Captured merchant vessels, voyages to England, heroic deeds or sunk without trace… NNPC was founded shortly before the Second World War and so there’s a treasure trove of tales about the fleet that we insured at the time. What happened to “our” ships—where did they go and did they come back?
In this series of articles, we dive into the Dutch Merchant Shipping Database for 1940-1945 to find out what happened.
Captured ships
In this second part, we will be looking at the vessels that were confiscated by the occupying forces. Sometimes these were ships that were still in the docks, being built; others were picked up as far away as the French coast. The Germans then used these ships for all kinds of tasks, from training purposes to transport. Despite the violence that they faced—and indeed they regularly ended up being sunk—a lot of the vessels ultimately ended up with their rightful owners again.
Baltic
The motorised freighter Baltic, for instance, was still a new ship in the docks when German troops invaded the Netherlands in May 1940. They took the ship and used it for transport. After two years, the Baltic was sailing off the Portuguese coast near Setubal when it was detained by a French warship and captured. Once they discovered that it was a Dutch coaster, they handed it over to the Dutch government. For the rest of the war, the vessel was used for freight transport in the Mediterranean.
Cornelia B
The Cornelia B didn’t get off so lightly. The ship managed to escape to England initially in 1940, but was captured by German troops on June 14th while on a mission to Bordeaux, and her crew were taken prisoner. The Kriegsmarine then used the Cornelia B as a training ship in Kiel, in northern Germany. It was found there below the waves in 1945, then raised and towed back to Rotterdam. The ship was restored and made seaworthy again.
Frema
The sailing freighter Frema, built in 1924, fell into German hands after the surrender of the Netherlands. This vessel too went into service with the Kriegsmarine, who were all too pleased to get their hands on some free ships. The Frema received its new designation “Vorpostenschiff VS 135” and was later again renamed to “VS 95”. The ship was recovered at the end of the war and returned to its original owner, Frederik de Jonge from Groningen.
Regeja
Finally, the turbulent history of the coaster Regeja. It was moored in Marlaix with a cargo of coal when the Germans invaded France. The ship fell into enemy hands and was deployed in the years that followed for ore transport between Spain and France. After the Allied invasion of June 1944, the Germans themselves scuttled the vessel… Fortunately, it wasn’t too long before the Regeja was raised and taken to England, where they were also keen to get their hands on an extra boat. After being repaired, it flew the Dutch flag once again and the ship then worked for the Allied powers until the end of the war.
Read the rest of the series “Our fleet during World War II” as well!
- Part 1 – Operations Dynamo and Neptune
- Part 2 – Seized by the Germans
- Part 3 – Ships that were badly damaged or sunk
- Part 4 – Food aid during the Hunger Winter