Fortuyn (ship)

The "Fortuyn" (also spelled "Fortuin") was a ship owned by the Chamber of Amsterdam of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) which was lost on its maiden voyage in 1724. [cite web | title = Lost VOC Ships at VOC Historical Society | url = http://www.voc.iinet.net.au/lostships.html | accessdate = 2007-12-01] It set sail for Batavia from Texel in the Netherlands on 27 September 1723. The ship reached the Cape of Good Hope on 2 January 1724, and continued on its voyage on 18 January. [cite web | title = VOC Shipwrecks - Fortuin | url = http://www.vocshipwrecks.nl/out_voyages7/fortuin.html | accessdate = 2007-12-01] The "Fortuyn" was never seen again and its fate is a matter of speculation.

It was approximately 800 tons with a carrying capacity of 280 tons and 145 feet long. On its maiden voyage it was commanded by Pieter Westrik and had a crew of 225 men.

Location

Although VOC ships were not supposed to run within sight of the South Land (Australia) at that time of the year, it may have inadvertently sailed too far east and been wrecked off the Western Australian coast. Wreckage sighted in the Houtman Abrolhos by survivors of the "Zeewijk" in 1727, and by the "Beagle" in 1840, could have been from the "Fortuyn", or alternatively from the "Ridderschap van Holland", which disappeared in 1694, or less likely the " Aagtekerke" which disappeared in 1726.

The Australian National Shipwrecks Database records the ship as "possibly wrecked near Cocos Island". [cite web | title = National Shipwrecks database - Fortuyn | url = http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/heritage/nsd/nsd_form.pl?search_id=6792 | accessdate = 2007-12-01]

References

Further reading

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