Lost men

Men D. van Beusekom

KMR OV
Dirk van Beusekom
October 27th 1907, Bandjermasin (Borneo)			† June 12th 1943, New London (Connecticut, USA)
Ranks				Decorations
Ensign KMR	1930, 27 May			OHK.1	1949, 19 Nov  posthumous
Adsp. Ltz. III KMR	1930, 8 Nov
Ltz. III KMR	1931, 7 Feb
Ltz. II KMR	1936, 16 Jan
Ltz. I KMR	1942, 1 Oct
Chronology 1930, 1 April KMR Submarine Service 1930, October - ?   Temp. detached on board Hr.Ms. "K III" 1939, ? - 1939, ?   Detached at Den Helder 1939, winter     Temp.detached KMR Officer Hr.Ms. "O 9" 1940, 15 January - 1940, 14 May   Detached at Fort aan Den Hoek van Holland (Seinpad 102, Hoek van Holland) 1940, 14 May - 1940, 17 May   Temp. Cdt. "TM-51" 1940, 28 May - 1940, 6 June   Cdt. mrb "Zeemanshoop" 1940, 6 June - 1940, 13 June   on board ss. "Westernland" (Falmouth) 1940, 14 June - 1940, 8 July   Officer Hr.Ms. "Z 5" 1940, 9 July - 1940, ?   Senior Officer Hr.Ms. "Z 8" 1940, 25 September Inspection Submarine Service by HM Prince Bernhard (Dundee) ? - 1941, ? October   Second Officer/Senior Officer Hr.Ms. "O 9" 1941, 26 October - ?1942, 5 January   Chief of Watch submarine tender Hr.Ms. "Colombia" 1942, 11 January - 1942, ?   Departure from Glasgow to Dutch East Indies ?1942 - ?1942   Det. Cdt. ms. "Kota Baroe" (Colombo) 1942, ? March - 1943, 12 June   Senior Officer Hr.Ms. "K XV" 1942, 20 October - 1942, ? October at Bermuda 1942, 28 October Arrival at Delaware river near Philadelphia 1943, 12 June While loading torpedoes on board the K XV, the hoisting cable breaks  and the falling torpedo kills D.  van Beusekom.   He is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in the U.S.A.  More details on this accident at the bottom of this page.
Civilian career 1924 - 1927 Zeevaartschool in the Zeemanshuis (A'dam) 1927, 20 August - 1928, 21 October Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Nederland" (SMN) 1927, 20 August - 1927, 12 December Apprentice Navigating Officer SMN ss. "Borneo" 1928, 7 January - 1928, 15 April Apprentice Navigating Officer SMN ss. "Madoera" 1928, 11 May - 1928, 11 September Apprentice Navigating Officer SMN ss. "Billiton"  1928, 19 September - 1929, 20 March Apprentice Navigating Officer SMN ss. "Roepat" 1929, 21 March - 1939, 7 March Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (KPM) 1933, 21 January - 1933, 25 March   4th Navigating Officer KPM ms. "Ophir" 1934, 23 June - 1934, 28 July   4th Navigating Officer KPM ss. "Kidoer" 1934, 29 July - 1934, 28 December   4th Navigating Officer KPM ms. "Ophir" 1934, 9 December - 1935, 29 June   4th Navigating Officer KPM ss. "Bontekoe" 1935, ? - 1935, 31 December   4th Navigating Officer KPM ss. "Swaerdecroon" 1936, 1 January - 1936, ? 3th Navigating Officer KPM ss. "Swaerdecroon" 1936, 28 April - 1936, 1 May   3rd Navigating Officer KPM ms. "Janssens" 1936, 2 May - 1936, 13 May   Temp.2th Navigating Officer KPM ms. "Janssens" 1936, 20 May - 1936, 22 June   3rd Navigating Officer KPM ss. "Speelman" 1936, 23 June - 1936, 26 August   3rd Navigating Officer KPM ss. "Generaal Michels" 1938, 26 April - 1938, 26 April   Cdt. tugboat "Mars" from Tg Priok to Cheribon 1938, 28 April - 1938, 28 April   on board ss. "Sloet van de Beele" from Cheribon to Soerabaja 1938, 6 May - 1938, 6 May    Cdt. tugboat "Neptunus" from Soerabaja to Makassar 1938, 8 June Departure from Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands 1939, 7 March   Honourable discharge due to Naval Service KMR
Related books and pages Off-site: www.dirkvanbeusekom.nl
Notes Nickname: "Jimmy" Brother of J.A. van Beusekom (#2454), Brother-in-law of P.V. Stephan (#2984). Grandfather of co-webmaster Michael van der Hoeden

On 12 June 1943, while loading torpedoes on board the K XV, the hoisting cable breaks and the falling torpedo kills the first officer Ltz. I  van KMR OV D. van Beusekom. He is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in the U.S.A.

George A. Keys witnessed this tragic accident. He writes: " . . . I  was stationed at Sub base New London (Connecticut, USA) in 1943-44. I had volunteered for Sub duty fresh out of Machinist Mate school and arrived at the New London Base in march 1943. I was a MM2/c and 18 years old at the time. There were 10 of us, four were assigned to Sub school and 6 of us were assigned to the engineering test and repair group on Pier 13.
I saw a Dutch sailor killed when a torpedo fell on him. I believe the accident occurred on Pier 12. They were loading torpedoes. The sailor rigged the torpedo and signalled the crane operator, a civilian worker named Smitty, to hoist it up and over him onto the Sub. The wire hoisting cable attached to the torpedo broke while it was above the sailor, the torpedo crushed the sailor. Both were on the dock. The cable broke because it had deteriated from the inside.
The torpedo was one of our Mark XIV. Also I remember that the warhead section of the torpedo broke off. It is fastened to the steam section  by a series of recessed bolts. Incidentally the accident happened between  9am and 11am because around noon we received word that the Sub R12 went down off Key West, Florida . . . "

The grave of D. van Beusekom at Arlington National Cemetery in the U.S.A., probably sometime in the 1940's. (Photo: © Collection M. van der Hoeden)

The grave of D. van Beusekom at Arlington National Cemetery in the U.S.A., 1994. (Photo: © Collection M. van der Hoeden)

 

The grave of D. van Beusekom at Arlington National Cemetery in the U.S.A., 2003?. (Photo: © Paul Kidd)

 

 

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Edited by co-webmaster Michael A. van der Hoeden.

Main sources: Belongings of Dirk van Beusekom and family.

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