Maritime History

Grounding of the St. Jacob

The grounding of the St. Jacob and subsequent death of its Danish crew in Mughal custody took place in 1640 off the coast of Pipli in Bengal in present-day Odisha. After a successful voyage to Bantam and Makassar, the Danish yacht, St. Jacob, initiated a return voyage to Masulipatnam; however, St. Jacob got caught in a storm and was driven towards the coast of Bengal. Its crew tried to save the ship, yet to no avail, and as the local Mughal faujdar, Hadi Gayas, denied the ship any assistance, St. Jacob consequently ran aground. The surviving Danes reached the coast, where they allegedly were poisoned by Gayas, causing 16 men to die within 3 days. The grounding of St. Jacob was such a severe blow for the Danish East India Company that it became the immediate casus belli for the Dano-Mughal War.

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See also

• ▸German submarine U-506
• ▸History of Portugal (1415–1578)
• ▸Argul railway station

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