The Duyfken

Photo essay and brief history of the Duyfken and the replica built in Fremantle Western Australia. The Duyfken Duyfken (also Duifken or Duijfken) ("little dove" in English, "duifje" in modern Dutch) was a small Dutch ship built in the Netherlands. She was a fast, lightly armed ship probably intended for shallow water, small valuable cargoes, bringing messages, sending provisions, or privateering. In 1606, during a voyage of discovery from Bantam (Banten), Java, captained by Willem Janszoon, she encountered the Australian mainland and Janszoon is thus credited with the first authenticated European discovery of Australia.