Can you dive the Batavia shipwreck?
With tales of murderous mutiny, the Batavia Shipwreck off the coast of Geraldton is one of Western Australia’s best known historic dive sites. You can arrange a tour to dive the wreck and explore the underwater world at the Geraldton Visitor Centre.
Where is the Batavia shipwreck located?
The Batavia wreck site is located in the Wallabi group of the Houtman Abrolhos, a series of low reefs and islands lying about 65 kilometres off the Western Australian coast. Human skeletal remains of passengers and crew murdered by the mutineers were recovered from Beacon Island in the 1960s.
What happened to the survivors of the Batavia?
In the end, after it was all over and all mutineers had been executed, only approximately 116 Batavia survivors remained alive (not including desertions, deaths, births, or any unknown additional passengers).
Who discovered the Batavia wreck?
Max Cramer
On 4 June 1963, Max Cramer, his brother Graham Cramer, Tom Brady and Greg Allen dived at the spot, Morning Reef. Within minutes they had found the legendary wreck, exactly 334 years to the day of its sinking.
Is there a movie about the Batavia?
A documentary which tells the extraordinary story of the Dutch East India ship Batavia, wrecked on the coast of Western Australia in 1629 in which 125 men, women and children were massacred …
How many islands are in the Abrolhos?
Park Information. The Abrolhos is an archipelago of 210 islands extending more than 100km from north to south and situated 60 to 80km off the mid-west coast of Western Australia.
Which island did the Batavia?
Beacon Island
Almost 400 years ago, in the hours before dawn on 4 June 1629, a flagship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the Batavia was wrecked upon Morning Reef near Beacon Island, some 60 kilometres off the Western Australian coast.
What happened to the captain of the Batavia?
It is suspected that he died in prison in Batavia. A board of inquiry decided that Pelsaert had exercised a lack of authority and was therefore partly responsible for what had happened. His financial assets were seized, and he died within a year.
How many people died in the Batavia?
It is estimated up to 100 people died in the immediate aftermath of the Batavia wrecking on the reef. This was one of earliest European shipwrecks, which would come to pepper the coast of Western Australia for the next 150 years. But the greater tragedy was yet to unfold.
What is the story of the Batavia?
On 4 June 1629 the Batavia was shipwrecked on Morning Reef in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos islands. Commander Francisco Pelsaert and select crew set off in the ship’s longboat to seek help and those left endured one of the most horrific mutinies in history.
Where is Beacon Island Australia?
Western Australia
Beacon Island, also known as Batavia’s graveyard, is an island on the eastern side of the Wallabi Group at the northern end of the Houtman Abrolhos, in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia.