Jacob Corneliszoon van Neck

Jacob Corneliszoon van Neck (often anglicized to Jacob Cornelius van Neck) (1564 – March 8, 1638) was a Dutch naval officer and explorer who led the second Dutch expedition to Indonesia from 1598 to 1599.

Early life

Van Neck was from an Amsterdam family in good standing, and received a thorough education. Since he came from a commercial background and was not experienced in sailing, he took extra classes in navigation.Template:Sfnp

Second Dutch Expedition

File:Het Tweede Boeck.jpg

Illustration from van Neck's Het Tweede Boeck showing Dutch activities on the shore of Mauritius, as well as the first published depiction of a dodo bird, above left

Following the success of the first Dutch expedition to Indonesia in 1597, Van Neck was chosen to lead a second expedition in 1598, with the purpose of bringing back various spices. In May 1598, he left the port of Texel with eight vessels under his command.Template:Sfnp He was accompanied by Vice-Admiral Wybrand van Warwyck and noted polar explorer Jacob van Heemskerk.Template:Sfnp Following sailing directions written by Petrus Plancius, they made excellent progress, reaching the Cape of Good Hope in only three months.Template:Sfnp

Soon after this, heavy storms separated Van Neck, with three ships, from the rest of the fleet under Warwyck.Template:Sfnp Neck landed on the east coast of Madagascar and replenished his supplies, then continued on towards the Indonesian city of Bantam.Template:Sfnp He reached it on November 25, 1598, after less than seven months of sailing.Template:Sfnp Within one month, all three of his ships had been filled with spice, and on December 31 the other half of the fleet sailed into port at Bantam, prompting a huge New Year's celebration.Template:Sfnp Van Neck filled one more ship full of spices, making four ready to be sailed back to Amsterdam, then sent Warwyck and Heemskerck with the other four ships to the east in order to procure more spices.Template:Sfnp Van Neck then took the four ships that had been loaded with spices back to Amsterdam, where he arrived July, 1599.Template:Sfnp

File:De terugkomst in Amsterdam van de tweede expeditie naar Oost-Indië, Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom, 1599, Rijksmuseum SK-A-2858.jpg

The voyage's return in 1599, by Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom

He brought back with him nearly one million pounds in weight of pepper and cloves, in addition to half a ship full of nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon.Template:Sfnp The explorers were greeted by an ecstatic Amsterdam and paraded through the city behind a band of trumpeters, with every church bell tolling. The merchants who had backed the voyage rewarded Van Neck with a gold beaker (it later turned out to be only gold-plated) and the crew were given as much wine as they could drink.Template:Sfnp

The voyage was a tremendous success, earning the backers a 400 percent return on their investment.Template:Sfnp

Later life

Van Neck made one more expedition to the Indies after his voyage of 1598. During this expedition, he lost three fingers while doing battle with a Spanish-Portuguese fleet near Ternate,Template:Sfnp and brought Dutch ships to China for the first time. However, the Portuguese in Macau, adamant in preventing the Dutch from trading with China, waylaid Van Neck's reconnaissance parties and executed 17 of them. Van Neck left the coast of China without establishing contact with the Chinese authorities or knowing what happened to his crew.Template:Sfnp He retired from exploring after that, and later became a mayor of Amsterdam, and alderman, and a member of two admiralty colleges.Template:Sfnp He died on 8 March 1638.