Batavia was one of a fleet of Dutch ships that sailed from Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, for Java, Indonesia, in October 1628. It got its name from the city now called Jakarta, which the Dutch named Batavia. The ship became separated from the convoy and was wrecked on the Abrolhos Islands, off the western coast of Australia, on June 4, 1629. The ship was heavily laden with merchandise, jewels, and coins, and the skipper and crew had already planned to mutiny.
Forty people drowned. The commander, François Pelsaert, salvaged some food, jewels, and money. He reached the city of Batavia in an open boat some weeks later with 50 men, women, and children.
The yacht Sardam went to rescue the remaining 268 castaways on their desolate island. They found only 74 people, who had remained alive by escaping to another island. The remainder had been savagely killed by the mutineers. Pelsaert ordered the immediate hanging of the seven principal mutineers. Two were banished to the mainland of Australia opposite the island, near the mouth of the Murchison River.
