Page 72 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

and the resumption of the war with Portugal; with a total of  spread over concentrated peri- ods. The other  arrived in Asia at a frequency of less than one big yacht every two years. As the life span of such yachts was usually much longer than the conflict, they were often used for purposes other than those for which they were originally intended. In some instances the con- flict even ended before the yachts reached Asia. From the early th century, the larger yachts combined military function with cargo trans- portation in Asia. After , some large yachts took cargo directly from the Coromandel Coast to the Netherlands. The Portuguese force in this area was such that until about  large well- armed VOC vessels were needed to transport rich cargoes safely. With the development of Batavia as a rendezvous, fewer yachts sailed directly from the Coromandel Coast to the Nether- lands. During this period, until , these large yachts also played an important role in the waters around the Philippines in preventing trade between the Spanish and the Chinese. Some were also deployed against the English fleet in the confrontation around Jayakarta (later Bata- via). After the conquest of Jayakarta and the establishment of Batavia as the new headquarters, the VOC regularly blockaded Bantam to direct trade to Batavia. To prevent the English vessels from sailing to Bantam, the Dutch fleet needed to include at least one vessel of the same force as the enemy ships, so these blockades were often managed from a Rate  yacht, although there were no open hostilities with the English. In the period between  and , the VOC only purchased a few yachts of  last or more. The yachts built by the Company in this period were all of Rate  dimensions or smaller, with the largest charters in  and  of  by  feet and  by  feet respectively. With military conflict with the Portuguese and the English looming from , the VOC felt the need for larger yachts. In , the Company built yachts with a length of  feet and a beam of  feet at its own wharfs. When the war started in , these dimensions were increased to  by  feet for new yachts (NA .., VOC , --). According to the Heren XVII, yachts of this size had to be brought into the egalisaties system at only  last, but in the Navale Mach- ten they are shown as around  last, which must have been their actual cargo capacity. In the same year, the VOC also bought some large yachts of about the same dimensions from the wharfs in Zaandam, an important Dutch shipbuilding centre of that time. The same yachts were first inspected by the Admiralties, which considered them useful for service after some small adaptations. The high purchase price and the timing – the end of the war – meant that they were not bought by the State (Elias , p. ). However, a few months after the inspec- tion by the Admiralties, the VOC was able to buy them at a lower price. These yachts are also mentioned in the Navale Machten at values of about  last. Between  and  the VOC sent a total of  well-armed large yachts to Asia – three times more than in the previous  years. Moreover, the VOC built two large yachts in Siam. During the short war with the Eng- lish, the VOC also conquered a number of vessels, one of which, the Avondster (ID:), belongs to this rate. However, before most of these big yachts arrived in Asia, the war with England had ended and with it, the urgent need for these vessels of attack in Asia. In  the VOC found itself with an extensive fleet of well-armed yachts that somehow had to fit in with more peaceful activities. The relatively small cargo capacity of these yachts was not an advantage and the specialised military function was in some cases a problem for trading activities when their appearance made local partners uneasy about the VOC’s exact intentions. In the s, the VOC only had need for the offensive military power of these yachts in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Most of the large yachts served in the annual blockade of Goa on a number of occasions. This kept them locked around Goa from September to May during the southwest monsoon. The yachts were then deployed within the area for other pur- poses. There were limited trade options between Goa and Batavia, the most common was the transport of pepper from the Malabar and cinnamon from Ceylon. Visiting Coromandel on the return trip to Batavia would not allow enough time to refit and then resume activities at the beginning of the next blockade. Commercially, the use of these big yachts for blockades was justified because preventing Portuguese exports from Goa was believed to result in higher prof-  cannon and  men to enable them to resist possible attempts by the large Portuguese vessels . During the annual blockade these vessels were fitted with up to  its for the VOC in Europe to break through. The Portuguese did not succeed in breaking out of Goa; the Dutch vessels The development of the VOC fleet 