Ledge Point
Site#6
DescriptionThe wreck site of VERGULDE DRAECK (GILT DRAGON) lies in 7 meters of water on a limestone reef 5.6 kilometers offshore and about 100 kilometers north of Perth in Western Australia.
The wreck site of the VERGULDE DRAECK, its relics and its associated land sites are protected under the Historic Shipwrecks Act (1976).
HistoryThe Dutch East Indiaman DE VERGULDE DRAECK, also known as THE GILT DRAGON, was totally wrecked on the Western Australian coast on the 28 April 1656 on a voyage from Texel in the Netherlands to the Dutch colony of Batavia, present day Jakarta, in Indonesia. The wreck site of the VERGULDE DRAECK, its relics and its associated land sites are protected under the Historic Shipwrecks Act (1976).
Seventy-five passengers and crew survived the wrecking and managed to reach the mainland in two of the ship's boats. The survivors established a small camp on the coast inshore from the wreck and seven of the crew then sailed up the Western Australian coast to Batavia to report the news of the wreck.
The Dutch authorities responded quickly to the news of the wreck and despatched the WITTE VALCK and the GOEDE HOOP to the scene of the wreck. The two vessels searched along the Western Australian coast losing 11 of the GOEDE HOOP's crew in the process but failed to locate the remaining survivors of the DE VERGULDE DRAECK.
Further searches were carried out by the flyboat VINCK in June 1857 and the galliots WAECKENDE BOEY and EMELOORT in January 1658. The original survivor's camp consisting of planks, blocks, a piece of mast, broken chests, pails and kegs was located but despite an extensive search no survivors from the VERGULDE DRAECK were found.