An unprecedented event like World War II is bound to be filled with stories of human resilience and ingenuity in the face of adversity.
One such story involves a Dutch ship, which came up with a pretty whack — but somehow successful — plan to survive the war. 🚢
A secret Dutch ship during World War II
The Dutch Navy had ships in the Dutch East Indies when the Japanese invaded in 1941. The Japanese Army was ferocious in its attacks, as part of its broader plan to colonise most of the Pacific Ocean.
By 1942, the Japanese Army had achieved significant victories in Southeast Asia.
READ MORE | Van hier tot Tokio: a history of Dutch-Japanese relations
All Allied ships in the region were ordered to retreat following Allied defeats during the Battle of the Java Sea and the Sunda Strait in February of 1942.
One of the Dutch ships on the retreat was the Abraham Crijnssen, a minesweeper built in Schiedam in 1936. The ship was supposed to retreat with three others, but it made the voyage alone. 😬
No ship here, just an island
It was quite a long trip to Australia, and the ship was already in trouble, as the waters were filled with Japanese warships. 🌊
Thankfully, the crew demonstrated some classic Dutch ingenuity and creativity.
They began cutting trees and vegetation from nearby islands, loading them onto the boat, and painting it to resemble stone. They decided the best course of action was to pretend the ship was just an island minding its own business.
This is one of those plans that sounds so ridiculous on paper that it’s bound to work. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it did.
During the day, the ship would pretend to be an island, staying put and just, you know, doing island things — like chilling and probably welcoming crabs on board. 🦀
READ MORE | Photo report: the Netherlands at war, 1940-1945
In the night, the sneaky lads would sail closer to the destination, repeating the process until they managed to put a considerable distance between themselves and the Japanese Navy.
The Japanese Navy missed an island shaped like a boat that would change position occasionally, which is beyond all of us, and probably surprised the Dutch crew as well.
We can only imagine a crew member wiping the sweat off their brow with their hand after they escaped and saying, “Wow, that worked!” 😅
A happy ending for the Dutch island ship
The ship remained in Australia for the remainder of the war. Following the war’s end, it was used for anti-revolution patrols in the Dutch East Indies.
READ MORE | What was the VOC? The Dutch East India Company explained
The ship finally made its way back home to the Netherlands in 1951.
Removed from the Navy list in 1960, the ship moved ports across the Netherlands several times before finally settling at the Dutch Navy Museum in Den Helder.
You can visit it (although no, unfortunately, it’s no longer disguised as an island). 👀
Have you heard this story before? Tell us your thoughts on this ingenious Dutch plan in the comments below! 💬
Feature Image: Netherlands Indies Government Information Service/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
great story very ingenious
Great article. Thank you.
There has to be a film made of this somewhere, if not by hollywood, by a Dutch film crew. Probably a comedy in the class of Mr Roberts