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Maritime
Historian
“Memories
of the JVO
JVO Heads for War as a “Trooper”
HMT Johan
van Oldenbarnevelt returns to her homeport
having
sailed and endured a great deal throughout the war
Although
the Netherland’s had always been a “Neutral
Country,” but Nazi Germany being as evil as they were, thus
they came and commenced to bomb the country mercilessly without
warning and invaded the country on May 10, 1940. It
was decided to have the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt that was over in
She
made a number of voyages from Tandjong Priok (the Dutch Naval
Port of Djakarta) sailing via
Having
completed the voyage and returned to Tandjong Priok she headed
for India once more as well as America for a repeat voyage of
these luxury goods to please the Yanks, the world was on the
brink of war, but we must keep these Americans happy with their
trinkets, whilst six million Jews and another six plus million
others were about to be slaughtered by the Nazis! Sorry about my
rave, but the very thought of it just makes me angry for I loathe
such selfish greed at a time when the world is suffering
hardships!
Captain
van der Laan was in command during this time and he had brought
the ship back again to Batavia, and took his ship on another
short voyage to Singapore and Cheribon, and finally the ship
undertook her final pre-war voyage from the Dutch East Indies to
New York.
She
departed Balikpapan (Borneo) on November 12 and sailed via San
Pedro, through the Panama Canal, New Orleans, arriving in New
York on December 26 laden full of Indian treasure worth a
fortune. However, less than a month later she would be operating
her very first voyage as a Troopship, although she had not been
rebuilt as yet.
Troopship 32 - Voyage 1.
It
was on January 1941 that the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt made her
very first troop carrying voyage, even before she had been
rebuilt. Although she had already been designated as being the
HMT, and given her number, being 32. She departed
On
January 20, 1941, the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was officially
requisitioned by the Allies and she would be rapidly converted
into a troopship and was sent to Harland & Wolff Hoboken
shipyards. Upon completion she would be able to carry a good
4,000 troops. She came under the management of the Orient Line,
but she was remained manned by her regular Dutch crew.
Although
at first she was not repainted in her grey war colours, usual her
black hull remained, but she did receive her canon’s far
forward and aft as well as machine and anti aircraft guns, etc,
which were scattered around the ship. With a good number of naval
men, officers, gunners and others onboard who would operate her
guns, etc, they would make sure that she was well taken care off!
She was a ship ready to do her duty and ready to go to war! Now
she was the British “His Majesties Transport Ship #32,”
but still flying the Dutch flag, as
Here we see
one of the Dutch Marines cleaning his machine gun up on deck
Armed
Troopship Johan van Oldenbarnevelt -32 had one of the fastest
refits in history, having had workers work on a 24 hour shifts,
thus she was completed in just less than a week for she was due
to depart on March 6, 1941.
Troopship 32 - Voyage 2.
Experienced
Captain van der Laan was still at the helm and he would remain
there until August 1942, for the company and the British had all
their trust in this superb captain!
She
departed
The
HMT JVO – 32 departed
Troopship 32 - Voyage 3.
Her
next voyage would take her to
Troopship 32 - Voyage 4.
She
departed
Troopship 32 - Voyage 5.
Having
been in
Trooper
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is seen departing Wellington New
During Troop Voyage 6 on September 15, 1941 - Note the guns up on the aft section!
Troopship 32 - Voyage 6.
She
departed
Troopship 32 - Voyage 7.
The
JVO departed
The
HMT JVO - 32 was to take a short break in
The
crew took time to do a spot of fishing, but apparently there were
far too many sharks around, thus a jump in the harbour for a
swim, was defiantly out! Although she was to spend a short time
in
Suddenly
without warning on November 11, 1941, there was a mighty storm
that was so bad that the JVO was pulled away from her berth and
suddenly she was adrift and suddenly there was a collision with a
cargo ship that also has slipped its anchor. The harbour was in
chaos. The captain did everything in his power to regain control
of his ship and after several hours having gotten the engines
fully restarted he managed to get his ship out to sea where he
kept sailing in circles until the storm had ceased a good day or
so later. But sat sadly there had been two deaths of young men
working where the accident occurred and they were buried at sea.
Upon
her return and was berthed, it was a matter of having repairs,
however that would take much longer than anyone could imagine for
there were ongoing delays, be it for one reason or another!
Finally on January 11, 1942 the JVO was high and dry in dry-dock
and her repairs were underway on her exterior, where the interior
part had been completed. On January 15, the JVO was refloated and
was returned to her wharf for final preparations for departure.
Then on January 17, the ship is laden with 7,000 ton of copper as
well as sugar.
Troopship 32 - Voyage 8.
She
departed
Upon
her return to
At
this time, she was also repainted in that dull grey war paint
that did nothing for a “lovely lady.” But it was the
poor quality of the paint that was the biggest problem as it very
quickly peeled off and her original black hull beneath would show
through, also soon she looked like a floating rust bucket!
