The Wreck of the Vansittart - 1789

[Old Bookaroo]

I am always particularly interested in sunken treasure stories that are new - the stories that are more than just re-hashes and repeats of the tired sea yarns.

Some years ago while reading Capt. William Bligh's book I came across:

Friday 9. [1789]

This day anchored in the road the General Elliot, an English ship commanded by Captain Lloyd. In the Straits of Banca he had met with some boats belonging to the East India Company's ship Vansittart that was lost in the straits of Billaton by having struck on a rock that went through her bottom. Captain Wilson, who commanded the Vansittart, I was informed had just finished a survey of those Straits and was hoisting his boat in when the ship struck. Immediately on receiving the intelligence Captain Lloyd, in the General Elliot and another ship in company called the Nonsuch, sailed for the wreck. They found the ship had been burnt down to the water's edge by the Malays. They however saved 40 chests of treasure out of 55 which were said to have been on board. Most of the ship's company were saved: one man only was lost in the ship, and five others in a small boat were missing who were supposed to have taken some of the treasure. The greater part of the people went with Captain Wilson to China, and some were with Captain Lloyd.

A VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEA, UNDERTAKEN BY COMMAND OF HIS MAJESTY, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVEYING THE BREAD-FRUIT TREE TO THE WEST INDIES, IN HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP THE BOUNTY, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT WILLIAM BLIGH. INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE MUTINY ON BOARD THE SAID SHIP, AND THE SUBSEQUENT VOYAGE OF PART OF THE CREW, IN THE SHIP'S BOAT, FROM TOFOA, ONE OF THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS, TO TIMOR, A DUTCH SETTLEMENT IN THE EAST INDIES. PUBLISHED BY PERMISSION OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY (LONDON: PRINTED FOR GEORGE NICOL, BOOKSELLER TO HIS MAJESTY, PALL-MALL. 1792).

It wasn't a lot to go on. I turned, of course, immediately to Potter. Nothing there. I wasn't able to learn any more for several years.

Then I very unexpectedly found this in the quite interesting Defining the Wind; The Beaufort Scale, and How a Nineteenth-Century Admiral Truned Science into Poetry by Scott Huler (New York: 2004):

“A central goal of the Vansittart’s journey was to survey the Gaspar Strait, just off Sumatra between the islands of Bangka and Belitung; sister ships of the East India Company had been lost there on dangerous and poorly charted shoals, which the Vansittart was to find and chart….

"The Vansittart found the shoals, all right – it found them good, running aground and sustaining enough damage that it ook on water so rapidly that the crew had to abandon the ship on a reef off a tiny island in the Java Sea. The Malay water were filled with pirates…In the hopes of returning to reclaim the ship’s treasure, they threw overboard thirteen treasure chests and piled into open boats…

"Captain Wilson persuaded the captains …[of two British ships] to ferry his crew back to the wreck of the Vansittart to recover what they could, though by the time they reached what remained of the ship, it was just as they feared: Malay pirates had burned and pillaged it. The crew managed to recover only three of the treasure chests."

The Vansittart came to grief August 24, 1789.



A Chart of the Isle of Java, with The Islands of Banca and Billiton, and Part of those of Sumatra and Borneo, by Sayer & Bennett (London: 1778)

I haven't been able to learn about more about the wreck, or any attempted salvage of her treasure, since then. I do know pirates continue to infest these waters.

Perhaps some folks here can add to this story.


Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo

PS: Next time - an interesting twist to this saga.

 

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[Batavia]

Shipwrecks in Indonesia

The wreck is located in Indonesia and the possible remaining silver must have been salvaged by local fishermen without publicizing anything...

... And the moratorium for survey and salvage is unfortunately still in place in this country. So unless you are willing to visit a local jail, it is advisable to find another story of shipwreck

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Batavia:

Thank you for that information! I'm a long way from that location. Since you are on the ground - is this a well known local story? Perhaps it was mentioned in Tony Wells' book? My copy if packed away at the moment.

I'm curious - why do you state the remaining silver "must" have been salvaged by local fisherman?

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Part II

I saw on eBay a copy of Peter Earle's Treasure Hunt (New York: 2008). I looked at the title page and there is a chapter "Jacob Rowe and the Wreck of the Vansittart." Peter Earle is a first-rate author, combing excellent (documented) research in the archives with fine writing. So, I ordered a copy.

