Page 158 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

complexity of the trade and shipping network between these regions illustrates the flexibility of the VOC in utilising their ships to the fullest extent and keeping them sailing, in contrast to the Portuguese who often left ships idle waiting for a change of season. Optimising the use of the different ships within the Asian shipping network was in itself a difficult task. Connecting the supply of cargo from various regions to the Europe-Asia shipping network made the task even more complex. The development of the shipping and trade net- work is outlined in Chapter . The logistical organisation required to link the intercontinental and the intra-Asian shipping was incredibly complex and the prescript timeframe for the de- parture of the homeward bounders to Europe contributed to bottlenecks in Batavia. In order to be in the Netherlands at a convenient time before the winter and avoiding the Asian monsoon season, shipping would have to occur in a timely manner within tight timeframes. By working out a scheme in which the VOC made optimum use of a variation of vessel types most of these problems could be overcome. Also on a local level, as for instance, in Taiwan, where the trans- hipment of the Chinese and Japanese products required small vessels only for a short period in the year, the VOC optimised their operation by sending specific vessels to the region for this purpose, but employed for other purposes during the off season. A VOC fleet for Asia To what extent was the VOC fleet differentiated? Analysis of the composition of the VOC fleet in Asia allowed conclusions to be drawn regard- ing the level of differentiation within the fleet. In the period - the VOC network was in a state of constant development and modification. After the initial stage, when fleets were sent to Asia and sailed back to the Netherlands after collecting Asian goods, the VOC successfully set up their own shipping network in Asia. This endeavour required a greater and greater differentiation of the fleet. The role of the various vessel-types in this process is clear from the analysis of fleet composition. The first clear step towards differentiation took place after  when the Retourschip (rate ), appeared as a specialised vessel. The Retourschip was initially introduced as a new name for the existing big ships of rate  that were serving as de facto Retourschepen (homeward-boun- ders), but it was not long before this rate became a subject of intense debate at VOC directors’ meetings and an important component in the VOC shipbuilding program. From this time on- wards, a steady growth in the numbers of this type of vessel can be seen. Retourschepen were robust and under normal circumstances could last for at least twenty years, that is providing no disasters befell the ship and it was regularly maintained. Retourschepen were mainly employed on the route between Europe and Java, the connection point where the Asian shipping network assembled the Asian merchandise. Later in their career these ships would serve in Asia if they were no longer fit to make the intercontinental journey to Europe. In Asia they could be em- ployed as cargo carriers or, on an incidental basis, as well-armed ships for military operations. In that respect they took over the role of the men-of-war (rate ) that were especially active in Asia in the early period of the Dutch presence in Asian waters. In this early period the VOC sailed to Portuguese strongholds with a large offensive fleet. With a truce in  this strategy changed to more specific offensive actions where the direct interests of the VOC could be proved. So instead of Mozambique and Goa the men-of-war were employed in the regions around the Spice Islands, the Philippines and in  in the Strait of Malacca. The rate  men- of-war that came into service shortly before  were explicitly meant to fight the English. When the English became allies of the Dutch, these ships were employed instead in an Anglo- Dutch ‘fleet of defence’ against the Iberian enemy in the region of the Spice Islands, the south China Sea, and the Persian Gulf. The partnership between the VOC and the English was not very enduring or successful. The coalition broke up in the early ’s. After  the role of the big men-of-war in the VOC fleet was also reduced as the early Dutch State subsidy for the efforts of the VOC against the Portuguese no longer took the form of Admiralty vessels. For  Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters