Page 224 - Loss of the VOC Retourschip Batavia, Western Australia, 1629

The artefacts in their context
EQUIPMENT AND MA TERIALS RELA TED TO THE USE ON BOARD THE SIDP
Armament and military equipment
A group ofmaterial that has oneofthe most interesting
associations is the gunnery material. W e know already o f the complex structure of the composite guns, and the other bronze and iron guns. However, what has not been dis- cussed until now is the question of the location of the variousclassesofgunon board theship.From theposition of the guns on the wreck site, together with information given in Pelsaert'sJoumal, itispossible to getareasonable idea of the original disposition of the guns on theBatavia.
The site plan indicates that there were 30 guns on the ship, two long, bronze guns in the very frontpartofthe ship (one removed by Pelsaert), two shorter bronze in the fore part and two in the aft (but not at the very stem), two composite guns and the remaining ones made of iron (one of which was removed by Pel.saert). The two guns removed by Pelsaerl, it is understood, were in the fore-part of the ship or in the bak. We may assume this from his Journal:
18 Seplember. Towards evening we went to the Wreck. and fOWld that the ship was lying in many pieces, that apiece of the keel, with the flat of the hold. all above water had been washed away except a small piece of the bulwark which was above water, it was almost exactly in the same place where the ship had firsI sttuck. - apiece of the front of the ship was broken off and thrown half on the shal1ow, there also were lying2PiecesofCannon,oneofbrassandoneofiron, fallen from the mounts (rampaardcn 1. -By the. roreship was lying also one side of the poop, broken off al the starboard part of the gunner's Toom. Then there were several pieces of a lesser or greater size that had drifted apart 10 various places, so that there did not look to be much hope of salvaging much of the money OT the goods.....
5 October: Therefon: went to the Wreck of the foreship in order to get a. brass piece of cannon and one of iron. which were hanging on the Wreck, and towards night we got the brass cannon loose and have brought it to the Island.
On 6 do. the Wind Saulherly; in the morning I have sent the fore-mentioned piece of cannon on board~ and have not been able 10 work at the poop of the Wreck on account of the hollow breakers, but have sent the liule yawl to an island in order to see if there was anything to salvage.
On 9 do. lhe Wind as before. But a little quieter, therefore I have sent the boat to the Wreck 10 gel the other iron piece of carman. which they have brought towards evening.
We can therefore summarize that there was one iron
andonebronzegunremovedfrom thefore-partoftheship. Referring to the gun numbers in Fig. 25 (guns I to 28) and the details from the tables and records of the guns, the hypothetical disposition is given in the table below.
It is possible that the iron gun removed by Pelsaert was the pair to No. 19, since both the iron and bronze guns he recovered were on top of the reefand thus in the very fore- part of the ship. Certainly gun No. 28 was the pair to the bronze gun. This suggests that Nos 19 and 28, together wiih ihe malChing guns that Pelsaert recovered, were located in the bak; it is clear from what Pelsaert wrote that these two guns came from the same general area on the ship. It is assumed that with the lighter construction of the bak, it is more likely that the guns could be dragged from the site while still attached to major timbers of the bak.
The evidence for the location of guns Nos 20 & 23 is gleaned from Pelsaert when he states that a section of the starboard side of the ship near the gunner's room was
Located in the bak?
Either 1st or 2nd from bow (see below) Possibly 2nd from stem
Above the main gundeck
Stem gunport
1st gunport from stem
3rd gunport from stem
Possibly aft of composites above
Bronze guns No. 28
Nos 26 &27 Nos 24 & 25
Composite guns Nos 7 & 22
Iron guns
Nos 1 & 2
Nos 3 & 4 Nos 5 & 8 Nos 20 &23
Conraet Antonisz long gun Arent van der Put medium gun Henricus Meurs medium gun
Composite guns
A matched pair (see decorations) A matched pair (see decorations) A matched pair (see decorations) A matched pair (see decorations)
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