- Rooswijk
The "Rooswijk" was a ship belonging to the VOC (
Dutch East India Company ) that, according to recent, non-contemporary, news reports, sank in 1740.History of ship
According to the recent reports, the "Rooswijk" was built for the VOC "Chamber of Amsterdam" in 1737. On
January 9 1740 , during its second journey to the east, it sank on the sand bank ofGoodwin Sands , about 8 km from the British mainland. There were no known survivors. At the time, it was captained by Daniel Ronzieres.Recovery
In December 2005, it was made public that between May and September of that year a team led by Rex Cowan had recovered some of the ship and its contents. This was done in secrecy to avoid attracting looters.
Lying at a depth of about 24 m, the "Rooswijk" was discovered by an amateur diver in 2004. It is one of hundreds of wrecks on the treacherous Goodwin Sands.
Artifacts recovered included approximately one thousand bars of silver, gold coins and a mustard jar. When the VOC was disbanded in 1798, its possessions fell to the
Batavian Republic , the legal successor of which is the current Dutch State, which thereforeis entitled to the objects from the "Rooswijk". They were presented to Junior Minister of FinanceJoop Wijn inPlymouth onDecember 11 2005 .The type of coins recovered were several hundred Mexican silver cobs of the 1720s and early 1730s and transitional “klippes” of 1733-1734, as well as many more hundreds of “pillar dollars” and a smattering of cobs from other mints.
The salvage operation has led to criticism from heritage organisations worldwide, as some of the international principles concerning the protection of archaeological heritage (
Valetta Treaty 1992,UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001) were ignored.Protection
The wreck site was designated as a protected wreck on
18 January 2007 .References
* [http://www.sedwickcoins.com/shipwreck_histories/rooswijk.htm General information about the wreck]
* "Schatten VOC-schip De Rooswijk overgedragen aan Nederland" (December 12 ,2005 ). Trouw (Dutch newspaper), p. 3.
* Algra, Wybo (December 13 ,2005 ). "Schatten uit een varend VOC-dorp". Trouw (Dutch newspaper), p. 1 and 5.
* [http://www.culture.gov.uk/Reference_library/Press_notices/archive_2007/dcms006_07.htm Press Release from Dept Culture Media and Sport on the designation of the Rooswijk] , retrieved 13-01-2007
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