 Batavia Road taking on passengers, circa 1947 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Australia | |
| Name | Batavia Road |
| Owner |
|
| Port of registry | Fremantle |
| Completed | 1946 |
| Identification | Official number 140199 |
| Fate | Wrecked 1974 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Auxiliary motor boat |
| Tonnage | 37grt |
| Length | 60.6 ft (18.5 m) |
| Beam | 18.5 ft (5.6 m) |
| Depth | 10.5 ft (3.2 m) |
| Sail plan | Ketch |
Batavia Road was a passenger boat used from 1946 for commercial tourist operation in the Houtman Abrolhos, a group of islands off the coast of Western Australia.
The 37grt ketch-rigged wooden motor boat Batavia Road was launched and completed in December 1946 by H Willmott & Co in Fremantle, Western Australia, from whom it had been ordered by the Australian Army during World War II. [1] [2] The boat had a registered length of 60.6 ft (18.5 m), length overall of 66.0 ft (20.1 m), beam of 18.5 ft (5.6 m) and depth of 10.5 ft (3.2 m). [1] [3] The boat was powered by a Gray marine diesel of 225 bhp, giving a speed of 8 knots. [3] It was registered at Fremantle in 1947 with official number 140199. [1]
In order to promote tourism to the Houtman Abrolhos, the Western Australia State Government obtained the boat from the Australian Army for purchase by Archdale "Dal" Gaze and Alan Fox. [1] [2] Batavia Road made its first sailing from Geraldton on Christmas Day 1946 and until 1948, together with their another boat, Suda Bay , Gaze and Fox transported tourists to and from the Houtman Abrolhos, especially Pelsaert Island. [2] [4] This was the first known commercial tourist operation in the Houtman Abrolhos. After the partnership split in 1948, Gaze continued using Batavia Road for tourism, as well as transporting stores and their catch for lobster fishermen based on the islands. [5] On 13 June 1948 a cyclone struck the Houtman Abrolhos and the Batavia Road was blown ashore at Wreck Point, near the Half Moon Reef and was nearly sunk. Tourists assisted the crew in salving the boat and fabricating a replacement rudder and, after help from fishermen, they were able to make the passage back to Geraldton. [6] Repairs were extensive and the boat returned to service in August 1948. [7]
Gaze eventually wound up his tourist operation in 1951. [5]
Later, Batavia Road passed to other owners, and foundered on rocks 20 miles (32 km) north of Geraldton on 25 January 1974. [1]
An anchorage at Pelsaert Island is named Batavia Road. [8]
Batavia ( ) was a ship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). She was built in Amsterdam in 1628 as the flagship of one of the three annual fleets of company ships and sailed that year on her maiden voyage for Batavia, capital of the Dutch East Indies. On 4 June 1629, Batavia was wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos, a chain of small islands off the western coast of Australia.
The Houtman Abrolhos is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral reef in the Indian Ocean, and one of the highest latitude reef systems in the world.
Geraldton is a coastal city in the Mid West region of Western Australia, 424 kilometres (263 mi) north of the state capital, Perth.
Francisco Pelsaert was a Dutch merchant who worked for the Dutch East India Company best known for his role as the commander of the Batavia. The ship ran aground in the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coastal regions of Western Australia in June 1629, which led to a massacre of survivors orchestrated by Jeronimus Cornelisz.
The Zeewijk was an 18th-century East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company that was shipwrecked at the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coast of Western Australia, on 9 June 1727. The survivors built a second ship, the Sloepie, enabling 82 out of the initial crew of 208 to reach their initial destination of Batavia on 30 April 1728. Since the 19th century many objects were found near the wreck site, which are now in the Western Australian Museum. The shipwreck itself was found in 1968 by divers.
Over 1400 ships have been wrecked on the coast of Western Australia. This relatively large number of shipwrecks is due to a number of factors, including:
The Wallabi Group is the northernmost group of islands in the Houtman Abrolhos off the western coast of Western Australia. it is 58 kilometres from the Australian mainland, and about 9 kilometres from the Easter Group.
The Easter Group is the central of three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain. The group measures about 20 kilometres by 12 kilometres, and consists of a number of islands including
The Pelsaert Group is the southernmost of the three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain. it consists of a number of islands, the largest of which are Gun Island, Middle Island, and Pelsaert Island. The group is named after a Dutch "opperkoopman" who stranded nearby with the VOC-ship "Batavia" in 1629. The group contains the most southerly true coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. The group is part of the Houtman Abrolhos Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for supporting large numbers of breeding seabirds.
North Island is the northernmost island in the Houtman Abrolhos, a coral reef archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mid West Western Australia. Located about 14 km (9 mi) from the nearest island group, it is one of the largest islands in the Houtman Abrolhos, and one of the few to support dune systems. It has relatively diverse flora dominated by chenopod shrubs and fauna that includes the introduced tammar wallaby, around seven species of reptile, and about 15 resident bird species.
Suda Bay was a 14.3 ton motor boat that was one of the first boats used for a commercial tourist operation in the Houtman Abrolhos.
Gun Island is one of the larger islands in the Pelsaert Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia. It is nominally at 28°53′10″S113°51′35″E, about 4 km (2.5 mi) north and east of Half Moon Reef and is a flat limestone outcrop of about 800 by 420 metres in size. The island is part of the Houtman Abrolhos Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for supporting large numbers of breeding seabirds.
Batavia Road is an anchorage, or roadstead, in the Pelsaert Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coast of Western Australia. It is located at 28°58′S113°58′E, on the eastern side of Pelsaert Island, near its southern end. It was discovered and named in April 1840 by John Clements Wickham, captain of HMS Beagle. Wickham's assistant John Lort Stokes later wrote:
"On the south west point of the island the beams of a large vessel were discovered, and as the crew of the Zeewyk, lost in 1728 [sic], reported having seen the wreck of a ship on this part, there is little doubt that the remains were those of the Batavia, Commodore Pelsart, lost in 1627. We in consequence named our temporary anchorage Batavia Road, and the whole group Pelsart Group."
East Wallabi Island is an island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, located in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of mainland Australia.
West Wallabi Island is an island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of mainland Australia.
Lucretia Jans, or Lucretia van der Mijlen, was a survivor of the events that followed the sinking of the Batavia in 1629.
Max Cramer OAM was an Australian scuba diver who became famous as the co-discoverer of the wreck of the Batavia on 4 June 1963. He was involved in a number of maritime archaeology projects pertaining to historic shipwrecks in Western Australia.
Pelsaert Island is one of the islands of the Pelsaert Group, which is the southernmost of the three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain in Western Australia.
Beacon Island, also known as Batavia's Graveyard, is an island on the eastern side of the Wallabi Group at the northern end of the Houtman Abrolhos, in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia.
Houtman Abrolhos Islands National Park is a national park in the Mid West region of Western Australia, 75 km (47 mi) west of Geraldton. It was declared on 5 July 2019, is located in the City of Greater Geraldton, and is part of the Geraldton Sandplains bioregion.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1974 | |
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| Other incidents |
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