Survival Stories
HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, HNLMS Schorpioen, Dutch Navy Museum, Dan Helder
If you admire stories of unlikely survival like I do, the history of the Abraham Crijnssen is fascinating, and also an example of the ingenuity which is common throughout Dutch history. This ship, like the other ships of the Dutch East Indies surface fleet that attempted to defend Java in February 1942, should be at the bottom of the Java Sea right now, except for the crafty if unconventional ingenuity of its captain -- who took the game of Dress Up to a whole new level...
The Battle of the Java Sea was a horrific disaster for the Allies, who lost 10 major ships and 2300 sailors. The Imperial Japanese Navy only lost 36 sailors, no ships. In the aftermath and fall of Java, the Abraham Crijnssen was ordered to retreat to Australia, a perilous week-long trip which would leave the ship, which was slow and lacked modern air defenses, an easy target for air strikes. Imperial Navy aircraft had already sunk many Allied ships at the time. Entrusted with the lives of 10 officers, 48 sailors and a female nurse, the captain knew that to simply sail out into the open toward Australia was a death sentence. So he came up with a wild but clever plan: an island is an island is an island...and the Java Sea around Malaysia and Indonesia has well over 18,000 of them. Why not look like one?
He sailed immediately for the nearest island, had his crew cut down as much foliage as possible, and then proceeded to cover the entire surface area of the 184 foot long ship with foliage. What metal the crew couldn't conceal, they painted to look like rocks. Then, they sat...until night. Knowing that the Abraham Crijnssen would leave a visible wake, the captain could only sail her at night. During daylight, the ship was parked close in to "other" larger islands, immobile. This must have been incredibly nerve-wracking, especially as aircraft were heard overhead. Yet in spite of how crazy this sounds, the Abraham Crijnssen pulled safely into Fremantle, Australia eight days later, the only Dutch ship of her class to survive the invasion. Don't believe me? See for yourself:
www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/hnlms-abraham-crijn...
The ship behind the Crijnssen, the HNLMS Schorpioen, an armored ram from the 1860s, is only interesting from its unique survival from the scrapyard, a relic of the age between sail and steam.
While visiting a wonderful friend in Den Helder, he took me to see the Abraham Crijnssen and the interesting Dutch Navy Museum. Thank you for the visit Ralph!
*Press L or left click on the photo for best viewing.
Link to ~My best photos~
*** All my photos are © All Rights Reserved. ***
Survival Stories
HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, HNLMS Schorpioen, Dutch Navy Museum, Dan Helder
If you admire stories of unlikely survival like I do, the history of the Abraham Crijnssen is fascinating, and also an example of the ingenuity which is common throughout Dutch history. This ship, like the other ships of the Dutch East Indies surface fleet that attempted to defend Java in February 1942, should be at the bottom of the Java Sea right now, except for the crafty if unconventional ingenuity of its captain -- who took the game of Dress Up to a whole new level...
The Battle of the Java Sea was a horrific disaster for the Allies, who lost 10 major ships and 2300 sailors. The Imperial Japanese Navy only lost 36 sailors, no ships. In the aftermath and fall of Java, the Abraham Crijnssen was ordered to retreat to Australia, a perilous week-long trip which would leave the ship, which was slow and lacked modern air defenses, an easy target for air strikes. Imperial Navy aircraft had already sunk many Allied ships at the time. Entrusted with the lives of 10 officers, 48 sailors and a female nurse, the captain knew that to simply sail out into the open toward Australia was a death sentence. So he came up with a wild but clever plan: an island is an island is an island...and the Java Sea around Malaysia and Indonesia has well over 18,000 of them. Why not look like one?
He sailed immediately for the nearest island, had his crew cut down as much foliage as possible, and then proceeded to cover the entire surface area of the 184 foot long ship with foliage. What metal the crew couldn't conceal, they painted to look like rocks. Then, they sat...until night. Knowing that the Abraham Crijnssen would leave a visible wake, the captain could only sail her at night. During daylight, the ship was parked close in to "other" larger islands, immobile. This must have been incredibly nerve-wracking, especially as aircraft were heard overhead. Yet in spite of how crazy this sounds, the Abraham Crijnssen pulled safely into Fremantle, Australia eight days later, the only Dutch ship of her class to survive the invasion. Don't believe me? See for yourself:
www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/hnlms-abraham-crijn...
The ship behind the Crijnssen, the HNLMS Schorpioen, an armored ram from the 1860s, is only interesting from its unique survival from the scrapyard, a relic of the age between sail and steam.
While visiting a wonderful friend in Den Helder, he took me to see the Abraham Crijnssen and the interesting Dutch Navy Museum. Thank you for the visit Ralph!
*Press L or left click on the photo for best viewing.
Link to ~My best photos~
*** All my photos are © All Rights Reserved. ***