Ran aground during a naval battle

The Zwaan was a ship of the Dutch West India Company (WIC), chamber Amsterdam.

During the battle at the Rio Grande with a Portuguese fleet, on January 17th, 1640 in Paraíba in Brazil, the ship ran aground. The crew was saved by the yacht Fazant. A document on this can be found in the notarial archives of Amsterdam (see references).

Battle of Rio Grande

The battle is also known as the Fourth Battle of the Abrolhos or the fourth battle with the Portuguese fleet. Both sides sustained heavy damage, which led to a tactically inconclusive result.

Rijksmuseum

A series of 55 plates was made of the voyage to and stay in Brazil of count John Maurice of Nassau in the years 1636-1644. Number 45 depicts the fleet of the WIC under Willem Cornelisz Loos fighting the Portuguese fleet under count de la Torre at the Rio Grande. In the sky, a winged banderole is visible showing the title and the coats of arms of the warring parties.

The ship appears in the Kort Verhaal by De Laet.*

Tonnage: 250 last

Armament:

4 bronze cannon

18 iron cannon

8 cannon firing stone shot

Crew: 114 sailors, 95 soldiers

Rijksmuseum

The wreck has not been found.

• Natioaal Archief, Amsterdams notarieel archief
  ref. no. 1285, pp 178
• De Laet, Johannes (1644)
  Historie ofte iaerlijck verhael van de verrichtinghen der geoctroyeerde West-Indische Compagnie.