Cornelis Spex (also written Specx) was a Dutch navigator in the service of the Zeeland merchant Balthasar de Moucheron who commanded the yacht ‘t Lam in the Spilbergh fleet that left Middelburg on 5 May 1601 — a yacht that became separated from the others near the Comoros, was so damaged that Spex did not dare to continue the voyage through Indian waters, and put in at Atjeh in early September 1602 to place itself and its crew under the command of the English admiral James Lancaster already on the roadstead. Spex’s ‘t Lam was the first ship of the Spilbergh fleet to reach Atjeh, and the crew’s transfer to Lancaster’s service was the proximate cause of the Anglo-Dutch joint operation that culminated in the capture of the Portuguese carrack of 3 October 1602.
The Moucheron fleet and the separation
The Moucheron fleet of three ships and the yacht ‘t Lam left Middelburg on 5 May 1601 under the command of Joris van Spilbergen. Near the Comoros ‘t Lam became separated from the others and was so badly damaged that Spex “het niet aandurfde de reis door de Indische wateren voort te zetten”. He decided to put in at Atjeh, where he arrived in early September 1602, a few days before Spilbergh himself with the other two ships. On the roadstead he found James Lancaster’s four English ships already at anchor — the English East India Company’s first voyage to the East Indies.
The transfer to Lancaster
Spex “deed het scheepje aan Lancaster over, die ook de bemanning in zijn dienst nam”. The transfer was the proximate cause of the Anglo-Dutch joint operation that followed: when Spilbergh arrived a few days later and heard of Lancaster’s plan to ambush the annual Portuguese carrack from the Koromandel coast, he offered to join with one of his ships for an eighth of the prize, and the combined Anglo-Dutch squadron sailed from Atjeh on 21 September 1602 to take up positions across the Strait of Malaka. Spex’s ‘t Lam was thus the first Dutch vessel to join the English fleet at Atjeh and the immediate occasion of the Anglo-Dutch naval partnership of October 1602.
Significance
Cornelis Spex is, in Van der Woude’s narrative, the principal Dutch figure of the separation-and-reunion episode of the Spilbergh visit of 1602 and the proximate cause of the Anglo-Dutch joint operation of 3 October 1602. The transfer of *‘t Lam and its crew to Lancaster’s command marked the first formal Anglo-Dutch naval co-operation in the East Indies, and the crew’s participation in the capture of the Portuguese carrack — under English command — established the precedent that the Spilbergh-Lancaster partnership would consolidate a few days later. Spex’s role also marks the early-modern Dutch practice of transferring damaged ships and their crews to friendly commanders on the spot — a practice that the VOC would later formalise in its regulations.
See Also
- Joris Spilbergh’s Atjeh visit (1602)
- Joris Spilbergh
- Balthasar de Moucheron
- James Lancaster
- James Lancaster’s Atjeh visit (1602)
- Capture of the Portuguese carrack off Atjeh (October 1602)
- Comoro Islands
- Koromandel kust
- Acheh
- 1602
Source
Coen, Koopman van Heeren Zeventien. Geschiedenis van den Hollandshen Handel in Indië (1598-1614), by Johan van der Woude (Amsterdam: C.V. Uitgeverij v/h C. De Boer Jr., 1948), Hoofdstuk V “Voorgangers, Hollanders en mededingers tot 1614. Atjeh. Djohor. Malaka.” (p. 118).
Cornelis Spex (also written Specx) was a Dutch navigator in the service of the Zeeland merchant Balthasar de Moucheron who commanded the yacht ‘t Lam in the Spilbergh fleet that left Middelburg on 5 May 1601 — a yacht that became separated from the others near the Comoros, was so damaged that Spex did not dare to continue the voyage through Indian waters, and put in at Atjeh in early September 1602 to place itself and its crew under the command of the English admiral James Lancaster already on the roadstead. Spex’s ‘t Lam was the first ship of the Spilbergh fleet to reach Atjeh, and the crew’s transfer to Lancaster’s service was the proximate cause of the Anglo-Dutch joint operation that culminated in the capture of the Portuguese carrack of 3 October 1602.
The Moucheron fleet and the separation
The Moucheron fleet of three ships and the yacht ‘t Lam left Middelburg on 5 May 1601 under the command of Joris van Spilbergen. Near the Comoros ‘t Lam became separated from the others and was so badly damaged that Spex “het niet aandurfde de reis door de Indische wateren voort te zetten”. He decided to put in at Atjeh, where he arrived in early September 1602, a few days before Spilbergh himself with the other two ships. On the roadstead he found James Lancaster’s four English ships already at anchor — the English East India Company’s first voyage to the East Indies.
The transfer to Lancaster
Spex “deed het scheepje aan Lancaster over, die ook de bemanning in zijn dienst nam”. The transfer was the proximate cause of the Anglo-Dutch joint operation that followed: when Spilbergh arrived a few days later and heard of Lancaster’s plan to ambush the annual Portuguese carrack from the Koromandel coast, he offered to join with one of his ships for an eighth of the prize, and the combined Anglo-Dutch squadron sailed from Atjeh on 21 September 1602 to take up positions across the Strait of Malaka. Spex’s ‘t Lam was thus the first Dutch vessel to join the English fleet at Atjeh and the immediate occasion of the Anglo-Dutch naval partnership of October 1602.
Significance
Cornelis Spex is, in Van der Woude’s narrative, the principal Dutch figure of the separation-and-reunion episode of the Spilbergh visit of 1602 and the proximate cause of the Anglo-Dutch joint operation of 3 October 1602. The transfer of *‘t Lam and its crew to Lancaster’s command marked the first formal Anglo-Dutch naval co-operation in the East Indies, and the crew’s participation in the capture of the Portuguese carrack — under English command — established the precedent that the Spilbergh-Lancaster partnership would consolidate a few days later. Spex’s role also marks the early-modern Dutch practice of transferring damaged ships and their crews to friendly commanders on the spot — a practice that the VOC would later formalise in its regulations.
See Also
- Joris Spilbergh’s Atjeh visit (1602)
- Joris Spilbergh
- Balthasar de Moucheron
- James Lancaster
- James Lancaster’s Atjeh visit (1602)
- Capture of the Portuguese carrack off Atjeh (October 1602)
- Comoro Islands
- Koromandel kust
- Acheh
- 1602
Source
Coen, Koopman van Heeren Zeventien. Geschiedenis van den Hollandshen Handel in Indië (1598-1614), by Johan van der Woude (Amsterdam: C.V. Uitgeverij v/h C. De Boer Jr., 1948), Hoofdstuk V “Voorgangers, Hollanders en mededingers tot 1614. Atjeh. Djohor. Malaka.” (p. 118).