Th. P.M. de Jong gave in his article some information about the trade in arms in the Netherlands and the fitting out in 1822 of Colombian warships as the two former British warships Mosquito and Sapphire [Safier], now renamed New York and New Orleans. Both ships sailed to Antwerp to load the arms built at Luik. At that moment Belgium was still part of the Netherlands and a discussion in the Dutch Government followed how to handle with this situation and the reactions of the Spanish government. Even king Willem I interfered. To get more knowledge about the two warships I decided to do some investigation in the Zeeuws Archive at Middelburg and there surprisingly I found a part of the key to the riddle Esperanza y Fortuna.
In December 1822 owner Charles Loyaerts got permission to repair the ship Hoop en Fortuin in the dry dock at the naval yard at Flushing.(1) The reason was that the ship was too large for the swallow dock at Antwerp and where it would be impossible to fit her out. Her captain was Sipke K. Sipkes. The naval constructor Soetemeer was overseer and adviser at the repairing and rebuilding the ship! Which neutrality? The ship entered the dry dock 19 December that year. In May 1823 they want to fit out the ship with at least 22-24pdr carronades and 10-12pdr carronades. Due to problems with the revenue service her owner even asked the minister of navy to mediate. The commissary of police wrote that merchants from Gent bought the ship at Amsterdam from Gent and to be fitted out at Flushing, destination Brazil. He didn’t believe that and wrote some letters to the Procureur Crimineel in the province Zealand with his considerations. In a second letter he mentioned the firm Loyaerts at Antwerp as owner, that she had a crew of 80 men and with Curaçao as destination. Continuous lighters brought gunpowder, sables, guns and other military stuff. Still she showed the Dutch colours. She left the dock 27 May and although fitted out for account of the merchants from Antwerp, he thought that this was a deceive and just a commission. She was fitted out on British account and not to return back to the Netherlands. Yes, her destination was presumably the same as the cargo, the Republic of Colombia! June 1823 it became clear that in the stern two missing port-holes were made and the all existing ready port-holes were enlarged to be able to arm the ship with 50 guns (elsewhere is 44 guns mentioned. The main result of the visits to Middelburg was that there was a warship named Hoop en Fortuin that was fitted out for Colombia. But still, the question was unanswered, was it a former East Indiaman?
In his book Oosterwijk published in note 22, p. 294 a reference dealing with the frigate ship Hoop en Fortuin (1816-1819) and which served for the Nederlandsche Geoctroyeerde Maatschappij voor de Chinasche Theehandel and a article dealing with this company and ship.
Broeze gave the final answer to that question. In his article dealing with the Chinese tea trade he found a contract of chartering the ship for account of the Geoctroyeerde Maatschappij voor den Chineschen Theehandel, between the Department of Commerce and Colonies and her owner Adriaan Wognum at Enkhuizen. Captain Alexander Gordon and called a Dutch coppered frigate ship. The unfinished ship Reigersbos of the E.I.C. Chamber Enkhuizen was sold on an auction in December 1802 for 17.498 to Hendrik Stoffels en Co. The ship was completed begin 1803 for trade on Indie but was laid up due the war. January 1815 Wognum became involved in the ship, which was now rebaptized Hoop en Fortuin, and 15 August 1816 he was mentioned as her owner.
In a report dating 22 January 1815 the Reigersbos was described as a strongly built ship with the dimensions 150 x 42 (inner hull) x 18’6½”, height below first deck 7’4”, height upper between deck 7’2 ½”. When her hull was sold, the dimensions (in Amsterdam foot) were given as 150 (prow) x 41 x 17’10”. She was built in 1795-1796 but never finished due to the outbreak of the war with France. Her measurement was between 584½ and -670 last. She was not only hired to serve on the tea trade but also as troop transport. She departed the Netherlands 31 December 1816 with 300 men (including infantrymen and hussars) and 36 women and children. It was a voyage, which wouldn’t be forgotten soon. She disappeared and was later discovered in Norway and later in Lisbon and Cape. Due to being overcrowded there were a lot of complaints. She finally arrived at Batavia 6 September 1817 and there hired to bring troops and stores to Semarang. From there she must have been to China and returned 9 March 1819 at Texel, 798 days after departure and to become inactive. She was suited to be fitted out with 50 guns, but ageing and strengthened with iron instead of copper bolts, the best she could be was a heavy-armed merchant ship. October 1822 she was still unemployed and plans of Wognum to sell her to the Dutch navy were not realistic. So Loyaerts must have bought between October and December 1822 (Broeze wrote December). Broeze couldn’t find the ship back in the list of arrivals at Antwerp or in the portregister. He wondered what happened with the ship. The Dutch navy was able to protect the merchant shipping towards South America and the Caribbean and so her owner, Broeze thought, wanted to use the ship as an armed merchantman.
There are still some questions unanswered. When and where was the ship sold to the Gran Columbian rebels and what was her final fate. I didn’t do yet any research in the archives of the Dutch Departments of Home and Foreign Affairs, Justice and Navy, the personal archive of King William I and the notary archives at Amsterdam. Still, we now know a lot more the Esperanza y Fortuna which seems first more to be a ghost or the famous Flying Dutchmen than a really existing ship.
Note
1. This can only be the Perry-dock at Flushing, see the link http://www.vlissingen.nl/Gemeentearchief/Gemeentearchief/Nieuws/Gemeentearchief/Het-kleine-droogdokje-of-het-dokje-van-Perry.htm
Sources
-Broeze, F.A.J. “De Nederlandsche Geoctroyeerde Maatschappij voor de Chinasche Theehandel en haar expeditie naar Canton met het fregatschip ‘Hoop en Fortuin’ (1816-1819), Mededelingen van de Nederlandsche Vereniging voor Zeegeschiedenis nr. 31 (1975).
-Jong, Th.P.M. de. Nederland en Latijns-Amerika (1816-1826). Groningen, 1963
-Kemp, P.H. van der. Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der zoogenaamde Tweede Expeditie tot herstel van het Nederlandsch gezag in Oost-Indië’, Bijlagen tot de Taal-, land- en Volkenkunde van Ned. Indië, deel 67, 1913, p. 646-660.
-Oosterwijk, B. Koning van de koopvaart. Anthony van Hoboken (1756-1850). Amsterdam, 1996.
-http://www.todoababor.es/datos_docum/nav_grancolombia.htm
-Collectie Goldberg 051 Goldberg 1578-1830 nr. 144 II (National Archive at The Hague)
-Ministerie van Kolonien 1814-1849 inv. no.’s 4705-4708 (National Archive at The Hague)
-Raad der Aziatische bezitingen 1800-1806 no.’s 382, 386 and 391. (National Archive at The Hague)
-Rechterlijke Archieven 1796-1838 inv. nr. 1473 (Zeeuws Archief at Middelburg)
-Marine Etablissement Vlissingen inv. no. 279-280, 1863 (Zeeuws Archief at Middelburg).
