''Vianen'' () was a 17th-century Dutch East Indies Company sailing ship, used to transport cargo between Europe and the Indies. She was shipwrecked but refloated on her first voyage, and shipwrecked and sunk on her second. Built at Amsterdam in 1626, she had a gross tonnage of 400.

First voyage

''Vianen'' departed Texel bound for

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

on 19 March 1627, and arrived at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

on 16 July. Departing the Cape on 7 August, she arrived at Batavia on 8 October. On 6 January she departed Batavia as part of a fleet of seven ships bound for Europe under the command of the outgoing

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies ( nl, gouverneur-generaal van Nederlands Indië) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese fo ...

Pieter de Carpentier. Just as the fleet was leaving, however, a valuable cargo arrived at Batavia from China, so ''Vianen'' was held back to be loaded. She was then sent to catch up with the main fleet, but had been loaded too hastily, and had to return to port to have her load balanced by the addition of 5000 ingots of copper. When ''Vianen'' finally departed Batavia again on 20 January, the monsoon had set in, preventing her from taking the usual route through the

Sunda Strait The Sunda Strait ( id, Selat Sunda) is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java island, Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean. Etymology The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the weste ...

. Instead, the captain, Gerrit Frederikszoon de Witt, was ordered to set a course through the Strait of Balamboan. Strong head winds then drove ''Vianen'' so far south that she ran aground in the vicinity of Barrow Island on the northwest coast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The crew were "forced to throw overboard 8 to 10

lasts A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, and ...

of pepper and a quantity of copper, upon which through God's mercy, she got off again without further damage." On returning north, de Witt charted the northwest coast about as far as the present-day location of Port Hedland. This part of the coast would later appear on maps as "G.F. de Wits Landt" or "de Wits Landt" ("de Witt's Land"). The crew also sighted Indigenous Australians in the vicinity of present-day Roebourne; this is believed to be the first European sighting of Indigenous Australians in Western Australia. ''Vianen'' arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 24 May. She departed on 1 June, and arrived at her destination, Goeree, Zeeland, on 8 November.

Second voyage

''Vianen'' departed Texel for Batavia on 7 May 1629 and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 27 August, staying there until 12 September. On 14 November 1629, she was shipwrecked and sunk in the

References

* {{coord, -5.92, 105.88, type:event_region:ID, display=title 1620s ships Maritime incidents in 1628 Maritime incidents in 1629 Exploration ships of the Dutch Republic European exploration of Australia Shipwrecks of Western Australia Ships of the Dutch East India Company