Duyfken (; ), also in the form Duifje or spelled Duifken or Duijfken, was a small ship built in the Dutch Republic. She was a fast, lightly armed ship probably intended for shallow water, small valuable cargoes, bringing messages, sending provisions, or privateering.
Voyages
In 1595, a ship named Duyfken sailed in the first expedition to Bantam. After returning in August 1597, this ship was renamed Overijsel and also sailed in the second and fourth expeditions to the East Indies. For the first time all the inhabited continents of the world were known to the European science of geography. The ship sailed back to Banda.
In 1607, Duyfken may have made a second voyage east to Australia. Later in the year, she was sent to Java to get supplies for the beleaguered Dutch fortress on Ternate. In February or March 1608, Duyfken was involved in hunting Chinese junks north of Ternate. Young became aware of Duyfken as early as 1976 and lobbied extensively for a new replica project after the launch of the Endeavour replica in Fremantle, Australia in the mid-1990s.
The Duyfken Replica committee was established in 1995 by Michael Young and retired journalist James Henderson. This led to the establishment of the Friends of the Duyfken group then ultimately, the Duyfken 1606 Replica Foundation. The Foundation was initially chaired by entrepreneur Michael G. Kailis of Perth, who led the charge in raising the building budget.
On 27 March 1997, Dutch Crown Prince William-Alexander laid the Duyfken replica's keel at the Duyfken Replica Ship Yard in front of the Fremantle Maritime Museum in Fremantle, Western Australia.
thumb|upright|left|Decorated stern of Duyfken replica in [[Cooktown, Queensland|Cooktown harbour in 2009]]
A full size reproduction of Duyfken was built by the "Duyfken 1606 Replica Foundation" jointly with the Maritime Museum of Western Australia and launched on 24 January 1999 in Fremantle. She then undertook an expedition to Banda in Indonesia and sailed on a reenactment voyage to the Pennefather River in Queensland. Then to mark the 400th anniversary of the United Dutch East India Company (VOC) the ship sailed from Sydney, to Queensland, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, South Africa, Namibia, and finally Texel in the Netherlands. The ship then conducted a six month exhibition tour of The Netherlands. While in the Netherlands, the floor of the hold was replaced by antique Dutch bricks.
The story of the construction of the replica and the ship's major voyages is published in a book, Through Darkest Seas, by the former Project Director and Chair of the Duyfken 1606 Replica Foundation, Graeme Cocks.
For a period in 2005, Duyfken was berthed alongside the Old Swan Brewery on the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia. The replica was open for visits by the public.
In 2006, Western Australia played a big role in the 400th anniversary of the original Duyfkens visit to Australia. A national group called "Australia on the Map: 1606–2006" was formed to commemorate the arrival of Duyfken and to mark this important milestone in Australia's history, by also giving recognition to all who followed her and contributed to the mapping of the Australian coast.
Duyfken was berthed at the Queensland Maritime Museum in Southbank, Brisbane, Queensland until early 2011, when she was then placed on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. In 2012 she returned to Fremantle.
In November 2020, the Foundation announced that Duyfken would return to the Australian National Maritime Museum. COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions prevented the crew from travelling from New South Wales to Fremantle to sail the ship, so it was transported on a larger vessel to Newcastle, then sailed from there to Sydney, arriving on 22 December 2020. , the replica Duyfken continues to be situated in Darling Harbour, Sydney.
Notes
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