The Batavia Was a Ship of the VOC Which Was Sunk Off the Coast of Western Australia
THE BATAVIA
The Batavia was a ship of the VOC which was sunk off the coast of Western Australia.
There was a mutiny, and the trial that followed was a sensation at the time. When the ship was found late last century, its cargo showed us a special picture of trade and life in the 17th Century.
Explore the following sites to gain an understanding of the story of the Batavia, and what life was like at the time.
http://www.voc.iinet.net.au/batavia.html
http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/collections/maritime/march/shipwrecks/Batavia/batavia.html
http://www.abc.net.au/backyard/shipwrecks/wa/batavia.htm
http://members.iinet.com.au/~bill/batavia.html
Complete the following summary of the story, from your researches.
On October 28 16__ the VOC ship Batavia sailed from T___ on her first journey to B______. In command was Francesco Pelsaert a senior m______. He and the ship's S______Ariaen Jacobszoon were old e______. Jacobszoon wanted to seduce a p______called Lucretia van der Mijlen, but settled for her m_____ when she took up with P______. Jacobszoon started to fantasize about ______and turn to a life of piracy on the high seas.
The journey took ____ months. B __ weather slowed the voyabe, and the ship reached the Cape of Good Hope on ______1629. The Skipper went on a wild and violent d______binge. The Skipper was p______dressed down by Pelsaert which made him more angry. Soon after leaving the Cape, Jacobszoon and Cornelius bgan to plan a M ______. mutiny. They would take over the ship with k__ personnel, kill the s______, throw Pelsaert to the s_____ and take control of the t______. They would turn the Batavia into a p______ship, on the high seas and then settle in the I______. But on June ____ 1629 the Batavia ran violently aground on a reef in the H______Abrolhos, and she soon began to ______.
Most of the passengers and c____ landed on a nearby island (Batavia's Graveyard). Pelsaert and Jacobszoon with 30 sailors and most of the food and water landed on a smaller island ("Traitor's Island"). Pelsaert and Jacobszoon loaded the two ______and set sail for B______. They left a n____ for the other survivors, some of whom died of t____ in the first week before it r____. Jeronimus Cornelius, the most s______VOC man amongst the survivors, turned out to be a psychotic k______who controlled theo______. With a loyal band of murderous young men including c_____ boys, Cornelius began to kill anyone he believed would be a problem to his r______. The mutineers enjoyed complete c______over the survivors, and strutted around the islands wearing r____ and g_____ clothing plundered from surviving company stores.
Meanwhile, Wiebbe Hayes and his soldiers had found good sources of w____ and f___ on their islands, and sent pre-arranged s_____ signals announcing their find. He had wondered why his signals remained unanswered until escapees from the islands under C______'s reign of terror began to arrive by boat, raft or just s______and told their stories. He realized they were under threat and that an a_____ was likely so they set about f______the island and making w______. They had ___ people, which was more than Corneliszoon had under his command. Hayes t____ his men and waited for the attack.
These started in the last week of J____ 1629. Corneliszoon tried f_____ diplomacy and b_____ force but all attempts failed. Many were k_____ on both sides and Corneliszoon was c______. On S______17, the rescue ship S______was sighted. H____ was the first to speak to Pelsaert, and w_____ him of the mutineer's intentions and the m______was over.
The mutineers put on trial in a formal court on Batavia's G______. They had m______125 men, women and children. Water t______was used. S______were carried out on a nearby island. Some m______were hanged and one had both of his h_____ cut off. Other mutineers were taken back to Batavia to face e______there. Five men in a boat were sent to search the islands for any of the Batavia's t______. They were never seen again.
On their way to Batavia, two mutineers, Wouter Loos, a soldier, and Jan Pelgrom de Bye, a cabin boy, were left m______on the Australian mainland becoming Australia's first European s______. Hayes became a hero, was decorated by the VOC and promoted to s______. Pelsaert was blamed for what happened and all his finances and belongings were s______.