HERINNERINGEN AAN PIM KORVER

17

HERINNERINGEN AAN

PIM KORVER

Op 75-jarige leeftijd overleed afgelopen december de bekende maritieme fotograaf en cineast de heer Pim Korver. In maritieme kringen was hij zeer bekend wegens de hoge kwaliteit van zijn reportages en films over maritieme calamiteiten.

Hij begon als fotograaf/cineast bij de Nederlandse TV eind jaren vijftig en in

1963 begon hij zijn eigen bedrijf, waarin hij films en video’s in opdracht van derden vervaardigde. Pim Korver maakte een film over de berging van de ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, een schip dat met groot verlies aan mensenlevens nabij Ostende (België) verging. Deze film werd zijn artistiek hoogtepunt en werd

Deze foto van cineast Pim Korver werd op Curaçao gemaakt, toen hij met de helicopter van de bekende helicopter vlieger George Tielen op het punt stond om opnamen vanuit de lucht te maken.

erkend als de beste opdrachtfilm van de 20ste eeuw. De heer Pim Korver – inmiddels door H.M. de Koningin gedecoreerd in de Orde van Oranje Nassau - was in Curaçao een graag geziene gast, alwaar hij kostenloos films voor de CITRO maakte. In 2010 vertoonde hij voor leden van de KNVTS Afdeling Antillen de film over de berging van de laatste stuk van het bij de Engelse Zuidkust aan de grond gezette van het door zwaar stormweer beschadigde containerschip NAPOLI. Dit schip werd ter plaatse gesloopt waarbij de geslaagde berging van de duizenden tonnen zware hoofdmotor spectaculaire beelden opleverden. The Antillean Navigator herdenkt hierbij deze grote cineast op eerbiedige wijze.

Antillean Navigator Nummer 57

18


THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC A LOGISTIC NIGHT MARE The 5 year duration of the BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC, which took place between September 1939 through May 1945, was one of the most important Battles of World War 2. It took place in the Atlantic Ocean, which in 1940 was the life line of the United Kingdom; being the the only Nation confronting Nazi Germany, which had already conquered most

survive and to continue the war, needed to import gigantic amounts of food, fuel, military hardware and raw materials; such as iron ore, rubber, cotton, and many other products.

which, 15 million tons was food. These much needed supplies went down to the bottom of the sea fast and regularly due to the

tremendous ship sinkings. The Atlantic Ocean Supply Line was England’s “Achilles Heel” THE U-BOAT PERIL When World War 2 broke out on September 3rd 1939, the Nazi Kriegsmarine (Navy) was insufficiently prepared. There

American Aircraft of the type Lockheed Hudson are being loaded on deck of a merchant ship. These aircraft were used by the British Coastal Command to spot and attack U-boats.

The passenger liner of the Holland America Line was on route to Canada with hundreds of fleeing children on board when the ship was hit in the middle of the night by Nazi torpedoes. The evacuation took place with great discipline and only one life was lost. Due to its excellent construction the ship could be towed back to Liverpool. The picture shows the ship in dry dock.

of the European countries. ACHILLES HEEL Great Britain, In order to

The annual tonnage of all those products is still classified, but in 1941 the total was 43 million tons. Of

On April 16, 2004 this monument was officially inaugurated in Liverpool to remember and honor the men of the Netherlands Royal Navy, Merchant Navy and the Fishing fleet, who gave their lives in the Battle of the Atlantic so that England could survive and the Netherlands was liberated from Nazi terror.

were only 57 submarines available, of which many were in maintenance. Nevertheless, these submarines, known as U-boats, were devastatingly active in torpedoing and sinking many Allied ships crossing the Atlantic with supplies for England. In addition to employing UBoats, the Germans used cruisers, destroyers and disguised heavily armed merchant ships, as well as the Luftwaffe, in attacking the Allied merchant vessels with horrific results.