Turns out there are two Vansittart treasure wrecks! This one was also an East-Indiaman (no surprise, based on her name) lost on her maiden voyage the night of March 2, 1719. She struck a rock on the north-west point of the Isle of May, Cape Verde Islands.



Particular Draughts of some of the chief African Islands in the Mediterranean, as also in the Atlantic and Ethiopic Oceans, by T. & E. Bowen (London: 1747)

Mr. Earle tells the whole story and it is an entertain account of treasure salvage (as is his entire book!). Some 40 chests of silver coin and bar were lost - 141,000 oz. Capt. Robert Hyde managed to salvage two of those chests, along with some loose specie and silver bars. He must have been a remarkable man to have accomplished that under such conditions.

Following a wreck masters often experienced difficulty keeping their crews organized, as parsimonious ship owners frequently stopped the sailors' pay after a wreck. Perhaps the Lord Proprietors of the East India Company maintained a different policy. In any event, Capt. Hyde's story would certainly be worth reading.

Jacob Rowe recovered with primitive equipment (state of the art for the day, of course) 27 treasure chests (75,000 oz. of silver), 868 slabs of lead, 64 cannon and 11 anchors. Eleven anchors!

Some 40,000 or more oz. of silver remain in the wreck.

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo

 

[Batavia]

Batavia:

Thank you for that information! I'm a long way from that location. Since you are on the ground - is this a well known local story? Perhaps it was mentioned in Tony Wells' book? My copy if packed away at the moment.

I'm curious - why do you state the remaining silver "must" have been salvaged by local fisherman?

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

This area is quite famous for all sorts of foreign and local treasure hunters. Fishermen also mostly divers for sea cucumbers etc... Quite easy for them to locate a wreck.

The Indonesian law on shipwrecks is actually based on fishermen's findings ! So, a "research" authorization is given on a specific point; there is no large area for survey authorized... And now, there is a moratorium for the last 3 years... Complicated !!!

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Batavia:

Thank you!

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo

 

[Corporate Investigations]

Hello Batavia

Did you ever consult Billy Connelly's wife Pamula during her question to find her ancestors ship?

Corp

 

[Batavia]

The Rosalie

Hello Batavia

Did you ever consult Billy Connelly's wife Pamula during her question to find her ancestors ship?

Corp

I was part of the team... It's Pamela (not Pamula) who consulted me :-)

 

[Corporate Investigations]

Hello Batavia

It is ironic long after her expedition I came across a document mentioning a Stevenson in South America that might of been her ancestor. I saw her documentary years ago and forgot her ancestors exact name. I came across the name and wondered if the Stevenson I found was her ancestor? However I am not sure of the date of the shipwreck of the Rosalie? I was researching some thing else and came across the name by chance.

One of things not of direct concern but of professional curiosity.

Corp

 

[Batavia]

Hello Batavia

It is ironic long after her expedition I came across a document mentioning a Stevenson in South America that might of been her ancestor. I saw her documentary years ago and forgot her ancestors exact name. I came across the name and wondered if the Stevenson I found was her ancestor? However I am not sure of the date of the shipwreck of the Rosalie? I was researching some thing else and came across the name by chance.

One of things not of direct concern but of professional curiosity.

Corp

If I can recall, she was lost in 1820...

 

[Corporate Investigations]

Hello Batavia

I found an account dated 1849 of a Dr coultard from memory so please forgive me if I am wrong with the name. He wrote in a gentleman magazine about his visit to Cocos island and he met an Englishman in his mid to late 50,s living in Wafer bay as a presumed Hermit. This man gave his last name as Stevenson and claimed he was a sea captain that was once shipwrecked. I wondered if he was connected to the ancestor Pamela was searching for? Of course it is fair to say it all just possibly a coincidence?

Corp

Old bookaroo sorry for hijacking the post please do continue with your fascinating story.

Corp

 

[Old Bookaroo]

CI:

No apologies are necessary! This is intended to be a conversation - not a monitored panel discussion.

Cocos Island is a particular favorite of mine. Many treasure hunting expeditions left from San Francisco for that destination. There is a remarkably sad note in the privately printed Our Search for the Missing Millions (of Cocos Island). "One of the Searchers" mentions a remarkable San Francisco library of buried treasure literature, including much on Cocos Island. The book was published (from memory) in 1904 - so that library was probably destroyed in the 1906 Fire & Earthquake.

The hermit of Cocos Island is a well-known story.

Good luck to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo

 

[Corporate Investigations]

Hello Old bookaroo

I cannot imagine the amount of archive material that was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake.

Crow