Page 102 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters
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various deck beams and deck planking of the orlop deck came loose and knees broke (Blussé, Milde & Ts`Ao Yung-Ho , p. ). Another cause of internal damage could be the firing of heavy cannons. An example of that is the ship Erasmus (ID:) that: ‘met alle dit schieten soo verswackt ende ontramponneert / dat het te verwonderen is / also veel balcken / knien / inhouten / balckhouten / 't welck de principale stijfte van 't Schip maken / in stucken geschoten zijn’ (was with all the shooting so weakened and destroyed, it is a wonder that, so many beams, knees, \[and other internal timbers\] that normally gives the ship its strength, has been shot in pieces (Commelin a, p. ). Once again this type of repair required specialist materials and expertise. The Erasmus did not make it to the Netherlands and was left behind at Mauritius. The leaking of the Dolfijn (see Case Study - in section .) was probably caused by combat near Taiwan. Supply of materials for maintenance The regular supply of the requisite materials was essential for the maintenance of the fleet. Most of these products were shipped from the Netherlands and therefore impacted on the car- go-carrying capacity of the outbound ships. There was a constant need for all shipping related products such as rope-work, sails and anchors. Naturally, the VOC tried to find local products that could replace the European materials but, according to their judgement, the quality was unacceptable and the price too high. The VOC in the Netherlands liked to control the deliveries and, of course, the associated profits. Where items such as timber and anchor cables made shipping from Europe impractical due to their sheer bulk, the supply of these items was sought in Asia. The VOC was the main transporter of spare materials that were exclusively intended for use on board their own fleet. The regulation of the required quantities and qualities needed in Asia compared to what was actually sent was an ongoing issue of concern for Batavia. In , Coen complained (as he usual did) that there were too few ships in Asia and that, there- fore, his warehouses were packed with spare materials: ‘Now that we have no ships here are the warehouses full with big cables and heavy anchors’ (Colenbrander , p. ). In , Governor-General Van der Lijn indicated that spares available were insufficient for the fleet and that through: ‘deficiency of these the Company would suffer big disadvantage and would fall into scarcity’ (Coolhaas , p. ). For anchor cables the VOC tried to utilise local products. From Surat and Coromandel the so- called vijger ropes were imported to Batavia but as it turned out they did not meet VOC stan- dard. In , Batavia asked for more ropes from the Netherlands because those from Surat were inadequate owing to the speed with which they rotted and yet still cost guilders (NA .., VOC , fol. ). Good quality hemp rope was available in Japan, but the prob- lem still existed in that there was no tar available to impregnate them (Coolhaas , p. ). The superiority of the European products (with associated economic benefits) was evident throughout the whole period under study. After the VOC established itself in Ceylon and on the Malabar Coast, enough cayer rope (made from the outer fibres of the coconut) was avail- able, but large quantities of hemp rope was still shipped to Asia. There is evidence to suggest attempts were made to produce rope with local raw materials. In , two years after the fortified city of Galle on the south tip of Ceylon was captured from the Portuguese, a request was made for European ropes to be sent via Batavia (NA .., VOC , fol. -). In , the VOC established a ropewalk in Galle where mainly the heavy anchor ropes were produced from the local coconut fibres (NA .., VOC , fol. ). Around , Galle had become almost self-sufficient in their rope production and only lighter ropes were requested from Bata- via. They even produced enough to send ropes to Batavia. These ropes were reasonably well received, and though Galle produced fuses, these however, failed to meet the VOC standard (NA .., VOC , fol. ). The development of Japan as a regional centre of maintenance where Asian materials and expertise were available looked promising for a while. The head of the VOC in Japan, Jacques Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters
