Vessel sailed on 18-NOV and in a calm four days later was forced to anchor. An English pilot asked the captain if he would like to be piloted into a port but the captain refused the offer. The wind then increased and that night a heavy storm broke, the vessel dragging its anchors until she drove on top of a jetty and piling. Huge seas swamped the vessel, the female passengers being put in the shrouds for safety, but 30 minutes later the vessel broke up and the masts fell into the sea. Tragically, had she stranded only 200 yards further east on an open beach, many lives would have been saved. Bodies were strewn the length of the foreshore, those on board having been 61 crew and 4 boys; 247 troops, accompanied by 14 women and 9 children; 12 officers with 2 wives and 6 children, as well as a maid; plus 4 men who made up what the Dutch described as 'kleyne musicq' i.e. a small orchestra, plus 2 men from another battalion. The ship's tonnage was given as 495 'lasts'. (1)(3)

'The VREEDE (formerly the MELVILLE CASTLE Indiaman), Capt. Schular, from Amsterdam to the Cape of Good Hope and Batavia, was totally lost near Hythe, in Kent, the 23rd instant, in a violent gale of wind. Of upwards of 400 people, who were on board, only twelve are saved.' (2)

'23 November, MELVILLE CASTLE, East Indiaman. The MELVILLE CASTLE was an East Indiaman, which, being found unseaworthy, was sold to some Dutch merchants who traded to the East Indies. At Amsterdam, the ship was ostensibly repaired and chartered by the Government of the Batavian Republic to carry troops to the Cape and Jakarta.

'On 20 November 320 soldiers of the 2nd Marine Battalion, who had marched from Rotterdam, boarded the ship, to be followed on the morning of the 21st by the admiral, colonel, and officers, together with their families. The ship, renamed VRYHEID (Liberty), and her convoy got under way and sailed with a variable wind till early next morning when it blew a heavy south-westerly gale (On the 21st and 22nd the weather was extremely tempestuous). As the day opened the wind blew with increased violence and the most serious apprehensions began to be entertained for the safety of the vessel, and these fears certainly increased when about 3pm on this Monday afternoon the main mast went by the board, and in so doing, swept several of the crew overboard whilst other seamen were injured. A signal of distress was now hoisted, and after great exertions the ship came to anchor off Hythe Bay, and it was at this time that a Dover pilot boat, as well as two Deal boats, endeavoured to reach the vessel, but owing to the rough seas she could not be boarded. After several hours in this situation, about 6am on Tuesday the vessel parted her best bower anchor and it appears that Captain Scherman and his crew twice attempted to put the ship about and stand to the east, but were unable to do so. The ship now drifted towards Dymchurch Wall, where she took the ground at the first groyne, at a place called Brookman's Barn about halfway between Hythe and Dymchurch. After she struck the first sea filled the ship to the lowest deck...and drove her on her side, when also the ladders between decks were washed away, so that people below could not get on deck; in consequence of which, many drowned before she went to pieces, which, being a crazy old ship, she did almost at once.

'Of the 472 people on board the VRYHEID only 8 marines and 10 seamen survived the shipwreck, which was one of the most disastrous ever to occur on the coast of England.

'Perhaps the most illuminating account of the tragedy was that given by a young gentleman who was residing at Folkestone; it was given in a letter which he wrote to his father...dated 24 November. [A slightly shortened version of source (5) below follows in this source, misquoting "Sandgate" as "Margate"; the number of bodies found as 120, not 128; the child found on shore as "8 months" not "8 years" old; this source gives the name of Kemp, while source (5) states Kempt.] (4)

'The following letter respecting the loss of the Dutch transport the VRYHEID, is written by a young gentleman, residing at Folkstone [sic], to his father, dated November 24.

"Yesterday I witnessed a most melancholy and distressing sight, of which I shall endeavour to give you the most correct particulars.

"When I went to bed on Monday evening foul weather was to be expected, the wind from the south blew hard, and the sky appeared very stormy; about 11 o'clock the rain began to beat hard...and the sea increased...Hearing an uncommon noise I jumped out of bed about 7 o'clock in the morning, and beheld the waves running mountains high...

"About one o'clock I observed many casks floating and the people running along the beach towards the rock to procure whatever might fall in their way; before I could get to the point, which is about a quarter of a mile from where I live, the body of a fine young woman was driven upon the rock; she was entirely naked except for one stocking and a leather garter which was buckled below her knee. About a quarter of an hour after another female came in with many different articles, such as cartouche-boxes, puncheons, canteens, and soldiers' caps. I heard the wreck was at a place called Brookman's Barn, so I rode over there and beheld such a spectacle as I hope I never shall witness again. The ship had passed Dimchurch [sic] about eight in the morning, though the sea was dreadful, yet appeared to be all well; about half an hour after she was driven ashore upon the sand, and almost instantly parted, the sea driving the upper part farther in the land: it is a large ship, a transport; and from the different pieces of the wreck I have picked up, is certainly Dutch, bound to the Cape and Batavia, with troops and stores. There were 460 souls on board, out of which (dreadful to relate) only nine were saved, one of whom died yesterday evening, and three others were not expected to recover.

