Page 11 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

position in the European shipping network. Their efficient assimilation into the changing cir- cumstances in the European shipping trade is seen as the most important quality of the Dutch shipbuilders and skippers (Davids , pp. -; Unger , pp. -). In the course of the th century, the traditional sailing areas in northwest Europe were extended to the Atlantic coast, the Arctic seas, the Mediterranean and, later, also Africa and Brazil. These new destina- tions meant new sailing conditions and new types of trade and cargo, which in turn led to new requirements for ships and shipping organisation. New ship types were developed as a result of a general scaling-up in the second half of the th century. The most famous example of this development is the development of the flute, which was designed in the s as a new type of ship for the developing European trade. It met the ideal combined requirements of both the merchant and the skipper, being cheap to build, easy to sail and having a large cargo capacity. Changes took place on many levels of the shipping and shipbuilding sectors. Most of these modifications were not as spectacular as the new flute design; however, the instigation of these changes was the reason for the success in shipping that the Dutch enjoyed in the th century (Wegener Sleeswijk ). Sailing and trading in Asia were new for nearly all the Dutch merchants, skippers and sail- ors. Although some theoretical information had been gathered by spying on the Portuguese who had been sailing to Asia from the end of the th century, the practicalities had to be learned by trial and error. Purpose of this study: ‘The missing link’ This period in Dutch maritime history has been recognised for its importance and has been the subject of many publications over the years (Gaastra , pp. -). However, most of these accounts have dealt with the political and/or economic aspects of the early stages of the Dutch presence in Asia. The study ‘VOC als zeemacht’ by MacLeod () contains a lot of informa- tion on the development of shipping in Asia until . Although it was the preliminary goal of this author to describe the political/military implications of the Dutch expansion in Asia, ex- haustive listings of departure and arrival dates to illustrate the movements of the VOC officials, offer an insight into the development of VOC shipping in Asia. This maritime aspect of the Dutch history in Asia is also known through the many published ship journals. De Linschoten- vereninging in particular has been very active since  in publishing journals on the voyages made by VOC ships and skippers. To date, the prevalent view of VOC shipping is based on the monumental volume ‘Dutch-Asiatic Shipping’ (DAS) by Bruijn, Gaastra and Schöffer (- ). This work focuses mainly on one aspect of the shipping network, i.e. the route between Europe and Asia, the so-called Retourvaart (‘return shipping’ or homeward bound shipping). Shipping within Asia itself is therefore not the main focus of these studies. Initial investigations into the Asian world behind European-Asian shipping began during research for the full-size reconstruction of a th century VOC ship. From the mid s, re- search was carried out for the Batavia, wrecked off the coast of Western Australia in . The wreck has been the subject of archaeological research by the Western Australian Maritime Mu- seum in Fremantle since the s (Green ). In , a reconstruction project started in the Netherlands. Based on archaeological, historical and iconographic evidence interpreted by tra- ditional shipbuilders, a full size reconstruction was built in the Netherlands (Green & Parthe- sius ; Parthesius ). The research question addressed an understanding of the design and construction of the ship. In order to address this, it was necessary to reconstruct the func- tions of ships like the Batavia and the nautical conditions under which they had to operate. The work undertaken for the Batavia opened a window on the complexity of the VOC’s intra-Asian networks, which in turn motivated further exploration and thus led to the present study. The construction of the ‘biography’ of ships, like the Batavia, through the investigation of the VOC’s administrative records listing arrivals and departures as well as ships’ journals, correspondence and many other available sources was expanded over time to other ships and a longer period. With this initial work on the reconstruction of Asian voyages, the impetus was given for an extension of the research into Dutch Asiatic shipping.  Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters