The Walcheren was part of a Dutch East India Company (VOC) fleet of eight ships that sailed for the east in April and May 1606 under the command of admiral Paulus can Caerden. The other ships were the Banda, Zierikzee, Ceylon, Ter Veer, Bantam, China and the Patani.

After passing the Cape of Good Hope, the fleet first sailed to Mozambique to drive out the Portuguese, which were their orders. This failed due to a strong Protuguese defense and the Zierikzee was lost (see Zierikzee).

Van Caerden arrived at Bantam (Java) between 5 and 8 Januari 1608, where he met the VOC officials Jacques l'Hwermite and Cornelis Matelieff, who sent him on to Ambon.

The fleet arrived in the Moluccas in May. There, van Caerden tried to drive away the Spaniards and the Portuguese as much as possible from the islands that produced cloves - the start of the attempts of the VOC to rule these islands by force and to gain a monopoly.

Rijksmuseum

Map of the island Makian on the Moluccas with the fort on the right, from the journal of the voyage around the world by Joris van Spilbergen, 1614-1617. Rijksmuseum, RP-P-OB-75.474.

In July 1608 the ships lay at anchor at the island of Makian, which had just been conquered on the Spaniards. A sudden 'swell' in quiet weather drove the ships on the coast and the Walcheren and the China were lost. Because there was no wind they were not able to sail away when the swell hit. The crews were able to save themselves, but the cargoes were lost. Especially the loss of a large amount of provisions was a problem for van Caerden. As to the cause of the 'swell', the experts differ in opinion. Some suspect a tsunami, others a typhoon at a distance.

A number of the cannons were salvaged from the lost ships and put in the fort that the Dutch had conquered from the Spaniards and which was renamed Zeven Provinciën ('Seven Provinces') by them.

After the loss of the Walcheren, the head merchant of this ship, Adriaen Woutersz, was made head merchant and captain of Fort Oranje on Ternate. The crew was mostly put on the ship the Kleine Zon.

Later, Paulus van Caerden was attacked by two Spanish galleys near the island Moro and was taken prisoner with his crew. They were put to work as rowing slaves on galleys. Years later, van Caerden died working as a forced labourer in Manilla (see de Jonge, p. 266).

Yard: Middelburg.
Tonnage: 700, 350 last.

• Dutch-Asiatic Shipping.
  Details of voyage 0113.1 from Wielingen to Goa.
• A. de Booy (1970).
  De derde reis van de VOC naar Oost-Indie onder het beleid van admiraal Paulus van Caerden, uitgezeild in 1606. Deel 2, p. 65.
  Werken Linschoten Vereeniging dl 71.
• Nationaal Archief.
  NA 1.04.02 (VOC) 481, fol 74 [scan 61).
• Nationaal Archief.
  NA 1.04.02 (VOC) 483 (scan 39).
• 1.04.02 4932_0011.