INSTITUTION OF CONVOYS In order to better protect these merchant ships from the U-Boats, they would cross the Atlantic in convoys comprising of up to

19

60 ships. Some of these merchant ships were lightly armed; and the British Navy, although very shorthanded, provided the convoys with escorting destroyers, frigates and even armed fishing trawlers to ward off and battle the Nazi U-Boats. Even the Canadian Navy joined in to help. But to no avail, the high losses of valuable merchant ships and experienced crews, plus the badly needed cargo continued. When on December 7,

1941, without warning, Japan, as an ally of Germany, attacked the US fleet in Hawaii, the United States immediately became an active ally of Great Britain and the U.S. Navy began escorting the convoys across the Atlantic. 1943…A VERY CRITICAL YEAR The construction of new U-boats and the training of crews was in high gear and by March 1943 there were so many U-boats in

The Dutch tanker Hermes in dock in Lissabon. When the tanker was hit, fortunately the ship was empty and the tanks were cleaned and had no gas vapors.

the Atlantic, that the supplies reaching England were dangerously low and Nazi victory over England was very close. This would have meant that the liberation of Western Europe would never have taken place. The Allied invasion of June 6, 1944 was only possible by using England as a huge stepping stone, where half a million troops and an enormous amount of supplies had finally been accumulated and were ready for the final assault on the Nazi’s. NEW DEFENSE SYSTEMS The United Kingdom and the United States knew that the Nazi submarine fleet was increasing rapidly and new defensive means had to be developed to encounter this threat. Thus, the so-called “Huff Duff”* together with improved radar, and sonar were able to locate the U-boats, and effective air cover was introduced in April 1943, with enormous effect resulting in the locating and sinking of 40 U-Boats that month alone! Now, the U-boats became the unfortunate quarry, and the threats to the convoys diminished considerably The sea lanes to England were kept alive and the liberation of Europe was all but secured! VESSELS LOST DURING THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC Allied shipping losses totaled 2, 603 ships or 14,985,102 bruto registered tons. Including British shipping losses: 1,315 to U-boats, 2,177 in total. Allied Naval losses: 175 ships. Nazi U-boat losses: 782 lost out of a fleet of 1,133. (*) observation: “Huff Duff” was the name for a new U-boat locating sys-


The official declaration of Sir Winston Churchill, the great British leader during WW2, as same appears on the book about the Battle of the Atlantic by John Costello en Terry Hudges.

tem using the VHF-com- munications between Uboats.

This is a picture taken in 1939 of a British convoy under protection of the Royal Navy. The ships have steam engines and they use coal to burn in their steam boilers. The smoke was visible at a great distance and consequently the U-boats found a convoy more easily in good weather. One can see that the life-boats are turned outside in order to have a better change in lowering them in case of a torpedo-hit. These ships had also to endure the hardships of the North Atlantic Ocean, where the weather conditions could be horrible. Heavy gales or fog, reducing the visibility to zero. Under fog conditions (radar for Merchant ships did not exist at that time), each ship streamed a specially designed float on a long line. This float showed a water spray and the look-out on the bows of a ship had to indicate to the officer on duty on the bridge where the float was and so a small course correction was necessary in case same was not exactly in front. A great inconvenience in winter was that the ocean water spray (although salt water) froze under very low temperatures to the ship’s rigging and superstructure, causing instability and the poor crews had to hack with axes the ice from the ship. A very cold job that lasted sometimes for days. Crews knew no holidays, since the demand for the transportation of commodities to Engeland was tremendous. There were crewmembers who survived two, sometimes three times their sinking ship due to enemy action.

20


RADIO KORSOU F.M. EINDE MUZIEK BIJ DE KOFFIE Gedurende meer dan dertig jaar werd elke zondagmorgen van 08.30 tot 09.30 het populaire programma Muziek bij de Koffie door Radio Korsoù FM uitgezonden. Dit programma werd geleid door wellicht de meest ervaren radioman ter wereld, de heer Johannes (SUHANDI) Oosterhof, die vanaf 1946 tot 2012 een centrale rol in de radio omroep speelde. In Nederland bij de KRO en Radio Veronica; in Indonesie bij de , NIROM (Nederlands Indische Radio Omroep) en Radio Bandoeng; in Nieuw Guinea bij de RONG (Radio