Externally she always seemed to look shabby, but just like the
Dutch on the inside this ship was impeccable and the captain
liked to keep it that way! The ship was so spotless and neat and
well ordered that she became one of the most talked about
troopships that sailed during World War 2! Captain van der Laan
was very pleased with the men he carried on his ship in those
early days, especially those New Zealander’s!
In
a short article in the onboard new letter “Troopship
Tattoo” the Editor wrote after the ship had obviously
departed
“This is the first time we have sailed as
a troopship carrying
“And I must say that I am very pleased
with the way they behave, act and keep their quarters clean. We
became a troopship last year when we carried Canadian troops to
Thanks skipper! Editor
Troopship 32 - Voyages 9 to 12.
Having
had her refit, the JVO would undertake another four official
Troopship voyages in 1942, all of which being from
JVO seen
here on one of her frequent visits to Liverpool
The
British soldiers and medical staff who had sailed from Britain to
the Middle East on British ships very quickly began to hear from
others about the conditions on the excellent Dutch Trooper number
32, which was obviously by far superior to any British ship in
operation, as they in general were quite poor in many ways,
especially when it came to food! Whereas Dutch Troopship number
32, the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt became so well known for its
superiority, even the British newspapers published an article
about this ships conditions, entitled … “A Veteran
Speaks.”
The
HMT Johan van Oldenbarnevelt would be used to transport large
numbers of soldiers to fight in the Battle of Tunisia, which was
a major success and over 230,000 German and Italian troops were
taken as prisoners of war. She made three return voyages to
Troopship 32 - Voyage 13.
She
sailed from Liverpool just north of the coast of
Troopship 32 - Voyage 14.
The
JVO departed
On
April 22, one day prior to arrival in Algiers the large transport
directly ahead of the JVO, the Windsor Castle that had onboard
part of the 6th.Regiment was targeted by a German submarine and a
torpedo hit her with a blistering pace and the ship was
immediately is paralysed and it sank the next day. Thankfully all
onboard the
Captain
Broere was most upset that on his return voyage that the Spanish
towns and villages were had too many lights on at night and that
it so easily betrayed the convoy’s as the sailed past at
night, thus he made a strong submission to the Convoy Leader!
Upon arrival in
Here we see
one of her aft canons
After
having returned to Liverpool on April 5, the JVO must have moved
to the
Troopship 32 - Voyage 15.
The
HMT Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was about to make the last of the
Tunisia Campaign voyages, as she departed Gourock on April 19
arriving in Algiers on May 27, and returning once again to
Liverpool in June 5, 1943.
Troopship 32 - Voyages 16 to 20:
Between
1943 and 1945 she made a further six troop voyages all under the
command of Captain S Bakker, some of which were to Gibraltar,
Freetown, Port Said, Aden, Colombo and Bombay and even a visit to
Rotterdam on Voyage 20, under the Command of Captain G. A Man who
taken just this one voyage. She arrived on August 4, 1945 however
she was trapped and had to remain at anchor after she had
unloaded until September 10. This was due to the Canal’s
Locks some having had some damage and had to be repaired before
she could leave, which she did on September 10.
Anchored in
Rotterdam from August 4 to September 10
With
Captain Bakker at the helm again, the HMT Johan van
Oldenbarnevelt departed
She
departed Rotterdam on September 10, arriving in Southampton on
the 11th.and departing again on the 17th.sailing for Port Sais
where she arrived on September 26, Suez 28, and then headed for
Bombay where she departed on October 12. Once again sailing via
However
as the JVO arrived at Southampton she had on board some 3,668
troops, half of them being Allied POW's awaiting repatriation.
Thus as a very weary looking HMT Johan van Oldenbarnevelt arrived
in Southampton on October 29, there was a tumultuous welcome
awaiting her with thousands ashore and small craft, and a ship
load of happy personnel just wanting to get home to their loved
ones!
Here we see
the very hard worked and well worn and tired looking
HMT Johan
van Oldenbarnevelt
Note that
her funnels have beeb repainted in company colours again
During
this time, the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt sailed through
enemy-infested seas without sustaining any major damage and thus
she became known as the “Lucky Ship.” At the end of her
war duties she was still officially attached to the British
Ministry of Shipping as a troopship. On November 3, she entered
dry-dock for 14 days for an overhaul. For her service was almost
over, but not just yet!
Troopship 32 - Voyages 22.
Yes
she has arrived in
Above
& below: the JVO returns to her homeport,
With
the end of her duties a much needed overhaul was carried out on
the JVO, after which the ship re-entered service on the
Go to – Chapter Three – 1946 to 1951
Or
the - JVO Index
***************************
I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them
die.”
The Author
has been in Passenger Shipping & the Cruise Industry for over
60 years!
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