Men Gerrit Tigchelaar's WWII naval record

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Gerrit Tigchelaar's WWII naval record as described by him in 1981.

The ID card issued to G. Tigchelaar before his voyage back to the Netherlands on board the Dutch escort carrier Karel Doorman. Note the incorrect spelling of his surname. (Photo: © Collection D. Tigchelaar)

Sept 6 1937: Trained on the Noord Brabant training ship (Hulk) in Holland.

Went to Hr.Ms. Java (light cruiser) and conducted patrols in the Mediterranean to Naples, Alexandria, Port Said, Aden and on to Colombo in Ceylon.

Transferred to Hr.Ms. Sumatra (light cruiser) and went back to Holland.

Transferred to torpedo boat Z 8.

Amco barracks: Stationed on the water plains for radio signalling course.

Transferred to Hr.Ms. Tromp (cruiser) which was the fastest warship in the world in those days.

Transferred to Submarine base (Rotterdam) where they built the new submarine O 20. Working-up the O 20 and crew off the Dutch coast.

Picture postcard of O 20 (Postcard: Collection D. Tigchelaar)

Oct 3 1939: Left for the Dutch East Indies on board O 20 from Rotterdam, sailed around the world to the main Naval Base in The Dutch East Indies.

Dec 23 1939: Arrived in the Dutch East Indies. Transferred to the K X after a month of exercise patrols on O 20. The O 20 was sunk later in The Gulf of Siam (19 Dec 1941).

Exercised on K X, then K XI, K VIII, K XVIII, and K XII in August 1940.Was off West coast of Borneo when war with Japan started (7 Dec 1941)

Sailed on board K XII to Singapore, loaded torpedoes from Submarine tender (probably tender Janssens) and went on patrol off the coast of Malaya.

Dec 12 1941: Under the command of Ltz. I  H.C.J. Coumou we torpedoed a transport ship of about 8000 tons off Kota Bharu - battle of Patani -.

Dec 13 1941: Torpedoed tanker of approximately 4000 tons (Japanese tanker SS Taizan Maru 3525t) - still battle of Patani.- and returned to Singapore for re-loading torpedoes.

21 Dec 1941: We were lying on the inside of the K XIII. Three men came back to move the K XIII so that our boat could get out to go on patrol. When they opened the hatch they put on a light and there was a huge explosion. Chlorine gas from the batteries had built up inside the hull and exploded. The three sailors were all killed. I ran on board and found one in the front hatch, he had been cut in half across the torso. The other two had used the hatch amidships, one was half hanging out of the hatch, he had been cut from under the arm through the stomach. The worst was yet to come. I heard a sound coming from the third man and tried to pull him through the hatch. He was burnt almost to a cinder. I grabbed him and his skin and flesh was all I held in my hands, it came off like a snake sheds its skin, he stared up at me with eyes that had been burnt to charcoal, and then he died. I shall never forget the look of those eyes.

When we were able to sail we went on patrol and headed for Soerabaja. Fought in the battle of the Java Sea. (not on board the K VIII)

The Dutch East Indies fell to the Japanese three days after we arrived in Soerabaja. We had to scuttle K XVIII, which was heavily damaged, and prepared to blow up the whole Base (to reduce its use to the invading Japanese forces). The commander of K XVIII died when he blew himself up in the torpedo store.

We had orders to evacuate the Dutch High Command, and had to wait seven days for them to arrive. We spent the days sitting on the bottom of the harbour and surfaced at night. With the Base destroyed we had to go into the town for supplies, we just took what we needed as the town was empty, everyone had fled into the mountains.

March 7 (6) 1942: We evacuated Sbn. P. Koenraad, his Staff and a large amount of gold bullion and headed for Australia.

March 27 1942: Arrived in Fremantle for supplies, clothes etc, everything had been left behind. Left Fremantle for Melbourne, and then to Sydney for repairs at Garden Island (Australian Naval Dockyard).  The K XII had been damaged when we left Soerabaja. The Japanese had placed a net across the Harbour entrance and we managed to scrape through beneath a freighter that was leaving the harbour. We had been trapped in the harbour for three days after the Japanese had occupied the town. We lay on the bottom during the day and surfaced for air during the night. We could actually see the Japanese on the docks. We were very lucky to escape. While the K XII was under repair I worked on board the K IX. This was when the Japanese entered Sydney harbour in midget subs and sunk a ferry that was being used as accommodation for Australian sailors. The K IX was laying in front of the ferry and was heavily damaged by the explosion. About 28 people died in the ferry. All crew members from K IX survived, as we were sleeping ashore in hotels. We always slept ashore when in port. The Japanese had been aiming at the American and Australian war ships. The American and Australian ships dropped depth charges and got most of the midget subs. For me it was the end of K IX.

The K XII crew commemorating the change of command. 24 of these men were lost when the Abosso was torpedoed. Cockatoo-dock, Sydney, Australia 15 July 1942  (Photo: © G. Tigchelaar, collection D. Tigchelaar) . Caption Updates: July-2006 - Lucas M. Bruijn reports that the second person from the left in the rear row is possibly his uncle L. Bruijn.

