The HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck, a light cruiser of the Royal Netherlands Navy, arrived in Australia in October 1942 and was based in Fremantle, Western Australia. She was assigned to Allied Naval Forces Western Australia and performed convoy duties in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific. She also provided Read more…
The Dutch Gunboot Flores arrived in Sydney on January 17, 1938, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the city’s founding. The ship was a 1,200-ton gunboat that was built in 1925. She was armed with four 120mm guns and two 75mm guns, and had a crew of 150 officers and Read more…
The Dutch submarine K-XVIII made a historic visit to Fremantle in 1935. It was the first Dutch submarine to ever visit the port, and it helped to strengthen the ties between the Netherlands and Australia. The K-XVIII arrived in Fremantle on 13 April 1935, after a long journey from the Read more…
A Dutch naval squadron visited Australia in 1930, led by Rear Admiral C.C. Kaijser on the light cruiser HNLMS Java with the destroyers De Ruyter and Evertsen. The following ports were visited successively: Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane, Boela (New Guinea) and Ambon. On November 28, the squadron Read more…
Koenraad, Pieter, naval officer (born in Dirksland 6-6-1890 – died in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands 22-2-1968). Son of Johannes Adrianus Koenraad, headteacher, and Alida Elizabeth de Graaff. Married on 5-5-1923 to Catharina Cornelia van Trooijen, which marriage was dissolved by divorce on 12-9-1930 by judgment of the Council Read more…
Parliamentary inquiry into government policy 1940-1945 This parliamentary inquiry focused on the government policy of the cabinets De Geer, Gerbrandy and Schermerhorn, since the German invasion of the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 and in relation to Netherlands East indies (NEI) the war with Japan until the opening of the Read more…
The MS Sibajak was a passenger ship named after Mount Sibayak, a volcano located in Sumatra, Indonesia. It was built at the Koninklijke Maatschappij “De Schelde” shipyard in Vlissingen, Netherlands. The ship was initially constructed for the N.V. Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM), a Dutch shipping company that operated in the Dutch Read more…
Unlike the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) Army and its Air Force, the Koninklijke Marine (KM – Royal Netherlands Navy) that operated in NEI, was part of the Dutch Navy. They resorted under the Minister for the Navy at the Dutch Government-in-Exile in London. By mid February, the Governor the Netherlands Read more…
The Dutch merchant vessel Maetsuyker, weighing 4,131 tons, played a significant role during World War II. It managed to escape from the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) to the safety of Fremantle, Australia, just before the final surrender on Java Island. This article traces the journey of the Maetsuyker as it Read more…
The name Van Diemen’s Land was given to the island of Tasmania by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642, in honour of Anthony van Diemen, the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies who had sent him on his voyage. The name was used by the British settlers who Read more…