Drommedaris

[shipstamps]

Little known about this ship. From the guns she carried the dimensions of the vessel have been deduced. Flagship of three ships of Jan van Riebeeck on his voyage to establish a base at Cape of Good Hope. 3 masted with flat stern. Rigging was that commonly used during this period with topgallant sails on main and foremast topsail on mizzen and spritsail and top spritsail on bowsprit.
Other ships of the fleet were Reygher. flute and Goede Hoop Jacht. Sailed 23rd April 1646 from Texel arriving Batavia on 23rd January 1647. She sailed via S Tiago and stayed from 31st August until 3rd October at Pernambuco (Recife).
She sailed from Batavia on 19th January 1649 arriving at the Cape in April and at Texel on 1st August 1649. She had a cargo on board invoiced £78,275 for the Chamber of the VOC at Amsterdam.
She sailed home on this voyage with the return fleet under command of Pieter Sikmen aboard the Malakka, the total number of people on board this fleet of 9 vessels was 1129, The fleet also called at St Helena. She sailed from Texel under command of skipper David Koning on 24th December 1651, stayed at the Cape from 6th April 1652. She disembarked 49 people at the Cape, one of whom was Jan van Riebeck. She arrived at Batavia on 22 July 1652, and it looks as though she stayed in the East Indies.
In 1654 she was in the blockade services of Ceylon. The Dutch VOC blockaded Colombo, which was still in the hands of the Portuguese, before Ceylon was taken over completely by the VOC. She was laid up in 1661, fate unknown.
Issue of South Africa 1926. Id. Sg31 1943. Id, SG106: 1952. 2d. SG138 2d (opt SADIPU) SG 142. Log Book 5/07

[aukepalmhof]

Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika 1941 5c on 1d sg151

South Africa’s 1d Ship Definitive
First issued in January 1926 and remained in use until it was finally replaced during 1954 by the 1d Black Wildebeest.
The design of this ancient sailing vessel is said to be the DROMEDARIS, being Van Riebeeck’s ship on which he arrived at the Cape in 1652.
I recently a report was found that disagrees with the foregoing.

Gibbons Stamp Monthly August 1952
Mr C. Gonin has sent us a newspaper cutting, which states that the model used for the design of the current 1d stamp, was a 24-gun Dutch man-of-war of a much later period than Van Riebeeck’s ship, ‘DROMEDARIS’, which it is meant to represent. The model ship was found in a Dutch church and sent to President Kruger, who forwarded it to the Transvaal Museum for safe keeping, whence it went to the New Museum, Pretoria

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South Africa 1926 1d sg56, scott? and 1943 1d sg 106, scott?