“Zeewijk” was one of 4 ships of the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) to have been wrecked close to Australia. This particular ship was built by the Chamber of Zeeland in 1725, and had a length of 145 feet (44 m) and a width of 36 feet (11 m). It left Flushing a year later - on its maiden voyage - to the V.O.C.’s Indies headquarters in Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia), but it wouldn't reach its destination.
One of the 341 people on board the “Zeewijk” was Johannes “Jan” Bras. Jan was baptized on 17 February 1704 in IJsselmonde. His parents, Claes Bras and Marijtjen van Mullem, were married on 17 May 17 1699 in Charlois (now part of Rotterdam). Jan had an elder brother Pieter Bras who had joined the Dutch East India Company as a sailor in 1720.
After months of preparation, on 7 November 1726 “Zeewijk” - and the rest of her fleet - left Rammekens near Flushing for the long voyage to Batavia. It was carrying a crew of 208 men,
315834 guilders in silver and some cargo. Its skipper was Jan Steijns in his first command. Jan Bras was recruited as sailor and gunner.
On 13 November 1726 they were forced to interrupt their journey at the Roads of Downs in Great Britain to wait for fair winds. Finally, 10 days later
they were able to sail off again. During this part of the voyage, accidents and illness occurred, resulting in 28 deaths. It was common on V.O.C. ships at the time to lose so many people during the first part of the voyage.
The remainder of the crew, 180 people, most of whom
were in (relatively) good health, reached the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa on 26 March 1727
. At the Cape 38 sick men were taken ashore and hospitalized, and 7 soldiers were deployed. The crew, diminished further by 3 deaths, was enlarged with the recruitment of 22 men, most of whom had likely recovered from a previous voyage. Fresh water was collected, too. On 21 April 1727 the “Zeewijk” once again set out to sea. Their journey progressed swiftly due to favorable winds. Meanwhile, illness resulted in another 16 deaths.
The V.O.C. required ships to utilize the "Brouwer Route" to cross from the Cape to Batavia, enjoying the prevailing westerly winds by travelling eastwards before finally turning north. Turning north too late - due to a miscalculation in the longitude - was risking being wrecked on the reefs of Western Australia.
In darkness on 9 June 1727 the “Zeewijk” was wrecked on Half-Moon Reef, just off the coast of Western Australia. In the aftermath of the wrecking, the ship lost its masts and flooded a little, but remained largely intact. When the morning dawned, the survivors saw a number of islands in the distance, and realized they might be saved. Most of the men wanted to leave the vessel, but with the hard surf around them, they found no possibility to do so during the first few days. When they made attempts, these often resulted in men drowning - or nearly drowning - and jolly-boats capsizing. It was not until 14 June that the first attempt to reach an island succeeded. Two days later the longboat was launched successfully and more crew members were ferried to an island with fresh water. It is now known as Gun Island.