Men from the K IX and K XII, me included, were detailed to go to England to pick up a new boat (the Haai). We boarded the Dutch transport SS Westerland and travelled to Durban and Cape Town, South Africa. In Cape Town we boarded the MSS Abosso of the Blue Funnel Line (Elder Dempster Line). The MSS Abosso had about 2000 people on board, Australian aircrew, soldiers, 800 prisoners of war, and about 1000 women and children. (total is more likely to be around 400, including crew)

Oct 29 1942: We were only 3 days out of Liverpool when the MSS Abosso was torpedoed. I had just come from the shower and only had on a pair of overalls. I was heading to the engine room to talk to the men when the first torpedo hit. There was much confusion and a lot of panic. Women and kids were running around crying and screaming - This was something that would haunt me for the rest of my life-.  When the second torpedo hit, I was pinned between a wall of the ship and heavy wooden crates. I couldn’t move, a friend got me free and we ran towards the rail of the ship. I was hit on the head by something. The ship sank and my mate who saved my life was killed. To this day I do not know how I ended up in the life boat. Of the 2000 (approximately 400, including crew) on board there were 28 (31) survivors, 27 men and 1 woman, out of these only 5 Dutch crew survived. (Check out the Haai page for more info about the Abosso incident)

We spent four days adrift in the North Atlantic, no food, water or sleep. The sea was very rough and there was a hole in the boat, we had to keep bailing all the time to stay afloat.

Nov 1942: On the first (second) of November we were picked up by the HMS Bideford, an English Sloop that was escorting a large convoy that was crossing for the invasion of North Africa. We were put ashore in Gibraltar. I lost my memory for a couple of days, and many years later it was discovered that I‘d had a fractured skull. I reported to the Dutch consul, given clothes, and a new paybook, then transferred to the SS Orion destination Liverpool. When we arrived the wharf was full of people awaiting the arrival of the survivors from the MSS Abosso. They held up signs with names, mostly of the women and children, but we were only 28 (31) and were quickly taken off the ship, so that people waiting couldn’t talk to us. We were not allowed to speak to anyone. I was taken to a hotel and next day put into a rest home to recuperate for three weeks, then released and given a weeks leave.

When I reported back for duty I was sent to Dundee, Scotland, where I trained for two months. I was then transferred to Barrow in Furness in the South of England.

Nov 1943: At the end of November 1943 we took charge of the new submarine, the  P322 Zwaardvisch (1).

Zwaardvis (1), 1954

We went on patrol around Norway, taking along one man submarines. Our first patrol was from Dundee to Lerwick via Lofoten Islands, it was reported that a German battleship was stationed in the area. We released two small one man "submarines", they were put over the side and would try to sink this battleship, but they never returned. We stayed there 27 days. In that part of the world at that time of the year there is something like 22 hours daylight and 2 hours of decent darkness. We only had 2 hours a day to surface the boat for fresh air and recharge the batteries, then submerge again to wait. We could do very little except to sit around in pools of sweat. We had to be careful that no noise came from our boat, as the Germans may have picked up the sound, and as I said before they must have known we there somewhere because the small boats had obviously been discovered and sunk, we never saw them again. We went to Lerwick and then back to Dundee for repairs.
(This might be a memory laps of G. Tigchelaar. Zwaardvisch (1) was commissioned on 23 Nov 1943. Her first patrol was in 1944, in that year there were no reported midget sub/one-man-sub attacks on a German capital ship in the Norwegian area. The first patrol of Zwaardvisch (1) was in the north Atlantic, only the patrol area of the second patrol was off Lofoten islands. Also the long duration of the patrol, 27 days, is not confirmed by Dutch sources. There is also is no report of any Dutch units being involved in a midget sub/one-man-sub attack on a German capital ship.)

Following our repairs we left for Gibraltar, did patrols off Malta and Italy, then returned to Fremantle, Crowley Bay. I did eight (?) more patrols from Darwin to Bali and the Lombok straits, to the Java and China seas. The Zwaardvisch (1) was damaged by depth charges and needed repairs, and I was transferred to New Guinea, and then to Melbourne.

The ID card issued to G. Tigchelaar before his voyage back to the Netherlands on board the Dutch escort carrier Karel Doorman. Note the incorrect spelling of his surname. (Photo: © Collection D. Tigchelaar)

After the war G. Tigchelaar sailed from Australia back to the Netherlands, probably 1946, on board the Dutch aircraft carrier Karel Doorman, the ex HMS Nairana.

 

Gerrit Tigchelaar's naval record as described (from memory) by him in 1981.

A note from Derek Tigchelaar, son of Gerrit Tigchelaar: These memoirs were dictated to my sister by my father Gerrit Tigchelaar shortly before his death.  He died on 26^th August 1981. My father kept no diaries or notes, and the dates and events described were all taken from memory at the time that this was being dictated. He had planned to elaborate on the Patrols he did from Fremantle in Zwaardvisch (1), but unfortunately he died before these could be recorded.

All notes between brackets are 'corrections; and are added by the webmaster.

 

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