The Mystery of the Zuytdorp
Issue: Summer 2009
On 1 August 1711, the Zuytdorp, one of the largest ships owned by the Dutch East India Company, set sail for Batavia with 286 people aboard. The voyage of this 1000-ton East Indiaman, captained by Marinus Wysvliet, was a disaster.
The captain all but starved the crew, soldiers and passengers, and disease killed 112 of them before reaching the Cape of Good Hope. After recruiting new crew, the Zuytdorp left the Cape on 22 April 1712, and was never seen or heard from again. Her fate remained a mystery until her remains were discovered off the Western Australian coast. PHILLIP PLAYFORD recalls the excitement of that discovery.
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