Page 62 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

 The development of the VOC fleet The main aim of this study is to investigate the role of the VOC fleet and the organisation of shipping in the development of the VOC in Asia during the th century. As described in Chapter , the inconsistent terminology used to describe the various vessel types can create confusion about the characteristics of specific vessels. To understand the role of these vessels, a number of categories were developed covering features that contributed to the organisation of the VOC in Asia. In this chapter the rationale for these categories is explained. Eleven categories were identified, comprising of ten rates and a further undefined group. ‘Rate ’ contains vessels that were mentioned in the literature but had a minimal role in shipping. For instance, a ship that may only have made one trip, or, alternatively, one about which, apart from its name, no other information is available. The Rates  to  cover various categories of vessels ranging from the small afbreekboots to large retourschepen. Table .: The composition of the VOC fleet in Asia to  in number. The homeward-bounder or retourschip \[Rate \] The largest and best known ship type in use by the VOC was what the organisation called the retourschip. The name originates from the cargoes brought home from Asia, which were called retouren in th century Dutch. Although Dutch ships returned regularly with Asian cargo after  and the word retouren was used from the beginning of the th century, the name re- tourschip only emerged after . Prior to this, all vessels returning from Asia were simply referred to as (East-) India ships. From , ships used by the VOC to transport goods from Asia to the Netherlands were called retourschepen, but the name also applied to the ship type specially built for this function. The first meaning of the term retourschip indicates the use of a certain vessel as a homeward-bounder and th century Dutch sources sometimes contain phrases such as ‘tot een Retourschip aen te leggen het Jacht Avontsterre’ \[to be used as a home- ward-bounder the yacht Avondsterre\] (NA .., VOC , fol. ) or ‘gebruiken de fluit ... tot een retourschip’, \[use the flute ... as a homeward-bounder\]. In this study, the use of the names ‘homeward-bounder’ and ‘retourschip’ refers to the second meaning, that is, as the term 