Batavia hull (1629)

On the morning of 4 June 1629, the VOC ship *Batavia* was wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coast of Western Australia. Three hundred and thirty-four years later, fishermen and divers located the *Batavia* wreck in 1963. Between 1972 and 1976 the Department of Maritime Archaeology conducted a series of excavations of *Batavia*. During the excavation, part of the hull of the vessel was uncovered. The hull was carefully recorded and raised. After a number of years of conservation treatment, the remains were rebuilt in the Shipwreck Galleries in Fremantle, where it represents the centre-piece for the *Batavia* Gallery display. The section represents the stern quarter of the port side of the ship up to the top of the first gun-deck, and includes the transom and stern-post.