Batavia (ship) - Wreckage, Discovery and Recovery

Wreckage, Discovery and Recovery

During Admiralty surveys of the Abrolhos Islands on the north-west coast in April 1840, Captain Stokes of HMS Beagle reported that:

On the south west point of an island the beams of a large vessel were discovered, and as the crew of the Zeewyk, lost in 1728, reported having seen a wreck of a ship on this part, there is little doubt that the remains were those of the Batavia, Commodore Pelsart, lost in 1629. We in consequence named our temporary anchorage Batavia Road, and the whole group Pelsart Group.

However, Stokes appears to have confused the wreck of the Zeewyk for that of the Batavia.. In the 1950s, historian Henrietta Drake-Brockman, who had learnt of the story due to her association with the children of the Abrolhos Islands guano merchant F. C. Broadhurst, son of Charles Edward Broadhurst, argued from extensive archival research and translations by E. D. Drok, that the wreck must lie in the Wallabi Group of islands. Surveyor Bruce Melrose and diving journalist Hugh Edwards agreed with the theory. In association with Drake-Brockman, Edwards organised a number of search expeditions near Beacon Island in the early 1960s and narrowly missed locating the site. After Edwards provided his research to them, and after being led to the place by Abrolhos rock lobster-fisherman Dave Johnson (who had seen an anchor from his boat while setting lobster pots), on June 4, 1963 Max and Graham Cramer with Greg Allen became the first to dive on the site. Its location, together with those of the VOC ship Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) and the English East India Company Triall (Tryal), in the early 1960s, led to the formation of the Departments of Maritime Archaeology and Materials Conservation and Restoration at the Western Australian Museum.

In the period 1970 through to 1974, under the leadership of maritime archaeologist Jeremy Green of the Western Australian Museum, some of the cannon from the Batavia wreck, an anchor, and many artifacts were salvaged, including timbers from the port side of the ship's stern. These were then conserved by the Museum's conservation laboratories under the leadership of Colin Pearson and his successors Neil North and Ian MacLeod. Monitoring and treatment of the timbers is ongoing and is under the leadership of Ian Godfrey and Vicki Richards.

In order to facilitate the monitoring and any future treatment, the hull timbers were erected on a steel frame designed and erected by Geoff Kimpton, a member of Green's staff. The design, and that of a stone arch, or portico, which was also raised from the seabed, is such that individual components can be removed for treatment without affecting those adjacent, or the exhibit as a whole.

In 1972, the Netherlands transferred all rights to Dutch shipwrecks on the Australian coasts to Australia. Some of the items, including human remains, which were excavated, are now on display in the Western Australian Museum – Shipwreck Galleries in Fremantle, Australia. Others are held by the Western Australian Museum, Geraldton. These two museums presently share the remains: a replica stone arch is held in The Western Australian Museum – Shipwreck Galleries, which was intended to serve as a stone welcome arch for the city of Batavia and the actual stone arch is held in the Western Australian Museum, Geraldton; the original timbers from the ship's hull are held at the Western Australian Museum – Shipwreck Galleries. While a great deal of materials have been recovered from the wreck-site, the majority of the cannons and anchors have been left in-situ. As a result, the wreck remains one of the premier dive sites on the West Australian coast and is part of the museum's wreck trail, or underwater "museum-without-walls" concept.