SS Van Heemskerk (1909)

SS Van Heemskerk was a freighter built by N.V. Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw-Maatschappij with engines built by Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen & Spoorwegmaterieel N.V, both of Amsterdam, Netherlands.[2] The ship of 2,996 GRT was launched 31 August 1909 and delivered 29 October 1909 for operation by Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM) in the Dutch East Indies trade.[2]

SS Van Heemskerk at Taliwang in 1920.
History
Name: SS Van Heemskerk[1]
Owner: Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij
Operator: Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij
Builder: N.V. Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw-Maatschappij, Amsterdam
Yard number: 100[2]
Launched: 31 August 1909
Acquired: delivered 29 October 1909
Fate: Sunk Milne Bay, New Guinea in 1943
General characteristics
Type: passenger/cargo
Tonnage: 2,996 GRT[1]
Length: 325 ft 5 in (99.2 m)[1]
Beam: 43 ft 8 in (13.3 m)[1]
Draft: 25 ft 0 in (7.6 m)[1]
Installed power:
  • 1,300 IHP[2]
  • 233 Nominal horsepower (nhp)[1]
Propulsion: Triple expansion engine
Speed: 10.5 knots[2]
Capacity:
  • 164,000 cubic feet (4,644.0 m3) (grain)
  • 14,000 cubic feet (396.4 m3) (bale)
  • Passengers:
  • 26 first class
  • 29 second class
  • 941 steerage
  • 996 total[2]

During World War I Van Heemskerk, then at Singapore, came under the Shipping Controller, London for wartime operation by British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., London until returned to KPM in 1919.[2]

Van Heemskerk was one of twenty-one KPM vessels that took refuge in Australian ports after the fall of Java that Dutch officials requested be put into service for the war effort.[3] The ship, among others, was chartered by the Chief Quartermaster, U.S. Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA) on 26 March 1942 with long term details to be negotiated at higher levels to become part of the U.S. Army's local fleet crewed by its KPM officers and men without an Army local fleet "X" number being assigned.[4]

On 18 May 1942 Van Heemskerk was one of four Dutch ships of Convoy ZK.8, the others being MS Bantam, SS Bontekoe and SS Van Heutsz, under escort of HMAS Arunta and HNLMS Tromp departing Sydney for Port Moresby with 4,735 troops of the Australian 14th Brigade embarked.[5] The ship continued transporting troops and materiel between Australia and New Guinea during the reinforcement and build up in New Guinea.[6] Van Heemskerk, again escorted by Arunta, and in company with SS Japara was due in Milne Bay on the evening of 11 September, days after the surface raid that had sunk MV Anshun, when reports of another possible surface raid developing caused the convoy to hold until the morning of 12 September when it entered Milne Bay at about six in the morning.[7] The transports finished unloading and departed for Townsville under escort of Arunta and HMAS Stuart on 15 September.[8] On December 26 and 27, while at Merauke, New Guinea, the ship was bombed by a Japanese float plane suffering seven casualties.[9]

LILLIPUT area of operations.

Logistical support of Allied offensive operations on the north coast of New Guinea by sea required establishment of a port west of Milne Bay at Oro Bay and a route by which large ships could pass through the largely uncharted and hazardous waters between.[10] Small vessels transporting supplies in the early stages and survey vessels found that route and convoys code named Operation Lilliput were put into place to run two large ships under escort of one or two corvettes to Oro Bay in what were termed "flights" and given numbers.[11] Van Heemskerk took part in a simultaneous, specialized operation code named Accountant that was to transport the United States Army 162nd Regiment, 41st Division, from Australia to the Buna-Gona operations area.[12] The ship was then to join the regular Lilliput convoy system as flight number 28.[13]

Loss

Van Heemskerk and MV Balikpapan arrived at Milne Bay under escort of HMAS Kapunda on 14 April 1943 just as the twenty-fourth air raid on that port was developing and after being diverted from Port Moresby due to air raids there.[14] The ship discharged the embarked troops but still had cargo of ammunition and fuel to be unloaded and not enough time to clear the bay.[15] The U.S. troop commander left an improvised defense of twenty U.S. soldiers who placed a jeep with mounted .50 caliber machine gun on each hatch for defense until, after surviving four masthead level attacks, a hit in a hold containing ammunition and fuel destroyed the jeeps and crews.[15] Despite efforts of HMAS Wagga and her crew to control the fire the ship blew up at about five in the afternoon with four killed, the last casualty of Lilliput.[14][16] Loss of Van Heemskerk caused the only cancellation of a Lilliput flight with 39 of 40 being completed.[12]

gollark: You are missing what I am saying.
gollark: Not significantly.
gollark: The individual data points do not have much effect. The aggregate does, but *I cannot change that*.
gollark: I mean, if it would be 1 good if everyone did X, but 0.000001 good if I did X, then the possibility of 1 good which I *can't cause* doesn't affect the goodness of me doing it, unless you expect that I can cause that, which is probably wrong.
gollark: Which is correct, though?

References
Notes
  1. Lloyd's Register 1938–39.
  2. Maritiem-Historische Databank: Van Heemskerk.
  3. Masterson 1949, pp. 321–322.
  4. Masterson 1949, pp. 321–322, Appendix 30, p. 3.
  5. Gill 1968, p. 63.
  6. Gill 1968, p. 162, fn8.
  7. Gill 1968, pp. 172–174.
  8. Gill 1968, p. 174.
  9. Gill 1968, p. 264.
  10. Gill 1968, pp. 266–268.
  11. Gill 1968, p. 240.
  12. Gill 1968, p. 269.
  13. Gill 1968, p. 282.
  14. Gill 1968, p. 281.
  15. Morison; Chapter VIII, 1-b In New Guinea.
  16. Visser & Cargo for the Jungle.
Bibliography
  • Gill, G. Hermon (1968). Royal Australian Navy 1939–1942. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy. 2. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  • Maritiem-Historische Databank. "Name ship: VAN HEEMSKERK". Maritiem-Historische Databank (Marhisdata). Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  • Masterson, Dr. James R. (1949). U. S. Army Transportation In The Southwest Pacific Area 1941–1947. Washington, D. C.: Transportation Unit, Historical Division, Special Staff, U. S. Army.
  • Morison, Samuel Eliot (2010) [Boston—Little, Brown1947-62]. Breaking the Bismarcks barrier, 22 July 1942 – 1 May 1944. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. 6. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9781591145523. LCCN 2009052288.
  • Visser, Jan. "Cargo for the Jungle". Royal Netherlands Navy Warships of World War II. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
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