SS Van Heutsz
From Our Contribution
 At anchor in Jacquinot Bay, New Britain | |
 In Hong Kong 1928 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Van Heutsz |
| Owner | Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (KPM) |
| Builder | NV Koninklijke Maatschappij 'De Schelde', Shipyard and Machine Factory, Vlissingen, Zeeland, Netherlands. |
| Launched | 13 Mar 1926 |
| Completed | November 1926 |
| In service | 1926 |
| Fate | scrapped 1959 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo ship converted to troopship |
| Tonnage | 4,588 tons |
| Length | 123.44m (405.0 ft) |
| Beam | 15.90 m (52.2 ft) |
| Depth | 8.23 m (27.0 ft) draught 6.4 m (21.0 ft) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 13.5 knos (25.0 km/h) |
| Capacity | 16 x 1st; 54 x 2nd; 2,137 deck |
Contents
Remarks
At the start of the Pacific War, SS Van Heutsz was one of the twenty-one KPM ships that took refuge in Australia and were then provided by the Dutch government to the Allied war effort. Armed with a 12 pounder gun on the aft and anti-aircraft guns on the bridge.
On May 18, 1942 Van Heutsz was part of Convoy ZK.8 transporting the Australian Army's 14th Brigade's equipment and 4,735 troops along with MS Bantam, SS Bontekoe and MS Van Heemskerk escorted by HMAS Arunta (I30) and HNLMS Tromp that departed Sydney Harbor bound for Fairfax Harbor off Port Moresby. During August 1942, she participated in convoys transporting troops and supplies to Milne Bay. Afterwards, during 'Operation Lilliput' she transported troops and supplies from Milne Bay to Oro Bay. On January 9, 1943 while at Oro Bay during a Japanese air raid she sustained a direct bomb hit damaging the deck. Afterwards, she underwent repairs in Newcastle. On March 26, 1945 at Cairns, she embarked the Australian Army's 26th Infantry Brigade along with SS Ormiston and transported them via Finschaffen to Morotai arriving on April 7, 1945.
In the afternoon on 15 Dec 1947 twenty-five pirates disguised as passengers with arms concealed in luggage took over the ship north of Hong Kong. The pirates held the ship overnight and ordered the captain to put into Honghai Bay where loot and six Chinese first class passengers held for ransom were taken off. Three of the persons held for ransom were released 19 Apr 1948 after payment. Police raids resulted in the capture of suspects who were identified by the captain and officers of the ship and some recovery was made of the loot. The last three persons held for ransom escaped 1 Sep 1948 after being held by three gangs in twenty-six different locations.
Returned to KPM service, she was renamed in 1957 to Barentsz before being sold for scrapping to the Chiap Manufacturing Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong during 1959.
Soldiers carried
Townsville to Milne Bay Papua 14 - 18 September 1942
Cairns to Jacquinot Bay, New Britain 21 - 25 November 1944
Cairns to Aitape, New Guinea 9 - 15 December 1944
Finschhafen to Brisbane 19 - 28 January 1945
Cairns to Morotai 28 March - 7 April 1945