Omroep Nieuw Guinea) en vanaf de zestiger jaren op Curaçao. Aanvankelijk werkte hij bij Radio Hoyer en bij de CUROM (de Curaçaose Radio Omroep). In 1976 begon hij een eigen radiostation Radio Korsou FM - het eerste lokale radiostation op de FM-band - dat zeer populair werd. Men kon de programma’s beluisteren op Bonaire, Aruba en zelfs in de kustgebieden en hooggelegen delen van Venezuela. Later toen Internet zijn intrede deed, waren er vele luisteraars in Nederland en ook Nederlands sprekende liste-

raars elders ter wereld. Tot ieders spijt kwam er in de maand September 2012 abrupt een einde aan

de uitzending van het po- WAT IS ER GEBEURD? pulaire programma De heer Suhandi (een naam, die hij in Indonesie Muziek bij de Koffie. kreeg) vierde op 17 oktober j.l. zijn 84ste verjaardag. De radio betekende alles voor hem, maar helaas namen zijn gezichtsvermorgen en zijn gehoor snel af en zijn gezondheid werd ook minder waardoor hij in het ziekenhuis moest worden opgenomen.

De heer Suhandi in zijn karakteristieke houding tijdens zijn radio uitzendingen in studio nr. 2 aan de Bataljonsweg 7.

De familie moest verhuizen, omdat de steile trap naar hun woning aan de Batallonsweg te gevaarlijk werd. Tengevolge van dit alles moest het programma zonder verdere toelichting worden beëndigd.

21


ORKAANSEIZOEN 2013 Congratulations Op 1 juni a.s. gaat het orkaanseizoen voor dit deel van de wereld in. Geleerden verwachten een vrij intensief seizoen, omdat de omstandigheden daartoe gunstig zijn, waaronder een relatief hoge zeewater temperatuur. In het algemeen maken de burgers op Curaçao zich niet zo druk hierover. Er komt immers toch geen orkaan. Het orkaangevaar kan men niet uitsluiten, de laatste twee orkanen die in 1876 en 1877 over Curaçao trokken, kostten

vele mensen het leven en verwoestten veel woningen en schepen in de haven! In 1932 en 1954 passeerden orkanen boven de Beneden windse eilanden en richtten aldaar schade aan. Men spreekt nog over JOAN in 1988, die voor Nederlandse begrippen een “zomerstormpje” was, maar hier veel schade veroorzaakte. Het blijft daarom verstandig om toch bepaalde maatregelen te nemen en die staan uitgebreid in het telefoonboek op de

Een satellietfoto van de orkaan IVAN gefotografeerd op 8 september 2004

pagina’s 68 t/m 73. Een meer uitgebreide informatie kunt u op internet vinden nl. http./ www.chata.org/news/64storm-preparednessv a l u e b l e - t i p s ORKAAN PASSAGE Curaçao is in het geheel niet voorbereid op een orkaan. Zelfs het nabij passeren van een dergelijk gevaarlijk natuurverschijnsel zou enorme schade veroorzaken, wegen zullen onbegaanbaar worden, electriciteit , water en telefoon (ook internet) vallen uit. Vrijwel niets zal functioneren en u dient minstens een week onafhankelijk van buiten kunnen overleven. Kortom, een totale chaos, waarbij hulp van buiten noodzakelijk zal zijn. De laatste grote orkaanramp in ons deel van het Koninkrijk, gebeurde in 1995 op St. Maarten toen de orkaan LUIS met een kracht van 3 op de Saffir Simpson schaal dit eiland trof.

22


LOODSWEZEN ESSENTIEEL VOOR VEILIGE SCHEEPVAART IN HAVENS Iedere zeehaven van betekenis in de wereld beschikt over een loodsdienst. Loodsen zijn hoogopgeleide ex-koopvaardij officieren (in Nederland nu ook voormalige Marine officieren), die na een stapsgewijze opleiding en ervaring steeds grotere aankomende- en vertrekkende zeeschepen beloodsen.

