SS Marnix van Sint Aldegonde
From Our Contribution
 Marnix van Sint Aldegonde at Port Said | |
 Departure from Amsterdam for her maiden voyage to Batavia (Dutch East Indies) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Marnix van Sint Aldegond |
| Owner | Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN), Amsterdam (Netherland Line) |
| Builder | N.V. Dutch Shipbuilding, Maatsch, Amsterdam |
| Yard number | 195 |
| Launched | 21 Dec 1929 |
| Completed | 12 Sep 1930 |
| In service | 1930 |
| Out of service | 28 Oct 1943 |
| Fate | sank following a collision while under tow |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger liner |
| Tonnage | 19,355 tons |
| Length | 176.79 m (580.0 ft) |
| Beam | 16.86 m (55.3 ft) |
| Depth | draught 11.98 m (39.3 ft) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 17 knots (31.48 km/h) |
| Capacity | crew 361 or 311 in wartime, 2924 troops |
Remarks
Built for the Netherlands Line for use on the Amsterdam to Jakarta route. She operated out of Surabaya from 21 February 1940, and was requisitioned as a troopship at Singapore in May 1941 to transport Australian troops from Melbourne to Asia and Africa, and to bring 1,000 Italian prisoners of war from Egypt to Mumbai. She later carried Allied troops who participated in landings in French North Africa, Sicily and Salerno in Italy. Her Captain was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in January 1943 after his ship destroyed two attacking bombers off North Africa on 9 November 1942.
The SS Marnix van Sint Aldegonde sailed with a convoy (KMF 25A) from England to Naples on 27 Oct 1943. She came under attack by Dornier torpedo bombers while in the Mediterranean on 6 Nov 1943 and was hit by a torpedo which flooded the engine room while 10 kms off Cape Bougaroin Light, Algeria carrying 3,000 troops for North Africa. All personnel were safely rescued by other ships, and the SS Marnix van Sint Aldegonde was taken in tow. Another ship the SS Santa Elena had been similarly disabled by another torpedo in the same attack; and was also taken in tow. The two ships collided while in tow, and both sank from progressive flooding the following evening.
Armament (1943):
- 1 × 3 in (76 mm) 12-pounder HA/LA gun
- 2 × 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns
- 2 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns
- 16 × Unrotated Projectile launchers
Soldiers carried
Melbourne to Port Tewfik, Egypt 18 September - 20 October 1941
Joined in Fremantle 26 September 1941