the Caribbean with Hr Ms Groningen

- 1971 - A nine month term service on Curaçao -
   Home base Naval base Parera Willemstad - Curaçao. The heraldic of the naval base is at the left.


- crossing the Atlantic and the arrival -
I cant remember exactly in what time we crossed the Atlantic but in my memory it was in about two weeks and a few days. The first harbour we entered was in Barbados to take in our bunkers and had a two day stay. The weather was good during the cross and once more west the days became warmer and warmer. There was not much to do in the ops room, the tactical plot was almost empty so nothing to report then an occasional contact of a lonely passant. A good opportunity to make order in the administration of books and charts.

Passing the time zones I made a daily round over the ship to reset all the ships clocks, took a time check from WWC or Paris and announced the exact time. In the ops room we sometimes used the general plot desk for a game. Analyser 2 was connected with the plot desk and set to manual. A difficult route with narrow passages was drawn on it and you had to sail between it in high speed. When you grounded you lost! In the weekend there were shooting games on pistol at the aft and a quiz. Sunbathing was the hobby of all crew when there was time left over. Seen a lot of movies in the mess room where it was so crowded that you had to sit on the ground, some times in beer spills of another...-:). Never seen such a quietness aboard a war ship.




Flat at your belly on the ships bow watching the dolphins was my hobby during the crossing. As soon as they noticed our ship they raced towards it and took position at the bow to dive over and in the waves for long hours. During ASW actions in the Caribbean they approached our ship and interfered with their noise our sonar. It wasn't known if they liked our sonar transmissions or not, however, it was remarkable that as soon we started to transmit with the sonar it seemed to attrack their attention. A complain from the sonar room was often heard: There they are again, a large school!


It is remarkable that many seamen like to hear and see these mammals. Very sad to know that in the Japanese waters these animals are drowned by the hundreds in nets. Fisherman over there blame the dolphins for lowering the fish stock. However, what can you expect from a nation that consumes everything that creeps, swims, flies and walks? At the other hand many seamen feel not ashamed to throw their waist like oil over the side.


On Barbados we were invited by a hotel to make use of their own beach. The hotel was located at the coast surrounded by palm trees. We enjoyed the diving and swimming there and continued our sunbathing for two days. The air was so clean and fresh and you could look out as far as possible. Barbados is a very important bunker location for ships that just made their crossing over the Atlantic. At the beach the first light accident happened with one of our crew members that stepped on a sea urchin while he was swimming barefoot. Too bad, prickles have to come out by the healing process that can take several days. Our doctor published some recommendations about sunbathing and swimming in the tropics etc. At meals extra salt tablets were provided.

- Bon Bini snow ball -

From Barbados to Curaçao was a short trip. Finally we could prepare for the arrival in Willemstad. The typical bridge over Annabaai (pontjesbrug) was not in the way, it was for repair in Schottegat after collided by a German tanker. The bridge they were building over Willemstad was not yet ready, the two parts were visible at both sides. Entering Annabaai the crew made a salute over the starboard side for the flag. A bit more inside Annabaai and we could come to starboard to enter Schottegat and make our approach for the naval base Parera. Hr Ms Overijssel was along side there and her crew was ready to receive us, throwing flower balls and yelling "snow balls" to us as a welcome tradition.

- tropic schedule -
As soon as the ship was alongside tropic schedule was in force, up at 6 pm till 2 am. Every day in the afternoon transport was arranged to bring people to Michielsbaai, a navy resort where you could stay for diving and swimming or stay a few days during the weekend. It had a bar and bedrooms and a room for dinner. The naval base Parera was provided with an open air cinema, a good tennis court that we used frequently. Alongside the Rima jetty ships toilets were closed so when you had to go you could make use of the toilets just a few steps away from the jetty in a building. A larger motor boat we could use was brought by crew of the naval base. There was a nasty smell in the air from the Shell oil industry in Schottegat. When there was no wind it became worse. Some times tankers moored at buoys nearby and their crew went over for a visit when they were Dutch. I remember the tanker Kaaphoorn in this way. She was waiting for the docks to be free and visits were done vice versa and we had a good time with her crew.

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