VISIT TO MOMBASA BY HR. MS. "LIMBURG" AND HR. MS. "VAN GALEN"
After joint exercises with the
Australian and New Zealand Navies in October 1973, two Dutch warships were to call at
Mombasa on their long way home, for a couple of days of R & R. (Rest &
Recreation !)
As far as I can remember the
"Limburg" was a light cruiser and the "van Galen" a
destroyer. They were fairly small ships but had hundred s of crewmembers. Where
they all slept ?
It was the first time for Royal Dutch
Navy ships to call at Mombasa and I went to my British colleague for some tips.
Their ships visited regularly and they even had Commander Tom Handley on tap
because they were training the young Kenya Navy. They had little of value to
contribute so we were on our own.
My assistant, Frits Coers, was an ex Netherlands Marine officer and therefore
well versed in military style. Bill Schrevelius had
some Navy experience. It all helped !
In charge of the flotilla was the Limburg's "Kapitein-luitenant ter zee"
N. van Dam. The "Van
Galen's captain was W. Kool.
1. Our first duty was to present the
Commanders of the ships to
the Provincial Commissioner Mr. Mahihu
and the Kenya Navy boss, Lt. Com. Kimaro. The call did not take long and our invitation
was extended for the Kenya officials to visit the Limburg in return.
2. The Anglican Missions to Seamen in
Mombasa arranged umpteen soccer matches which fortunately did not result in any
serious casualties.
3. African Tours and Safaris offered
good rates for tours to the nearby game parks which were a unique experience
for the many who went.
4. The crew of the ships donated blood
for a small hospital South of Mombasa in a village called Msambweni,
run by a Dutch Volunteer Doctor, Kees Waaldijk.
He was the only doctor in a large area. Great chap !
5. When the sailors met him, they were
also impressed and asked what they could do to assist his work in the bush. His
wish list was headed by an electric generator because the electricity supply
was often interrupted by coconuts/trees falling on the power lines during
operations. A collection was held which produced a portable Honda petrol
generator.
6. So a delegation from the ships was
taken to Msambweni by some Dutch ladies keen to see
the hospital as well. When they arrived Kees had laid on a barbecue but shortly
after it started, he had to excuse himself for an urgent Caesarean op ! In a moment of weakness he extended and invitation to
his guests to come and have a look if they were interested. The sailors had
better things to do with unlimited beer and blonde ladies on tap but within
five minutes the mama's came out one by one, pale as a sheet and retching !! A bloody affair !
Served them right ! Should have known better and
looked after their guests.
7. As the ships did not have enough
space we arranged a buffet supper on their behalf at the Mombasa Beach hotel,
overlooking the entrance of the harbour. I have a copy of the guest lists which
contained the names of
ten members of the Nairobi embassy ! Mombasa was a popular place
for them and correctly so !
8 Just to give you an idea of the kind
of people there: Representatives of some Dutch companies: E.A. Oil refineries
(Shell), ABN Bank, Nedlloyd and RIL of course, van Leer containers, Guntzel & Schumacher, Twentsche
Overseas Trading and Tombooth. Also the Commander of
the Kenya Navy and his No. 2, the Captain of the Straat Torres, The Commander
of a British Navy Tanker "Tide Reach", a Baron H.C.A. Mackay whom I
cannot place, and 15 officers of our Navy ships.
9. When the ships left I was in for a unexpected surprise. In accordance with century old
traditions, the local agent/Netherlands Consul was paid an "Agent's
Fee" in cash by the Commander of the Flotilla! I don't remember how much
it was but it was certainly not a miserly sum so traditional in Dutch shipping ! Tax free too !
10. Finally I want to blow my own
trumpet by showing separately the "thank you" letter I received from
the ships. I actually quote this to remind you of the style with which such
things were done in those days ! (Sorry for non-Dutch
readers but may be their spouses can help ?)
Anton Jansen
Sydney, July, 2005.
Attachment:
KONINKLIJKE MARINE
A/B Hr.
Mrs. Limburg
In zee, 7
December, 1973.
(Hand written): Hooggeachte Heer
Jansen,
Bij het vertrek van Hr. Ms. Limburg
en Hr. Ms. Van Galen uit Mombasa, moge ik U, mede namens mijn collega
commandant, de officieren en alle overige opvarenden mijn welgemeende dank
betuigen voor de voortreffelijke en uitgebreide wijze waarop het bezoek aan
Mombasa werd voorbereid en geregeld.
