Page 19 - Bulletin 22 2019

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pear-shaped and has a very shallow draft which allows it to sail in and out of rivers and ports

with greater ease than most other ships. It has a large cargo bay near the waterline and a
relatively narrow deck above. This serves to avoid the high taxes collected by Denmark

which were assessed and based on the area of the main deck. (Fig. 1.18.) The flyt was square-
rigged with two or three masts which were much higher than those on galleons, to allow for

greater speed.

Nothing remains of this ship, other than a reminder on the road sign leading to the beach.
(Fig. 1.19.)

On 13 January 1850 the Ronvonia, a slave barque, was blown ashore without loss of life.

Very little is known of this ship.

In 1720 the Hollandia – a Dutch East Indiaman of 750 tons and a length of 49.2 metres –
caught fire and sank. Although there is confusion between her position and that of the Bata,

her exact position has never been confirmed. She was built for the spice trade and carried
heavy armaments. During 1982, while doing mooring inspections on the pleasure boats in

Simon’s Town I came across large amounts of burnt timber, as well as many clay pipes with
the emblem of the British Crown. Obviously this was the location of a ship that had burnt but

the clay pipes do not indicate a Dutch ship. Figs. 1.20 - 1.22.)

The Zebra, a British ship, sank in Simons Bay on 29 July 1816. Very little is known of her,

and her position is also unknown.

The Staaten Generaal, a 74-gun full-rigged third rate ship was commissioned in 1786 by the

Batavian navy. (Fig. 1.23.) She took part in the battle of Camperdown and caught fire twice.

The fire was successfully extinguished but she drifted away from the battle and could not
continue to fight. She escaped to Texel where she underwent extensive repair. In 1798 her

name was changed to Bato. In 1802 sailed to the Cape, after which she sailed to Batavia
(Indonesia.) On her return to the Cape she was found to be in a poor condition and was turned

into a hulked gun platform. She was anchored in Simon’s Bay to guard the approaches to the
naval base. When the Dutch were defeated in the Battle of Blaauberg, Bato was burnt and

scuttled on 10 January 1805 to prevent her from falling into enemy hands.