The story of a Dutch freighter during the Second World War
Abbekerk, August 24, 1942, 15:15 In the afternoon the lookout in the crow’s nest observed, just for a short moment, a black object on the horizon at about 55 degrees. After that, using good Prisma binoculars, from the bridge and...
23:45 (August 24 1942) When I stepped on deck the ship received an enormous bang. The large vessel sluggishly staggered a few times from left to right. ‘So that is the way it goes’, I thought and raced along all...
25 August 1942, 00:10. I was completely alone in the dark water, my lifejacket held me floating while I saw the big ship slowly settle and sink beneath the waves in the moonlight between the clouds. I had been thrown...
27 August 1942. No SOS was sent. The impact of the torpedo destroyed the radio antenna and the emergency transmitter in the lifeboat does nothing. The 62 men are completely on their own in two overcrowded lifeboats. It turned out...
29 August 1942 Three days and three nights passed without us seeing anything on the horizon. Which wasn’t that far since our little boats hardly stuck out of water giving us a very short horizon. But then, after three days,...
30 August 1942. First of all the cook had quickly made a soup. This soup was the tastiest food I have ever eaten. Not a surprise really. We were accommodated in a couple of mess-rooms. I can remember that walking...
2 September 1942. Me, the captain and some others were transferred to the Dutch SS Jan van Goyen. We had been picked up just in time: already in the afternoon winds became stronger and around midnight we found ourselfs in...
9 September 1942. In New York someone had let it be known that a ship with castaways had arrived and that was the reason why a large mobile canteen had arrived on the docks with a foursome of very friendly...
Adriaan W Kik, who's memoirs are the inspiration and base of this website
Peter
