Drie Gebroeders – a Fated Flute
The cache, a small camo-taped tablet pot, is hidden on the False Bay coast just south of Mackerel Bay and the Lower North Battery. The hide location is close to the spot where a Dutch East Indiaman, Drie Gebroeders (3 Brothers) met its end in a storm.
To Reach the Cache Location: park on the Battery access road, make your way down the grassy slope, carefully cross the rail tracks then head along the sea-side of these to the cache location.
The ship was a fluyt (flute) ship with a payload of ‘414 last/load*’ (828 tons). It was rented by the Chamber of Zeeland from Vermoote and Nooms in Zaandam (?) and used by the VOC from 1787-1792 when it was wrecked when it ran aground at ‘Cape of Good Hope, South Africa’ – actually in Simon’s Bay immediately offshore from the cache location.
*an old Dutch/English measure of the carrying capacity of a ship.
The 4 voyages it undertook during its short 5-year life – all captained by Jan Roelofsz, the Great were:
- 01/07/1787 from Rammekens, Zealand to Ceylon through the Cape of Good Hope (CGH) (from 20/12/1787 - 09/02/1788)
- 18/10/1788 from Ceylon to Texel 25/08/1789 through CGH (from 26/12/1788 - 03/03/1789)
- 27/04/1791 from Texel to Batavia 14/12/1791 through CGH (from 25/08/1791 - 24/09/1791)
- 22/02/1792 from Batavia to Amsterdam (wrecked en route) through CGH (from 02/06/1792 to unknown date)
No further info is available on whether any lives or cargo were lost in the wreck.
What is remarkable about this type of ship – which became ‘the workhorse of the maritime empires’ - is that it fundamentally changed the course of world history, enabling the establishment of the most successful company of all time . . . and of two nations!
Basically, Dutch shipowner and merchant Pieter Jansz. Liorne from the town of Hoorn, apparently inspired by the proportions and dimensions of Noah’s Ark, initiated the design and development of a radically different, brilliant new ship – although when it was built for the first time, he was laughed at by his colleagues!
It was designed from scratch as a cargo vessel and compared with existing ships, cost half as much to build, and carried twice as much cargo with minimal crew. Built in huge numbers in special VOC shipyards, it enabled the Dutch through the VOC (Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie) to become by far the most profitable of the 5 transoceanic trading nations/maritime empires (England, Holland, France, Spain, Portugal) throughout much of C17 and C18.
The VOC, with its HQ in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia) and through its domination of the lucrative spice trade with the Far East and SE Asia became a megacorporation worth around $8T (trillion) in today’s value – more than the combined GDP of Germany and Japan combined! It even had its own currency, army, colonies and diplomatic status!
The ship was easily recognised by its shallow, pear-shaped hull and taller masts. It was only moderately/defensively armed with around 14 guns (in comparison some galleons had up to 400 guns requiring huge space and crew to operate them). It was narrow - four times as long as it was wide - and had a much flatter bottom than other ships enabling it to navigate close to shore and even up inland waterways.
In the later part of the C17 the English adapted it having seen how much it reduced shipping costs and acquired several of the ships captured in the course of the Anglo-Dutch wars.
Famous flute ships
The Mayflower, one of the most important ships in US history, which carried pilgrims who established the 1st permanent New England colony in 1620 . . .
The Nieuw Haarlem, which catalysed the creation of Cape Town and the development of South Africa. See the shipwreck that forever changed South Africa for a fascinating account of how this happened and here for a short video on a project to excavate the wreck site.
Listen here to a short audio on the flute, its design and use.
See here for a fascinating and entertaining short video on the fluyt and its fundamental role in building the Dutch transoceanic empire between 1450-1750, of which of course Cape Town was a critical part for a short period.
See here for another great short video on the technological innovations in sea-based empires of which the Dutch fluyt was a prime example.
See here for a short video showing a replica fluyt and firing of a cannon.
See here for a fine series of photos of a wooden model Dutch fluyt showing close up details of the ships elegant design.
See here for a description with illustrations of the Mayflower – a flute ship.
