Shipwreck Databases Western Australian Museum

Archaeological Survey of Sites Relating to the Batavia Shipwreck Report

Author/s B. Bevacqua

Year of publication 1974

Report Number: 81

Introduction
On June 4, 1629 the Dutch East Indiaman, 'Batavia' went aground in the Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Western Australia. The shipwrecked survivors came ashore on the remote islands of the Wallabi Group and were marooned there until their rescue on September 17, 1629. During their stay the stranded community was ravaged by the infamous mutiny where 125 men, women, and children were murdered. (Drake-Brockman 1963; Edwards 1966).