text by Ronald van Maanen
There is one standard work dealing with the ships of the Dutch Royal Navy and the navy of the government in the Dutch East Indies in the period 1814-1962. This book was published with the title De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der Gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962 and written by A.J. Vermeulen. There is never an improved edition published, despite serious efforts in the eighties-nineties of the past century. Since 1962 are books published dealing with for instance the aircraft carriers, or the standard frigates. The results of (new) research in the topic 1814-1962 are not available for a wide public, neither electronically or on paper. So naval researchers still have to deal with Vermeulens' book despite the errors.
Vermeulen wrote that the Sumatra was a so-called kuilkorvette, on stocks at the naval yard at Rotterdam 26 October 1843, launched 18 May 1848, transported 28 August 1848 towards the naval base at Hellevoetsluis and commissioned 1 May 1949. She was armed with 26 guns, displacement of 943 ton and with the dimensions 40.00 x 12.30m. She left Flushing towards West Indies 20 November 1849 and returned at Flushing 7 June 1850. She departed for the coast of Guinea 20 April 1851, returning again at Flushing 3 August and wasn't mentioned any longer since the naval list of 1 January 1855.
At Hellevoetsluis was like at Willemsoord/Den Helder a dry dock available, where for instance the ships were coppered. According to the archive of this dockyard she was called Sumatraan. She entered the keeldock 9 October 1848 to be coppered and left the dock 23 October.
But what happened to the Sumatra? Jacob Swart published in annual publication a short note dealing with the burning of the ship. He used as source the official Dutch Goverment newspaper Nederlandsche Staats-Courant dated 15 August 1854. Captain-lieutenant H. Wipff commanded the ship while patrolling in the waters of the Moluccas. She anchored off Kema 14 May, forced by the many sick crewmembers due to fever and to load medicines and victuals. In the night of 15-16 May 3.30 o'clock a fire was discovered in the store-room, spreading so rapidly that all ready round 6 o'clock, the crew feared she was lost. Despite all efforts it was 8.00 o'clock clear that she couldn't be saved and all men left her, loosing almost everything the possessed. Of the inventory of the ship were some stores saved. A beacon was placed where the ship sunk, to warn passing ships.
Sources
Archief Hellevoetsluis inv.no. 507 (National Archive at The Hague).
Jacob Swart. Verhandelingen en Berigten betrekkelijk het Zeewezen en de Zeevaartkunde. Amsterdam, 1854, 2nd part, p. 287.
A.J. Vermeulen. De schepen van de Koninklijke Marine en die der Gouvernementsmarine 1814-1962.
