Skipsvrak mynt Vergulde Draeck 1656

Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) (1656/04/28)

The Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) sailed from Texel bound for Batavia (Jakarta), under Pieter Albertsz carrying trade goods and eight chests of silver to the value of 78,6000 guilders. On 28 April 1656 the Vergulde Draeck was wrecked just south of Ledge Point. 75 of the 193 made it to shore. A small boat was sent with the Understeersman and six others to Batavia (now Jakarta) arriving 40 days later. There they reported that as they sailed away they saw the other survivors trying to refloat a larger boat that had capsized in the surf while landing. Two vessels were sent south in search, but failed in difficult conditions to sight either the wreckage or the survivors. Eleven men and a boat were also lost during the search. In January 1658 two other ships were sent out in search but also proved unsuccessful. In searching for survivors, the jacht Goede Hoop and the Waeckende Boei lost boats and 10 men. A boat commanded by Abraham Leeman also disappeared, but it successfully returned to Batavia, arriving nearly six months after having been given up as lost. The wreck, the first of the Dutch and English East India ships found on the Western Australian coast, was discovered by five spear-fishermen (John Cowen; Jim, Alan and Graeme Henderson; and Alan Robinson ) in April 1963. After a period in which both it and the Batavia, (which was found later in the same year) were heavily looted shipwreck legislation was enacted, vesting the sites in the Western Australian Museum. Subsequently the remains were excavated by Jeremy Green and a report was published. Materials from the wreck are on exhibition.