Dutch cargo ship (ex-Empire Halley 1941-1942, Pieter de Hoogh 1942-1947) Britsum 1947-1959

Empire Tramp type. Launched by Joseph L. Thompson&Sons Ltd., North Sands Shipyard, Sunderland, England with yard number 612 on 26 September 1941, delivered to manager W.T. Gould & Co., Sunderland, Great Britain, owner Ministry of (War) Transport, London, Great Britain in December 1941, as Pieter de Hoogh manager H. Hogarth & Sons Ltd, Ardrossan, England, owner Staat der Nederlanden, The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands since 19 March 1942, manager Escombe McGrath & Co. Ltd, London, England since October 1942, manager Van Nievelt, Goudriaan & Co's Stoomvaart-Maatschappij N.V., Rotterdam, Netherlands since 16 June 1945, as Britsum manager Firma Vinke & Co., (1932 Firma Warnderink Vinke & Zoon, 1947 Firma Vinke & Zonen), owner N.V. Stoomvaart Maatschappij 'Oostzee', both at Amsterdam, Netherlands since January 1947 and sold to be broken up at Osaka, Japan in 1959.

According to the list and supplements 1-2 on 13 September 1945 BDZ No. 673 sent by the office of armament the Royal Netherlands Navy located at 41 East 42nd Street, New York 17, USA. There were no complete records available, so there were several sources used to compile the list. Sometimes the kind of guns gave indirect information regarding the origin such as 4”/BL and 12 pounder guns were British mostly supplied in the United Kingdom, Canada or Curacao. The 4.7” guns were old Japanese guns placed on some vessels in the begin of the war at Singapore and some 4” guns in the same period at Surabaya, Dutch East Indies. The trade in which the ship was used gave also an indication were the guns were supplied, for example involved in the Pacific trade means supplied at the West Coast.

Armed with 2-2-cm guns

Armed with 4-2cm supplied at Sunderland

Armed with 2-2cm guns supplied at Boston, USA in November 1942

Armed with 1-10,16cm/4” quick firing gun supplied at Sunderland in November 1941

Armed with 1-12pd gun supplied at Sunderland in November 1941

Armed with 1-.030” Savage Lewis machine gun

Sources

Archieven van hoofd handelsbescherming en diverse handelsbeschermingsofficieren 1941-1946 inv.no. 53 (Nationaal Archief, The Hague, Netherlands.

Warshipsresearch.blogspot.com

Special attention for the Stichting Koopvaardijpersoneel 1940-1945 dealing with the crews of Dutch merchant ships during the Second World War