of the Salt River. There they hoped the ship, crew and cargo would stand a better chance of survival. However, once the vessel was beached, all three masts snapped and by the afternoon the ship had broken in two. Many men drowned or suffered fatal blows from the wooden debris flying around. Soon after, the same happened to the Goudriaan and its crew when it was beached near the Salt River. Only a few seamen survived.

The anchors of the Flora also broke and when it was close to the Goudriaan, the ship was smashed to pieces . Only six men survived.

Paddenburg
The Paddenburg could not escape the same fate and it too was driven onto the beach. The aft end of the ship broke into pieces when it collided with the others, losing all the precious cargo. The forecastle and foremast, however, miraculously remained standing, and still stood after a second night on the beach. The surviving crew could make it out of the wreck alive by a rope line fixed on the beach. Only twelve men died.

Built: The Paddenburg was built in 1732 for the Chamber of Amsterdam.

The Paddenburg has not been found as it lies beneath reclaimed land.

• Dutch-Asiatic Shipping.
  Details of voyage 6993.2 from Batavia.
• Dagregister, 1737 NL-HaNA_1.11.06.18_87_0074.
• 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].
• Grootboek 1735 Paddenburg.