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==Salvage attempts==
==Salvage attempts==
In 1940 [[Koninklijke Nederlandse Stoomboot-Maatschappij|KNSM]] assessed that trying to raise and restore ''Goslar'' would cost more than she was worth. Two other Dutch companies and a Canadian company all expressed an interest in salvaging her.<ref name=vanLaar4>{{harvnb|van Laar|Man A Hing|2016|loc=[https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/de-roemloze-ondergang-van-het-stoomschip-goslar-4/ part 4]}}</ref>
Text

The UK [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] chartered a [[Merritt-Chapman & Scott]] [[salvage tug]], the [[Panama]]nian-registered ''Killerig'', to try to raise the wreck. ''Killerig'' arrived in Paramaribo on 5 January 1941, spent more than two months unsuccessfully trying to pump ''Goslar'' out, and left on 21 March.<ref name=vanLaar4/>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 11:31, 3 January 2024

Goslar's wreck in the Suriname River
History
Germany
NameGoslar
NamesakeGoslar
OwnerNorddeutscher Lloyd
Port of registryBremen
RouteBremen – Australia – New Zealand
BuilderBlohm+Voss, Hamburg
Yard number485
Launched3 October 1929
Completed30 November 1929
Identification
Fatescuttled 10 May 1940
General characteristics
Typecargo ship
Tonnage6,049 GRT, 3,613 NRT, 9,690 DWT
Length449.6 ft (137.0 m)
Beam57.6 ft (17.6 m)
Depth26.8 ft (8.2 m)
Decks2
Installed power3,800 shp
Propulsion
Speed13 knots (24 km/h)
Crew64
Sensors and
processing systems
Notessister ships: Frankfurt, Chemnitz, Erlangen

Goslar is a shipwreck in the Suriname River in Paramaribo, Suriname. It is the remains of a Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) steam turbine cargo ship that was built in 1929. When the Second World War began in 1939, she sought refuge in Surinam, which was then a Dutch colony. When Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, her crew scuttled her.

There have been attempts to salvage the wreck. An attempt in 1955 failed, and broke the wreck in two. An attempt in 1965 also failed.

Building

Goslar's sister ship Erlangen

In 1929 NDL took delivery of four new single-screw cargo steamships. Bremer Vulkan in Bremen built Frankfurt and Chemnitz,[1][2] while Blohm+Voss in Hamburg built Erlangen and Goslar.[3][4]

The Bremer Vulkan pair each had a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine as its main propulsion unit, augmented by an exhaust steam turbine. The Blohm+Voss pair were pure turbine ships, each propelled by a single turbine via single-reduction gearing.[3][4] The Blohm+Voss pair were also 9 ft (2.7 m) longer, and slightly wider and deeper, than the Bremer Vulkan pair.

Blohm+Voss built Goslar as yard number 485. She was launched on 3 October 1929 and completed on 30 November. She was the last of the four sister ships to be completed. Her registered length was 449.6 ft (137.0 m), her beam was 57.6 ft (17.6 m) and her depth was 26.8 ft (8.2 m). Her tonnages were 6,049 GRT, 3,613 NRT,[4] and 9,690 DWT. Her turbine was rated at 3,800 shp and gave her a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h).

NDL registered Goslar at Bremen. Her code letters were QMKL.[4] In 1934 they were superseded by the call sign DOBV.[5] As built, her navigation equipment included submarine signalling.[4] Wireless direction finding was added by 1931,[6] and an echo sounding device had been added by 1937.[7]

Refuge in Surinam

On 24 August 1939 Goslar left Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Galveston, Texas. Three days later, NDL ordered her to make for a port in a country that was either neutral, or preferably friendly to Germany. Goslar's Master, Captain Karl Berghoff, considered making for Mexico, but the next day NDL ordered Goslar to head for Germany. Finally, on 29 August, NDL ordered Goslar to make for a neutral port, but not in North America. Berghoff feared that if she made for Mexico, Goslar might encounter a Royal Navy warship, so he set her course toward Brazil.[8]

Finally, Berghoff changed course to Surinam, believing that there would not be war between Germany and the Netherlands. His crew disguised Goslar by painting her funnel and ventilators a different colour, changing her name, and replacing her German flag with a US one. At night she sailed with reduced lighting. In her engine room, preparations were made for rapid scuttling if necessary.[8]

On 1 September Germany invaded Poland, and on 3 September France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. On 5 September Goslar entered the Suriname River, still disguised as a US ship. She took on a Surinamese pilot to take her to a safe anchorage in Paramaribo. He told her officers that they were very lucky, because a French warship had been anchored off the mouth of the river throughout the previous day.[8]

Goslar had a crew of 15 German officers and 49 Chinese seafarers. The officers enjoyed the hospitality of German settlers in Surinam, including the German consul, and Dutch officials, including the harbour master of Paramaribo, N van Beek, who was also the police commissioner. However, the Chinese crew objected to remaining in port indefinitely. On 8 September then went on strike, and the next day Dutch colonial police arrested the strikers and removed them from the ship. A few days later the strikers agreed with Berghoff that they would continue to serve their contracts until the end of the year, after which they could either renew their contracts or return home. On that basis they were allowed back aboard ship.[9]

Before the end of 1939, the Chinese were embarked on the Italian ocean liner Orazio. She was to take them to Genoa, where they would be transferred to an Italian ship bound for Shanghai. One of Goslar's German engineer officers unsuccessfully tried to travel with them, disguised as a blind passenger.[9] Goslar's 15 officers remained aboard as a skeleton crew.