Het lijdt mijns inziens geen twijfel
dat het voornamelijk aan Uw persoonlijke bemoeienissen en aan de hulp van Uw
medewerkers, die ik ook zeker in mijn dank wil betrekken, te danken is dat het
bezoek aan Mombasa voor ons zo'n aangename ervaring is geweest.
Zonder alle regelingen in details te
noemen zou ik U in het bijzonder willen danken voor de door U aangeboden
barbecue op Zondag. Met name ben ik U erkentelijk voor het feit dat ook een
aantal onderofficieren en manschappen hieraan konden deelnemen. Dit was voor
hen een onvergetelijke ervaring.
Mijn persoonlijke dank gaat uit naar
U en mevrouw Jansen voor de genoten gastvrijheid in Uw woning, daarbij
inbegrepen het voortreffelijke diner. De wijze waarop mevrouw Uw echtgenote als
gastvrouw fungeerde heeft mijn respect en bewondering afgedwongen. Ik moge U
dan ook verzoeken haar mijn persoonlijke dank en waardering over te willen
brengen.
Tot slot wil ik U mijn dank
uitspreken voor het cadeau dat U mij hebt aangeboden. Het zal bij mij immer het
bezoek aan en de kennismaking met U levendig houden.
Met de meeste hoogachting, en met
mijn respecten aan Mevrouw Jansen, heb ik de eer te zijn Uw dienstwillige,
N. van Dam
Kapitein-luitenant ter zee
MOMBASA VLOOTBEZOEK
ADDENDUM
Frits Coers, my capable assistant at the
time, has the following interesting additional comments:
Herewith some snippets to complement your report on the visit
of H.M. Limburg and H.M. van Galen.
The Limburg was a Friesland class destroyers).
Displacement 3070 Tons, LOA 116 m, beam 11.7 m,
draught 5.2 m., max speed 36
knots, ships complement 284 ! Armament
4x120 mm guns, 6x 40 mm guns, 2x4 barreled Bofors ASW mortars and of course supplied with ample depth
charges.
She was built by De Schelde at
Vlissingen in 1956 and eventually sold to Peru, renamed Captain Quinones and
deleted from the Peruvian Navy List in 1991.
The class consisted of twelve warships each named after one of the
provinces, They were the backbone of the Dutch Navy's
dedicated hunter killer antisubmarine groups.
Earlier in their lives they supported the
Aircraft carrier "Karel Doorman".
I am not sure about the van Galen, probably a Leander class type
destroyer On the assumption she was, this vessel would have
been younger than the Limburg, being part of the so called Van Speyk class, a Dutch derivative of the successful British
Leander Class.
Commander Van Dam at first came across as a bit of a miserable
sod, when we heard him interviewed before their arrival, by radio on the Voice of Kenya,.
However, after we met, he proved entirely the opposite. An example:
when I was designated by you to stand next to him at the gangway to
welcome guests at the shipboard party, he confided in me that he was
pleased that this was the last party before returning to Holland, having
had numerous similar events at earlier ports.
I tactfully informed him that in all likelihood Mombasa would be
somewhat different and that, for a start, he
should prepare himself for having the guests " for the evening"
rather than from 7pm to 8.30 pm as suggested on the invitations. When the last guest left the ship well after
11 pm, he fully endorse my remark. By then, we - that
is Anne and you, Maureen and I and a few others - were invited to his private
quarters for the customary "one for the
road"! I vividly remember my
embarrassment ( or perhaps saw my career abruptly
ending ) when Maureen and he took to dancing on one of the tables, cheered on
loudly by all.
When we had yet another cocktail party at your house the following
evening - all the Nairobi Embassy Brass were there of course - we walked
the reception line and Maureen duly shook hands with all the
dignitaries and when she came to van Dam, said: good evening Commander,
nice to see you again. To which he replied: "Oh no, call me Billyboy, as you did last night !"
.
The story does not relate why he was dubbed "Billyboy" seeing that his initial was
"N". Captain Kool's initial was
W". IIt should have been "S" for
"Staid" !
You will - lastly - recollect that the Embassy initially were adamant
to organise c.q. control the whole shebang from
Nairobi ( the name of one of their officers, Smit,
springs to mind) It needed quite a bit of convincing for you/me to convert this
to " leave matters in our hands, we handle on average some ten ships a
month, so this is just routine for us"
Best regards,
Frits