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 Jonge Thomas in distress in 1773 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Dutch Republic | |
| Name | Jonge Thomas |
| Owner | |
| Completed | 1764 |
| Fate | Wrecked on 25 July 1773 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | East Indiaman |
| Length | 150 feet[1] |
| Capacity | loading capacity: 1150 tons [1] |
| Crew | 296-360[1] |
Jonge Thomas, also written as De Jonge Thomas was an 18th-century East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company.
Jonge Thomas was a merchant ship who sailed several times to the Dutch East Indies and China. During her fourth voyage she wrecked at Table Bay. Wolraad Woltemade and his horse successfully entered the water seven times and rescued fourteen people. He and his horse died during the eighth attempt.[2][3] The ship had 296-360 crew members, hundred of whom would have drowned.[1]
A range of depictions were made of the sinking of the ship and the rescue operation; multiple of them are in the Yale Center for British Art collection and collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Jonge Thomas was built in 1764 in Amsterdam for the Chamber of Amsterdam. She was made of wood and was 150 feet long. She had a loading capacity of 1150 tons and a capacity for up to 360 crew members.[1]
On 25 October 1765 she made her first voyage to Batavia under command of Jacob Wiebe. She had an intermediate stop at Cape of Good Hope for two weeks in March 1766 and arrived at Batavia on 25 June 1766. She continued the same year to Canton, China.[1]
In total the ship completed three voyages to the Dutch East Indies.[1]
During her fourth voyage to the Dutch East Indies, storm she lost her anchors during a storm and ran aground on a sand bar at Table Bay near Cape of Good Hope. Many lives were lost as the ship started to break up but a substantial number of survivors were left clinging to the hull. The stricken ship was not too far from dry land and many sailors attempted to swim ashore. Most of those who did so perished; the water was cold and the current from the nearby Salt River too great. Except for the very strongest swimmers, those who headed for the shore were carried out to sea.[1]
浜辺には大勢の見物人が集まっていた。見物に来た者もいれば、助けようと来た者もいたし、海岸に打ち上げられた貨物を略奪しようと目論む者もいた。見物人の秩序を保つために兵士の一隊が配置されていた。ヨアヒム・ファン・プレッテンベルク総督は、船を警備し、打ち上げられた貨物が盗まれるのを防ぐために、30人の兵士を浜辺に派遣した。兵士の一人の父親であるウォルラート・ウォルテマーデは、息子に食料を届けるために浜辺へ行った。沈没する船を見て、彼は馬に乗って水に入った。彼は7回水から上がって14人を救助した。毎回2人ずつだった。8回目の救助活動中に、疲労と馬にしがみつく必死な船員たちのために、彼は馬と共に溺死した。[ 1 ]
彼は英雄的な行為で有名になった。1774年には、彼の名にちなんでオランダ東インド会社の船が命名され、彼の像が作られた。[ 1 ]
ヨンゲ・トーマス号の惨事を描いた作品は数多く制作され、その多くは美術館のコレクションに収蔵されている。イェール大学英国美術センターのコレクションやアムステルダム国立美術館のコレクションにも所蔵されている。
この難破船は、1999 年国家遺産資源法第 25 号によって保護されています。ヨンゲ・トーマス号の難破船は、アフリカン・サルベージ・コーポレーション Ltd. によって引き揚げられたと伝えられています。しかし、引き揚げに関する詳しい情報は公表されていません。[ 4 ]