The largest shipping company in the Netherlands is SPLIOETHOFF HOLDING. One of the ships is the m.v. SUOMIGRACHT that steamed to the Antartica to deliver a complete research station.

Een loods is de adviseur van de kapitein van een schip en zorgt voor een veilige vaart door de toeleidingskanalen en de haven. Hij moet rekening houden met de wind en stroom, ondiepten en bochten in vaarwegen. Rekening houden met gemeerd liggende schepen en dan de manoeuvres uitvoeren, waarbij een schip afmeert of daarna vertrekt. Ook geeft hij orders aan kapiteins van eventueel assisterende sleepboten. Hij moet zelfs beducht zijn op het feit, dat de voortstuwingsinstallatie plotseling defect kan raken en het schip onmanoeuveerbaar wordt. STEEDS GROTERE SCHEPEN Economische eisen leiden er toe, dat schepen steeds groter worden. Wij zien dit bij cruiseschepen en tankers, maar nu

worden er gigantische containerschepen gebouwd, waarvan de grootsten 400 meter of langer zijn en 18.000

tweede containercomplex aangelegd op de Maasvlakte (Noordzee). Daar zijn er verbindingen middels binnenvaar tschepen, trein- en wegvervoer van/ naar het binnenland van West Europa. LOODSEN EN BELOODSEN Het beloodsen van deze grote schepen geeft ook problemen, want de scheepsrompen zijn hoog en de brug bevindt zich op 15 verdiepingen boven het zeeoppervlak Soms maakt men gebruik van helicopters. Maar nog een groter probleem is om loodsen in dienst te nemen. Er zijn niet genoeg aspirant loodsen beschikbaar en die er komen gaan naar de havens, waar men het

meer dollar kosten! Het Engelse woord voor Loods is pilot, een woord afkomstig van het Spaanse Piloto , dat van vóór de Middeleeuwen dateert en betekent “deskundige op het gebied van navigatie”. Sinds de opkomst van het vliegtuig wordt een vlieger ook wel pilot of piloot genoemd.

The cruise boat MERMAID gefotografeerd te Klein Curaçao, alwaar het schip een eigen restaurant en verdere zaken voor haar passagiers heeft. The Curaçaoan cruise boat MERMAID at the romantic uninhabited island “Klein Curaçao” where the ship’s owner has his own restaurant with all necessary facilities. The barbecue and soda’s are included in the fare.

Het grootse afzinkbare transportschip ter wereld, de DOCKWISE VANGAURD heeft recent op de eerste reis van Korea naar de Golf van Mexico een gigantisch olieplatform veilig afgeleverd.

twintigvoetscontainers kunnen vervoeren. Zou men deze op een rij zetten, dan krijgt men een muur van bijna 110 kilometer lengte! De aan-en afvoer van deze containerstroom geeft in vele landen problemen. Rotterdam heeft een

ambieëren. WETTELIJKE GRONDSLAG Het werk van de loods is in de meeste landen wettelijk geregeld en een goede loodsdienst is van heel groot economisch belang. Immers een zeeschip is zeer kostbaar en de exploitatiekosten hoog. Een vertraging van een uur, kan al duizend of

hoogste salaris biedt. In de grote havens van de Verenigde Staten verdient een loods meer dan een B747 captain! Het is daarom merkwaardig, dat in een tijd van hoge jeugdwerkloosheid er maar weinigen zijn die een maritieme carrière

23


SHELL MARINE LUBRICANTS AT CURAÇAO. Next to the well known maritime service provider SeaHarbor Service Curaçao Ltd.(see article in our previous edition), the same owner now founded SeaHarbor Transport Curaçao Ltd, a company which has now the sole distribution rights of SHELL Marine lubrications to ships in port at Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao and near the adjacent coast. SEAHARBOR TRANSPORT CURAÇAO Ltd. just

inaugurated a new facility at Curaçao, where 52 diferent types of SHELL marine lubrications are in stock. The new building comprises 600 m² (6,300 square feet) in storage and office space.

