Schiedam

Summary

Remains of an English transport vessel, which stranded at Jangye-ryn during a gale in 1684, en route from Tangier to England, carrying passengers, horses, stores, machinery and cannon. She had formerly been a Dutch fluit in the Dutch East India service until that same year.

History

The Schiedam was captured by Corsairs off Gibraltar on 1st August 1683 after taking on a cargo of timber in northern Spain. Soon after capture she was re-taken as a prize by the James, an English galley captained by Cloudesley Shovell, and taken to Cadiz where the cargo was sold. The Schiedam then served in the English fleet and was sent to Tangier to load a company of army miners, horses, stores, machinery, and captured iron guns, for transportation back to England.

A gale drove the Schiedam ashore at Jangye-ryn near Gunwalloe Church Cove on 4th April 1684.

Details

Designation History: Designation Order: (No 1), No 47, 1982 Made: 19th January 1982 Laid before Parliament: 25th January 1982 Coming into force: 15th February 1982 Protected area: 75 metres within 50 02.333 N 05 16.400 W

No part of the restricted area lies above the high-water mark of ordinary spring tides.

Documentary History: Having taken on board a cargo of timber at Ribadus [Ribadeo] on the North coast of Spain, in April 1683, on 1st August, when off Gibraltar she was taken by a 14 gun frigate manned by Corsair pirates. Shortly after they were chased by the English galley James of 30 guns, Captain Cloudesley Shovel. The Dutch 'fluyt', having been recaptured as a prize, was taken to Cadiz where the cargo was sold and she was taken into the English fleet as a Sixth Rate general purpose vessel and sent to Tangier.

Loaded with a company of army miners, horses, machinery, stores and captured iron cannon, the Schiedam made her way back to England, but was driven ashore by gale on the coast of Land's End at Jangye-ryn near Gunwalloe Church Cove on 4th April 1684. The local populace descended on the wreck and plundered the stores as well as the ship's sails and cables. Note that the vessel does not appear in 'Ships of the Royal Navy' or in the 'Sailing Navy List', indicating that her function was as a transport, as demonstrated by the cargo, rather than as a warship.

The fluyt or fluit was a narrow vessel with a flatter hull shape than the 'retourschip' or 'spiegelretourschip' first making its appearance in the late sixteenth century; ships of this type had three masts. The pink was a later development of this type of vessel.

Archaeological History: Discovered in 1971 in 4 to 7 metres of water (2 to 3 metres at low water), surf action and storm damage have been noted to move and damage visible cannon and smaller items, as the bedrock comprises smooth ridges and gullies which contain rocks and boulders with mobile sand.

In c.1985, a magnetometer survey by the Archaeological Diving Unit (ADU) confirmed that little survives of the wreck but up to 15 iron cannon may be buried under the sand at the north end of the beach.

The dynamic nature of the site was confirmed by the discovery of an area of concretions yielding several finds in 1993 had disappeared by 1995.

The site was last exposed and located in 1998, with 11 cannon, a piece of sheet lead, two large circular concretions, the remains of a deadeye, and fragments of ironwork being observed as well as concretions on the reef. Since then, the site has been re-covered by sand.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

1082108

Legacy System:

AMIE - Wrecks

Sources

Books and journals
Hepper, D J, British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859, (1994)

Other
Larn, R and Larn, B, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, Volume 1: Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, (1995)

End of official list entry

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