Batavia

This is an original oil painting by Grant R. Fairbanks of the flagship of the Dutch East India Company which ran aground sailing to Java in 1629 on her maiden voyage.  The Batavia came to grief when she wrecked on a coral archipelago (Houtman’s Abrolhos), 50 miles off the west coast of Australia.  It is one of the most tragic episodes is maritime history. 

The Batavia ran aground on a reef at 3-o’clock in the morning on June 5, 1629, on a location which was not represented on any of the maps.  Although a mutiny had been brewing on the ship, when its commander left in the ship’s long boat for Java to get a rescue vessel, the mutiny came to fruition on the collection of islands.  Of the 332 survivors, 216 were murdered.  The Batavia was destroyed by action of the waves, but sunken remnants of the ship have been rescued and are currently on display at a maritime museum in Fremantle, western Australia, close to Perth. 

A full-size replica of the flagship Batavia was built at the Bataviawerf (Batavia Wharf) in Lelystad in the Netherlands and was launched in 1995 under master-shipbuilder Willem Vos. It is seaworthy and can be visited. 

Color copies of the painting on canvas (giclée) are available for purchase.
 
Artwork unfinished.