The new storage facility for SHELL marine Lubricants at Veeris. These Lubricants can be delivered at Sea to ships passing Curaçao.

HONDERD JAAR STRAALMOTOREN

IIn het jaar 1913 nam de Franse ingenieur René Lorin patent op de eerste straalmotor ter wereld. Er waren toen problemen, die het in productie nemen van dit ontwerp verhinderd. Zoals het niet beschikbaar zijn

Brazilian Airbus was stranded at Curaçao Inrternational Airport duea damaged port side engine. A replacement was flown in on Sunday May 26 and immediately technicians started to work.

van hitte bestendige materialen voor het verbrandingsgedeelte van de motor en de stand van zaken in de vliegtuigbouw. Het zou zeer oneconomisch zijn geweest om de toen bestaande primitieve vliegtuigen met een lage snelheid van een straalmotor te voorzien. De moderne “ram jet” toont veel overeenkomst met het ontwerp van Ir. Lorin. Bron: Rolls Royce

A Dash 8 patrol aircraft of the Coast Guard for the Dutch Caribbean stationed at Curaçao International Airport.

Airbus 380 engine, a Rolls-Royce Trent 900, exposed

The replacement engine on a special trolley, covered in blue plastic.

Pictures courtesy of Caraçao Airport Partners, the operator of Curaçao International Airport.

24


FREAK OR ROGUE WAVES Contrary what many people think, ocean waves are not all of the same height and pattern. They differ in height and under certain circumstances these waves can reach twice or more their normal height. However, it can happen that during heavy gales and hurricanes the wave height can reach four times the normal height. Let us assume that the average wave height is around 24 feet (7.3 metres) , but a freak wave can reach almost hundred feet (30 meters)! Ships can founder or survive with often heavy damage. There can be also “holes” in the sea, caused by the interference of waves, currents and sea bottom effects. Formerly oceanographic scientists thought that these were “seamen’s stories” but nowadays the modern oceanographic scientists can measure these exceptional waves via satellites and have determined that freak waves occur more frequently than originally being assumed.

29°26’ East the Edingburgh Castle was experiencing

a strong south-west wind and a heavy south-west swell* , but, being 750 long and 28,600 gross tonnage, these condition presented

by the famous yacht sailor Captain Allan Coles from England. That book is named Heavy Weather Sailing and contains true stories of the past. Concerning “Freak waves” we quote: DISAPPEARANCE OF THE SS WARATAH. Ever since the WARATAH was lost without trace, having sailed from Durban to Cape Town on 26th July 1909, Cape Coastal waters have been suspect and especially in the vicinity of Port St. John. There was a report that she had been “spoken” and reported “all well” off Port Shepstone, she had a morse lamp but nu wireless.

PASSENGER LINER “EDINBURGH CASTLE” The master of this ship Commodore W. S. Byles R.D., wrote in his report: Hereunder we quote from On 21th August 1964 in the annex of a book written position 31° 39’South,

Near the coast of Norman by (France) are many Lighthouses built on Rocks. During Heavy weather waves crashing into the lighthouses make impressive views.

no serious problems to her**. As she dipped into the swell she was spraying forward a little, and (on the big ones), shoveling up a little water through the hawse pipes***.

The reputation of the coast, my previous experience and my desire to avoid damage of any sort, decided me to abandon the benefit of the Agulhas current, put up a later arrival and close to the coast., To further insure that no untoward incident should occur, I took a knot **** of her speed and to close the coast I had, of course, put the swell cosily on the bows, instead of driving it head-on. Under these conditions she was very confortable for three-

25

A Man of War being batterd by high Waves

quarters of an hour or so. The distance from one wave top to another was about 150 feet and the ship was pitching and scending ^ about 10-15 degrees to the horizontal. And then it happened. Suddenly, having scended normally, the wave length appeared to double the normal, about 300 feet, so that were she pitched and charged, as it were into a hole at an angle of 30 degrees or more, shoveling the next wave on board to an height of 15 or 20 feet, before she could recover, as she was “out of step”. It was an hot night and so that the passenger accommodation might get some air ^^ the steel doors at the after end of the fore deck had been left open, but, due to an oversight, this information was not passed to the bridge, so that not only the foredeck swept with a wall of water, which caused damage on the deck, but a quantity of water flooded into the passenger accommodation.