"I rode for two miles along the coast from the wreck towards Sandgate, which was covered with puncheons, musical instruments, muskets, etc., as also the dead bodies of men; the soldiers appear to primarily to be marines, by having two anchors crossed on their buttons. There has been a great number of them carried away to Hythe church: in a mile and a half's ride I counted the bodies of 128. The seamen were observed handing 7 or 8 females up the shrouds, that being the most probable means of saving them; but shortly after, the mast went by the board and they were plunged into the devouring element. There were 100 poor fellows on a piece of wreck, and very near shore, who probably thought themselves near their deliverance, when a most tremendous sea came and swept them off. A Mr Kempt of Hythe saved one of them from death by running into the sea. He was very near an officer and had just got hold of him, when he perceived a swell approaching, with a large piece of the wreck, and had only time to save himself, for immediately the timber knocked out the brains of the officer. On my return to Folkestone I saw 2 more women and 2 or 3 infants had come ashore; I also saw a sweet little girl this morning about 8 years old. Not an officer or female is saved: every person here is busy on the beach picking up what they can; some find watches, money, skins, etc." ' [TT.27.11.1802] (5) [largely quoted in (4) up to this point]

"Since writing the foregoing, a person, who has been towards Hythe, says, there were 480 soldiers on board, and that 19 only are saved; but to see how some of them have been mangled by the rock is too shocking to relate.

"It is astonishing that every woman who came on shore, and I believe there are 10 or 11, are all quite naked. They say here they always strip on approaching danger...The vessel struck in a spot where there are a number of piles driven into the beach to form a jetty, the consequence is, that scarcely two planks remain together. Had she driven 100 yards farther, there would have been a fine beach, and though an old ship, she probably would have kept together some time." (5)

'A letter from Dover states, that of the 18 persons saved from the Dutch Indiamen [sic] lately wrecked, most of them are half dead with wounds or contusions. Almost all the bodies have been taken up, and laid in the church yard of Hythe for interment, as fast as graves can be prepared for the reception. The Admiral, and his family, were among the sufferers who perished. A small vessel, which sailed from the Texel at the same time with the VRYHEID is lying safe in harbour in consequence of her having received a pilot on board off Dover, which, it is now said, the East Indiaman positively refused to do, as also to run for the Downs, which the boatmen strongly recommended the captain to do, as the only means of avoiding the danger they foresaw.

'An iron chest, flung for the purpose of floating on a raft, was cast on the beach, near Hythe, after the memorable shipwreck of the Dutch vessel; the lid was so far forced open, by the violent shocks it had received, that the post boy, who first discovered it, got out several pieces of gold, part of its contents, through the vacancy. He was soon joined by many people, who had gathered on the shore to view the terrible spectacle which the waves presented, but, although it was surrounded by numbers, it remained with the locks unbroken, till it was taken by proper persons into the custody of the Lord of the Manor.' (6)

The position of loss of the HONDURAS packet is given in relation to this vessel:

'This occurred 3 miles SW from the place where the Dutch ship was lost bound to the East Indies, and so many perished, about 2 years ago.' (7)

'Plymouth, Nov. 28. Came in last night the DEMERARA packet, of Rotterdam, with a cargo of sundries and passengers, for the settlements of Demerara, Issequibo, Berbice, and Surinam; she sailed with the unfortunate Dutch East Indiaman, the VRYHEID, with 500 Dutch groops, lost off Hythe last Monday in a violent gale of wind, when all perished but eighteen persons. The DEMERARA fortunately bore away for this port . . . ' (8)

NB: Source (3) follows source (2) in spelling the name of the vessel as VREEDE; sources (4)(5) and (6) spell the name of the vessel in the correct Dutch form of VRYHEID.

Master: Gerrit Scheeler (3); Schuler (2); Scherman (4)
Crew: 65 (3)
Crew Lost: 55 (3)
Passengers: 287 - from text cited in (1) & (3); 318 (3)
Passengers Lost: 310 (3)
On board: 472 (4); 460 (5), also quoted in (4); 480 (5)
Lives Lost: 454 (4); 461 (5)
Owner: Wils & Co. (3)
Armament: 32 cannon (3)

Date of Loss Qualifier: A

Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index:
Hastings Ref.Lib Sussex Wkly. Advtr.29.11.1802 p2; TT.25, 25 & 27.11.1802; Raad Aziatische Bezittingen (RAB) 88, No.342, 23.12.1802, list of salvaged goods; RAB No.201 09.04.1803, book-keeper's correspondence; RAB No.316 16.04.1803 Kaapsch Courant

Additional sources cited in Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Eras:
Mariners' Chronicle, 1812 ed. p210ff; Naval Chronicle, Vol. 8 p428, 515)

Terence Grocott, 1998, Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras (Monograph). SKE56129.

<1> United Kingdom shipwreck index, Page Nos. N/a (Bibliographic reference). SKE6340.

<2> Lloyd's, 1969, Lloyd's list 1741-1945 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6342.

<3> Larn, Richard and Bridget, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 2 : Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent (Mainland), Kent (Downs), Goodwin Sands, Thames (Bibliographic reference). SKE31910.