Scuttling

On the morning of 10 May 1940 Germany invaded the Netherlands. The Dutch Governor of Surinam, Johannes Kielstra, received notice of the invasion at 0114 hrs. He immediately ordered the internment of all German males over the age of 15, including Goslar's officers. At 0230 hrs van Beek boarded Goslar from a police boat with a boarding party of four soldiers and three police officers.[9]

Berghoff met him on deck and declared "I have done my duty". Van Beek gave the officers time to pack their belongings. At 0300 hrs van Beek heard metallic noises from below deck, followed by the sound of water entering the ship.[9] He challenged Berghoff, who admitted that he was scuttling the ship on NDL orders. The police boat took the German officers ashore in two groups, returning to collect the second group at 0345 hrs.[10]

Goslar was in water too shallow for her to sink entirely. She listed to port, and at 1330 hrs a team led by van Beek's marine advisor, Egger, began to try to pump water out of the ship. All watertight doors between her compartments were closed, but her list increased. By midnight her masts touched the water, and by 0430 hrs in 11 May she was lying on her port side.[10]

On 21 May Kielstra reported to the Dutch Ministry of the Colonies, Charles Welter, that van Beek and his boarding party had failed to keep all German officers under supervision at all times. Van Beek had the advantage of boarding Goslar when her officers were asleep, yet one of the engineers had managed to activate the prepared scuttling arrangements unobserved. This instantly opened a hole at least 60 by 60 cm (2 by 2 ft) below the waterline. Van Beek was suspected of sympathising with Germany, so a Dutch government decree of 15 May temporarily suspended him from duty.[10]

Internment

At first the Dutch authorities interned German males, including Goslar's officers, in Fort Zeelandia, which had been a prison. From there they were transferred briefly to a former hospital, and then permanently to a Roman Catholic boarding school about 16 kilometres (10 miles) oustide Paramaribo, which was converted into Copieweg internment camp.[9][11][12]

In August 1941 two of Goslar's officers, Boyksen and Scharfenberg, along with Schubert, the former owner of the Beekhuizen plantation, tried to escape from Copieweg.[13] They planned to go to French Guiana, which was under Vichy French control at the time. They stole a canoe, and on 7 September 1941 they reached the Marowijne River, which forms the border with French Guiana. However, Soea[clarification needed] saw them, gathered an armed group, and captured them.[14]

Salvage attempts

In 1940 KNSM assessed that trying to raise and restore Goslar would cost more than she was worth. Two other Dutch companies and a Canadian company all expressed an interest in salvaging her.[15]

The UK Admiralty chartered a Merritt-Chapman & Scott salvage tug, the Panamanian-registered Killerig, to try to raise the wreck. Killerig arrived in Paramaribo on 5 January 1941, spent more than two months unsuccessfully trying to pump Goslar out, and left on 21 March.[15]

References

  1. ^ Lloyd's Register 1930, FRA.
  2. ^ Lloyd's Register 1930, CHE.
  3. ^ a b Lloyd's Register 1930, ERI–ERM.
  4. ^ a b c d e Lloyd's Register 1930, GOR–GOT.
  5. ^ Lloyd's Register 1934, GOO–GOT.
  6. ^ Lloyd's Register 1931, GOS–GOT.
  7. ^ Lloyd's Register 1937, GOR–GOT.
  8. ^ a b c van Laar & Man A Hing 2016, part 1
  9. ^ a b c d e van Laar & Man A Hing 2016, part 2
  10. ^ a b c van Laar & Man A Hing 2016, part 3
  11. ^ Captain 2010[page needed]
  12. ^ Van der Horst 2004, pp. 69–74.
  13. ^ "Drie geïnterneerden ontsnapt". De West (in Dutch). Paramaribo. 27 August 1941 – via Delpher.
  14. ^ Van Kupperfelt, Sander. "De Goslar". Don Sandro (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  15. ^ a b van Laar & Man A Hing 2016, part 4

Bibliography

  • Captain, Esther; Jones, Guno (2010). "De interneringen in Suriname en de Nederlandse Antillen". Oorlogserfgoed overzee : de erfenis van de Tweede Wereldoorlog in Aruba, Curaçao, Indonesië en Suriname (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Bakker. ISBN 978-9035135840.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1930 – via Southampton City Council.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1931 – via Southampton City Council.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1934 – via Southampton City Council.
  • Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II.–Steamers and Motorships over 300 tons. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1937 – via Southampton City Council.
  • Makdoembaks, Nizaar (2017). De Goslar-affaire (in Dutch). Zierikzee: De Woordenwinkel. ISBN 978-90-76286-28-0.
  • van der Horst, Liesbeth (2004). Wereldoorlog in de West: Suriname, de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba, 1940–1945 (in Dutch). Hilversum: Verloren. ISBN 978-9065507945.
  • van Laar, E; Man A Hing, WL (2016) [1989]. "De roemloze ondergang van het stoomschip 'Goslar'". Caraïbisch Uitzicht (in Dutch). Werkgroep Caraibische Letteren. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

{{commons category

5°49′05″N 55°09′32″W / 5.81808°N 55.15900°W / 5.81808; -55.15900

[[Category:1929 ships [[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1940 [[Category:Scuttled vessels [[Category:Ships built in Hamburg [[Category:Ships of Norddeutscher Lloyd [[Category:Steamships of Germany [[Category:World War II merchant ships of Germany

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