and call a ship “she” (***) Hawse pipes are the pipes where the anchor chains are connected to the anchors. (****) A “knot” is a speed one nautical mile per hour. A nautical mile has a length of 1,852 meters, this is different from a “land mile”, which has a length of 1609 meters. (^) scending: dipping into the lowest part between two wave tops. (^^) In those years, even passenger ships had no air conditioning, causing doors en portholes to be left open, which was a dangerous habit.

Since this report was written, similar exceptional sea conditions have been reported and ships have sunk or broken. The SHELL had a fixed announcement in the captain’s cabin that said “while steaming in the Agulhas stream with wind force 8 or more, the ship must avoid the vicinity of the hundred fathom line (this is were the sea is 180 meters deep)” This in Observations: (*) swell: order to avoid freak waves waves. (**) The British and the corresponding consider a ship feminine “holes” in the ocean!

BRITISH CRUISER BIRMINGHAM A former officer of the cruiser Birmingham, late commander I.R. Johnston, Royal Navy, read the report about the Edinburgh Castle and had the following comments: When I was serving in the cruiser Birmingham during the Second World War, we had a similar experience in those waters one night which I recall more vividly for being on watch at the time. We were about 100 miles south-south-west of Durban on ourway to Cape Town, steaming fast but quite comfortably into a moderate sea and swell when suddenly we hit the “hole” and went down like a plummet into the next sea, which came green * over the A and B turrets ** and broke over our open bridge. I was knocked violently of my feet, only to recover and finding myself wading around in 2 feet of water at a height of 60 feet above normal sea-level. The ship was so jarred *** by the impact that many of the watch below thought we had been torpedoed and went to emergency stations. The Captain immediately reduced speed, but the precaution proved unnecessary, as the moderate a before and no further “holes” appeared. This experience, occurring as it did in pitch darkness in a blacked out ship, was quite one of my most alarming at sea and I can well believe that a deeply laden ship might founder under similar circumstances. Observations: ( *) “green water” means “solid” seawater, which has a tremendous force.


“Spray” may look more impressive, but is not dangerous as such except under icing conditions. (**) Turrets are the

and D turrets are aft. iOne of these cruisers , the HMS Belfast is now a museum in the Thames river at downtown London. Modern ships have

This picture was taken in 1939 from the bridge of a German heavy cruiser while sailing during very heavy weather in the Denmark Strait (North Atlantic Ocean).A freak wave of a least 30 m high is rushing to the cruiser. Note the steep front of the wave with speed estimated at more than 50 kilometers per hour!

armored housing of the main armament, at WW2 cruisers generally two forward and two at the stern. The A-turret is on the main deck and the B-turret one deck higher. The C

generally one turret forward since the electronically guided shells do not miss their target. (***) “jarred” : tremendous trembling of the entire ship.

WIND FORCES Wind force Beaufort * knots(**) kilometers/hour

description

0 Less than 1 less than 1 calm 1 1-3 1-5 Light air 2 4-6 6-11 Light breeze 3 7-10 12-19 Gentle breeze 4 11-16 20-28 Moderate breeze 5 17-21 29-38 Fresh breeze 6 22-27 39-49 Strong breeze 7 28-33 50-61 Near gale 8 34-40 62-74 Gale 9 41-47 75-88 Strong gale 10 48-55 89-102 Storm 11 56-63 103-117 Violent storm 12 >63 > 117 Hurricane Observations (*) The British Admiral Beaufort developed this wind scale hundreds of years ago at a time that there were no wind force instruments and was dependent upon the surface of the sea under the various wind conditions. With hurricane forces the sea surface is not longer visible due to the fact that wave tops disintegrate and form a continuous heavy spray. (**) a “knot” is one nautical mile per hour, which is 1.852 meters.

SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE Wind force knots

kilometers/hour

1 64-83 119-153 2 84-96 156-177 3 97-104 179-193 4 105-125 195-233 5 >125 >233 Observation: The Saffir-Simpson scale could be developed after special wind force instruments (anemometers) became available.


26

HOLLAND AMERICA LINE

The present cruise liner NOORDAM entering the harbor of Curaçao. Picture courtesy of Mr. Kees Bustraan, well known maritime photographer.

This beautiful painting shows the medium passenger liner NOORDAM of the Holland America line, active during the late thirties till the early sixties. This painting was made by the famous Dutch maritime artist Fred Boom, a former ship’s engineer.

The famous 36,000 ton passenger ship NIEUW AMSTERDAM seen approaching the corresponding berth in the harbor of Rotterdam.

Nieuwe Rotterdam in aanbouw 1959. Nu permanent Hotel & Restaurant In Rotterdam

the Holland America Line were sold. Then in 1989 the Holland America Line sold its name and cruise liners to the Carnival corporation. The original enterprise became an investment company and Carnival made the Holland America Line much larger than before. Retaining its name, Rotterdam as the port of registry and Dutch officers entrusted with operating the ships. The Holland America Line is now heading to its next anniversary with an ever increasing modern fleet.

This year the famous cruise company HOLLAND AMERICA LINE celebrates his year its 140th anniversary. Founded in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) in 1873 as the Netherlands America Steamship company, the line prospered, but also suffered severe setbacks during the 1st and 2nd World War and the world crisis of the thirties. During the 2nd World War the liners New Amsterdam, Volendam and Noordam were used as troop

transport ships. When the transatlantic airline industry started in the sixties to make passenger ships superfluous, the modern liners of those years were converted to cruise ships and the airlines are now also tasked with the transportation of cruise passengers to the different home ports. During the sixties of last century , the picture of cargo shipping changed completely due to the introduction of container ships, the traditional cargo ships of

Deze scheepvaartmaatschappij werd onder de naam NederlandsAmerikaanse Stoomvaart maatschappij in 1873 in Rotterdam opgericht en groeide in de hoogtijdagen van de Nederlandse Scheepvaart gedurende de eerste zestig jaren vande vorige eeuw uit tot één van Nederland’s grootste, maar ook meest

140 JAAR HOLLAND AMERIKA LIJN prestigieuze scheepvaartmaatschappijen. In de zeventiger jaren begon zich duidelijk de teruggang van de Nederlandse rederijen af te tekenen. De Holland Amerika Lijn verkocht haar naam en haar schepen

aan de grootste cruise maatschapij CARNIVAL en werd een inversteringsmaatschappij. De traditie van de HAL werd niet alleen door de Amerikaanse eigenaren voortgezet, maar versterkt. De schepen

27

blijven geregistreerd in Rotterdam en worden bij voorkeur bemandmet Nederlandse officieren. Het is nu een cruise maatschappij die zich richt op een betere klasse passagiers. Er waren in de eerste

zestig jaren van de twintigste eeuw die enorme dieptepunten: De Eerste Wereldoorlog van 1914-1918, de crisisjaren van 1930-1936 en Het Nederlandse daarna de Tweede Werel- vrachtzeilschip EUROPA, doorlog van 1939-1945. behoorde in de jaren 2006 al tot een verdwijnend type schip.

The passenger liner leaving New York during the thirties of the 20th century on its way to Europe. The s.s. Veendam is a sister ship of the Volendam mentioned in another article in this issue. Picture courtesy from the book the Great Luxury Liners 1927-1954.

The 29,000 ton passenger liner STATENDAM, here seen in dry dock next to the Dutch cruiser “De Ruyter”, was a popular ship from 1929 till 1940, when the ship fell victim to the hostilities in May 1940 in Rotterdam.


