Model NG_MC-482. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Original source
In a letter published in this newspaper an anonymous Dutch navy officer described the miserable condition of the Dutch warships serving at that moment in the Dutch East Indies. He was quite cynical in his comment dealing with the condition of the ships ending with the phrase Happy Indies! Happy Navy! Poor Netherlands!
The Zr.Ms. Suriname (1) was just floating thanks to the cement in her keel. She was expected to arrive at Surabaya, Dutch East Indies to be laid up between the Zr.Ms. Cycloop and Stavoren. She was stationed at Bandjermasin.
Note
1. Paddle steamship 4th class, call sign GQVP, on stocks at the shipyard of the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij Fijenenoord, Rotterdam, Netherlands on 15 April 1845, launched in December 1845, used for towing Dutch ships loaded with grain returning from Elsinore, Denmark in 1847, visited the Dutch West Indies/Surinam in 1847, served in the Dutch East Indies since 1851, stricken in 1875, iron-built hull and wood upper decks, dimensions 40,4 (between perpendiculars on load line) x 7,4 x 2,3 (fore)-2,7 (aft) x 4,56 (hold) metres, an armament of 6 guns and horsepower of 110 hp.
