The AMSTERDAM was to set sail on 15 November 1748 from Texel and sail to Batavia. The ship, captained by a man named Willem Klump, carried 203 crew, 127 soldiers to be stationed at garrisons at Cape town and Batavia, and five passengers. The cargo consisted of various housewares, games, and alcohol. The ship also carried 28 chests of silver.
Due to the high amount of trade to the Indies, experienced sailors were hard to come by so the VOC often tricked anyone they could find into being a member of the crew. These men, called soul catchers, would then take the recruits and store them (at the sailors cost) in crowded warehouses until the next voyage. The conditions were very bad and in fact one crew member was taken off the ship dead before it even left port.

Many of the people setting sail would borrow great sums of money to buy goods to sell in Batavia at a huge profit. They would then buy goods in the Indies from their profits and bring them back and sell them at an even bigger profit.  Even though the VOC tried to curb this practice, Captain Klump reportedly borrowed 12.020 guilders or roughly 14 years worth of his salary to do just that.

The AMSTERDAM set sail on 15 November, but bad weather forced their return to Texel. A second attempt was made at departure on 21 November, but again bad weather made progress impossible. The ship actually spent X-mas at anchor in the middle of a terrible storm. Once the weather cleared, they returned to Texel to prepare for another run. Finally, on 8 January 1749, they set sail again.

Fighting a strong westerly wind they reached Pevesney bay in two weeks. To keep with the theme of their trip, a large storm, described in one contemporary newspaper as 'as violent a storm of wind as has been known in the memory of man...' blew in and forced Klump to seek shelter near beachy head. Along the way, in the trough of a wave, the AMSTERDAM struck the bottom and lost its rudder. The ship miraculously made it to an official VOC anchorage to wait out the storm. The crew and passengers were forced to sit out the storm for several days, but it never seemed to let up. Conditions below decks were quite bad since all of the ports had to be closed, cutting out light and fresh air. People began to die quickly.

The buffetting continued until it was eventually decided to beach the ship near hastings at Bulveryhythe. At the time of the beaching some 50 people had died and 40 more were sick, many of whom would later die at the hospital. The crew broke into the alcohol stores in the hold and drank to quell their fears. Most likely mutiny was the ultimate cause of the beaching as researchers uncovered two musketballs that had been fired from inside the wreck.

At high tide the ship drifted onto the sandy beach firing some of the 54 cannons on board as alarms, and came to rest very close to the shore. Reports say that 1.000 locals were immediately at the scene with long sticks attempting to carry off what they could. Soldiers were called in to keep protect the cargo, but they were called by one individual as, '...the greatest thieves I ever knew'. In fact, in the panic, one of the silver chests was stolen. The mayor of the town was later found to be selling wine that he had recovered from the ship.

The ship immediately began to sink in the soft sand once it reached the shore. Two days later it was sunk enough that it was thought by locals to be unrecoverable. By 4 February it was impossible to get at the cargo due to the sand. By the 11th, the main hatches were blocked by sand and by 4 March high tide completely covered the ship and low tide left the lower deck under water.

A couple of attempts were made to salvage the artifacts from the ship over time but little was recovered until 1969 when a contracting firm came across it during the construction of a new sewer. They immediately set at 'excavations' with backhoes. Pulling out chunks of wood and everything else. The media blitz that followed raised public awareness and eventually brought about the legal protection of the ship.

Starting in 1975, the AMSTERDAM foundation was founded and plans were being made to excavate and preserve, and raise the AMSTERDAM. It was decided that excavations would commence under water, so a diving platform was erected next to the site. To prevent damage of wave action, and more importantly to add support to the structure during excavation, a cofferdam was erected around the stern.

Cargo on board the ship consisted of domestic goods for Batavia. Hundreds of clay pipes from Gouda were found, and also some wine bottles for use onboard, and for sale in the Indies. Some of the wine, still corked, was taken to labs and tested for identification. Also found were numerous candlesticks. Other items include Chinese tableware, European Pottery, gaming marbles, pewter spoons, irons and other items.

Also uncovered were a number of pieces of weaponry. Five bronze one-pounders were found on the lower gun deck for use on the poop rail like this one. Also found were numerous 12 and 8 pound shot, bronze reamers used to clean out the touch holes, and bar shot. Most of the cannon were not found, as documents show their recovery and later sale in 1749.Among the biological remains was only one human. It has been identified as the ship's boy Adrian Welgraven. 

Bibliography and Sources:

Bruijn, J.R., Gaastra, F.S., Schöffer, I. Dutch-Asiatic Shipping In The 17th and 18th Centuries (3 Vols). The Hague, 1979, 1987

Marsden, Peter. The Wreck of the Amsterdam. London, 1974

Gawronski, Jerzy. De Equipage van de Hollandia en de Amsterdam. VOC-bedrijvigheid in 18de-eeuws Amsterdam. AMSTERDAM, 1996

Muckelroy, Keith. Archaeology under Water. An Atlas of the World's Submerged Sites. New York, 1980

Wilson, Derek. The World Atlas of Treasure. London, 1981