[Cape Leeuwin to North West Cape] Central and Upper West Coast 1629 – 1697 The Voyage of the Batavia Journal – Francisco Pelsaert Recording Navigator: F Pelsaert 1629“The Journals of Francisco Pelsaert” in H Drake-Brockman 1982Voyage to Disaster,Sydney: Angus and Robertson, pp.107-254. pp.129-30 [240, Red Bluff area area, 14 June Read more
South coast of Australia to 1772 and beyond Although part of the south coast, from Cape Leeuwin to around Fowlers Bay, was first mapped in 1627, there are no documented accounts of any visits until Vancouver entered King Georges Sound on 29 September 1791, staying until 11 October 1791. While Read more
The Tasman expedition left Batavia (Netherlands East Indies, now Jakarta, Indonesia) on 14th August 1642 with two vessels, the Heemskerk with a 60-man crew and the Zeehaan with 50 men on board. They first called at Mauritius, where they stayed for a month-long repair to both ships. Intending to sail Read more
Blackman Bay and East Coast of Tasmania 1642 Tasman’s Voyage of 1642 Journal – Abel Tasman Tasman, A J 1898Abel Janszoon Tasman’s Journal, J E Heeres (comp. and trans.),Amsterdam: Frederick Muller. p.15 [Report of Pilot-Major and Second Mate, 2 December 1642]They [shore party] had heard certain human sounds, and also sounds nearly Read more
The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engines, Read more
Dirk Drok (Dalfsen, Netherlands 1915–1988), Perth) and his wife Kitty Isabella Theodora Uitenhage de Mist-Barkey (Java 1921–2001 Perth) lived in Java, Netherlands East Indies NEI (now Indonesia). After the Japanese had occupied the NEI, Dirk and kitty both – separately – ended up in Japanese Camps. There is an extensive Read more
The first documented and undisputed European sighting of and landing in Australia was in late February 1606, by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon aboard the Duyfken. Janszoon charted some 300 kms of the northern parts of the Australian coast and met with Aboriginal people. Janszoon followed the coast of New Read more
This article is about the Dutch seizure of part of New Guinea in 1828. The English activities in Northern Australia played an important role in this. The author of the article is Jeroen Overweel. He is engaged in cultural heritage participation and is an independent researcher on Indonesian, Melanesian and Read more
The SS Bantam (3322 gross weight, built in 1930 ) was one of the original twenty-one KPM vessels that took refuge in Australian ports after the fall of Java that Dutch officials requested be put into service for the war effort. The ship, as well as other Dutch merchant ships, Read more
When the Hr. Ms. Tromp, a Tromp-class cruiser, was built between 1936 and 1938, it was the most modern ship in its class. The cruiser’s involvement in the search for HMAS Sydney, following its battle with the German raider Kormoran, stands out as a crucial moment. Subsequently, Tromp undergoes repairs Read more