The Prins Willem was the largest ship at the time of the Dutch East India Company (the VOC). It was built in 1649 in Middelburg in the Netherlands and sank near Madagaskar in 1662. Curiously, the name on the ship was Prins Willim. Two reasons have been mentioned for this. One being that that is Middle Dutch, the other that there wasn't enough space for the name, so they changed the 'e' to an 'i', which is shorter. A replica has been built under the same name. See Prins Willem (ship replica). The replica is also called Prins Willim.