ZEILSCHIP

Bijna allle zeescheepvaart werd in die jaren al door stoomschepen uitgeoefend. Het driemastvolschip Europa maakte in 2007 en 2008 een tocht rondom de wereld, maakte allerlei weersomstandigheden mede van windstilte tot zeer zware stormen. IN 1909 werd het schip aan Noorwegen verkocht en zonk in 1917 onder de naam ASRA tegenvolge van oorlogsomstandigheden. Deze reis is beschreven in het boek EUROPA AHOY door de heer A.C. Metzelaar. De laatste en

E U R O PA

negende druk van dit boek verscheen in 1946. Na te zijn geslaagd voor 5 jaar HBS, monsterde de heer Metzelaar met enkele vrienden als stuurmanleerlingen op dit zeilschip aan. Na een

succesvolle carrière bij de Rotterdamse Lloyd, ging hij in 1938 als Inspecteur voor het toenmalige Nederlands Indië van deze grote rederij met pensioen.


28

The EUROPA was a Dutch sailing ship transporting commodities all over the world. In those years from 1906 through 1908 a “working” sailing ship was on the verge to become extinct, since steam took over for ship’s propulsion. The Europa went from Rotterdam to Norway to load timber for Australia, then with 3300 tons of coal to Chili and from that country with salpetre to Europe and so on. Sailing for two years during all kinds of weather from no wind at all till heavy gales. One of the cadets on board of this sailing ship wrote a very interesting book about these voyages with unique pictures, of which we reproduce some in

this periodical. This book is

now a collectors item, since the last print appeared 67 years ago.

29

THE US 8th AIR FORCE IN ACTION OVER WESTERN EUROPE

1943 was a very crucial year for the Allies in their conflict with the European Central Powers. The British Royal Air Force attacked Nazi-Germany by night, while the American 8th Army Air Force, with heavy bomber formations began attacking the Nazi war industry by day. In this way, weather conditions prevailing, the Allies achieved a permanent 24 hour assault on the Nazi-homeland. The main objective was to destroy the U-boat yards, aircraft factories and other strategic production centers like the ball bearing plants, etc. The US Army Air Force bombers at that time, were the famous hard hitting, four

the ground based antiaircraft fire knocked down many a B-17 and B-24. was disastrous. Each bomber carried ten crewmembers. When

A B24 Liberator made an emergency landing.

USAAF B17F bombers Flying in Formation. The high flying bombers show contrails which improved the aim of the flak Gonners

formation, was sufficient to keep the Nazi-fighter planes at bay. This in view of the fact that in 1943 no allied fighter aircraft

A German soldier inspection shell damage to the B17F

engine B17 Boeings and B 24 Liberators. The USAAF command was of the tactical opinion that the heavy defensive armament of 13 fifty caliber machineguns mounted in each bomber, when flying in close


existed to escort the bombers all over NaziGerman territory. However, these high command expectations proved to be wrong and the losses to the US bombers were staggering. In general a bomber lasted for only 5 ½ missions. The

The same B24 Liberator seen from the right side

Kraut fighter planes and

a bomber was fatally damaged, the crew had to try to parachute to safety. Unfortunately, many airmen did not make it. They went down with their bombers or were captured when their parachute landed. From rare photographs taken from a Nazi-German newsreel, one can see the high price the USAAF paid for their day light bombing missions. Believe it or not, almost one third of the 175,000 Americans killed in the ETO (European Theater of Operations in WW2, were airmen! Sourse of pictures: black and white from a 1943 German newsreel , one from USAF and the others from books by author Roger A. Freeman.

Ceremony in 1943 in front of a Boeing B17F bomber.

View of the two waist machine guns.

Crew positions in a Boeing B17F bomber.


30

An exchausted US airman between his captors.

A parachuted US air man arrested by a German officer.

The same airman with a collegue

Wreck of a downed Boeing B17 over Nazi-Germany.

The Pilot shown above shotly after he has landed his parachute.

Same wreck. A German soldiers inspecting the twin 50 caliber tail machineguns.

Cockpit of a Boeing B 17F bomber.

Boeing B17F under heavy FLAK (exploding anti aircraft shells) during a bombing run.

2

31


2

HERINNERINGEN AAN PIM KORVER

Recommend Documents