Page 150 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters
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carried out with smaller vessels that could sail against the favourable winds, or along alterna- tive routes, most vessels had to stick to the monsoons. The political-military aspects of the fleet composition were developing and changing over the whole period. In the early years of the VOC in Asia the power in this region had to be wrested from the Iberian competition and protected against possible English influence. After the mono- poly was established around , no further threat was expected from the European competi- tors. The VOC’s main concern was to maintain its power base in relation to the local rulers and against traders that could break through the VOC’s exclusive rights to the trade in spices by smuggling. Banning the local trade placed the VOC under an obligation to organise the supply of essential foodstuffs and other products to this region themselves. This, together with sup- plies for the extensive group of military personnel in the many fortifications, took up a substan- tial volume of transport capacity, which was however balanced by the availability of enough cargo to be shipped out of the region. The spices, mace, nutmeg and cloves were available in constant quantities and made shipping with large cargo carriers efficient. Table .: The activity level of the various types of VOC vessels in the separate destinations in the Spice Islands region - (areas in the first row of the table: . Bali, east Java, . Lesser Sunda Islands, . Sulawesi, . Ambon, Buru, western Ceram and adjacent islands, . Banda Archipel and eastern Ceram, . Arafura Sea, . Molucca Sea) The general development of this important region that formed the VOC’s core business right from the start, is characterised by a shift from a highly military operation to a situation where a minimal military presence made a maximal impact on trade possible. In Table - the transla- tion of this development into the activity levels of the various vessel types is clearly visible. Up to the vessels that were capable of military action (i.e. the big yachts, ships and specifically the men-of-war) were responsible for -% of the shipping activities around the Spice Is- lands. These vessels were involved in full-scale confrontations with the Spaniards, Portuguese and the English. After the VOC got the upper hand around , smaller vessels replaced these bigger military vessels to protect the monopoly against private traders. Only at Ternate was at least one man-of-war stationed against a possible Spanish attack from the Philippines. After the situation had stabilised, the VOC began the process of differentiating their fleet. The principle was to send textiles, (the main barter items for spices), supplies and staff on the big cargo car- Fleets per region
