Page 152 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters
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draught of less than feet could enter and bigger ships had to anchor in the rougher waters outside or at the Pescadores. In the early stage of the Dutch presence in this region there was an unsuccessful military attempt to establish a position on the Chinese market. After the Dutch had set up a post in Taiwan – the backdoor to the Chinese market – confrontations only took place on the instigation of the VOC until . Given the physical characteristics of the Chinese coast with its small islands, well-armed swift-sailing vessels were required. In the s the destinations Vietnam and Cambodia were engaged in internal power struggles in which the VOC involved itself. Well-armed yachts could best counter this type of conflict in which large confrontations with heavily armed ships were not expected. Table .: The activity level of the various types of VOC vessels in the region of the South and East China Sea per -year period to A military capacity was required for the (also unsuccessful) attempts to intercept the Spanish silver fleet from Mexico to the Philippines. At the end of the period studied the tensions around Taiwan were increasing and military reinforcements in the shape of heavily armed war yachts were required. On a political level, the favourable position of the VOC in Japan above the other European competitors came at the cost of restrictions on their visits. The Japanese authorities set the conditions of trade but they also tried to minimise the threat of the VOC ships. It was a common rule to remove the rudder of the vessels arriving at the trade post Deshima in Naga- saki. The restrictions practised by the Japanese and their effects on the VOC vessels can be learned from an incident in on the arrival of the yacht Hercules. In the s, as a result of the first Anglo-Dutch war, the VOC was left with a surplus of big war yachts in their Asian fleet. These ships were constructed at the cost of the flutes that were the ideal traders for this region and did not raise the suspicion of the Japanese authorities because of their light arma- ments. After the conflict was over these war yachts had to serve as regular trading vessels. When the Hercules (ID:) arrived in Japan the local authorities felt uncomfortable with this clearly well armed yacht and referred to the VOC’s obligation to send unarmed vessels (NA .., Factory Japan , fol. ). Mainly trading items for the Japanese market and supplies for the post at Taiwan were col- lected from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. There was a direct route between Thailand and Fleets per region
