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The . Johan Mautits van Nassau was built by the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde in Vlissingen, build number 195. It was launched on July 17, 1931, completed on August 20, 1932 and commissioned on April 5, 1933. The ship's length was meters and the greatest width meters with a draft of meters. It had Triple Expansion engines with 4 Yarrow boilers and a engine power of 2100 HP. The bunker capacity was 273 tons of fuel oil. The speed was only 15 knots, quite slow for a warship. The crew consisted of 124 heads and the armament of 3 guns of 15 cm, 2 of 40 mm, 4 of 12.7 mm and four 7.7 mm machine guns. This film is dedicated to my father who served on this Gunboat from January 1939 until May 1940. The full story in English can be read here: On January 21, 1938, the gunboat returned to Den Helder for maintenance and modernization. A platform was installed at the main mast. This resulted in a small anti-aircraft battery consisting of four machine guns in Solothurn double arrangement. In addition, the bridge was modernized and closed. The ship then departed again on 27 May 1938 for the Strait of Gibraltar, where convoy services continued until 28 September. My father was drafted in the fall of 1938 to serve in the Navy. Ignoring such a call was not an option because it could lead to a 10 months prison sentence. On September 1, 1938 he arrived at Marine Barracks Nieuwediep / Willemsoord, MKWD for short. Entering service was a great experience for everyone like these images show. It was also a lot of lugging with duffel bags and the first evening had to be spent marking the received Marine attire. On 6 October 1938 the Johan Maurits returned to Den Helder where the ship was prepared for a new period in the Dutch West Indies. According to the State of In my father's service, he first served for more than two months with the Submarine Service before boarding the ship on January 3rd. On January 12, 1939 the Johan Maurits left for the Antilles. Just like during the maiden voyage of the Johan Maurits in 1933, the ship also called at Punta Delgada in the Azores this time. The Tropic of Cancer was passed on January 23, 1939. Thanks to the preserved data of my father, this information has come to the surface for the first time. The passage of the tropics and the equator has always been an important naval event. For example, passing the Tropic of Cancer was noted no less than 8 times in the official records of my father. The crossing of the equator was especially celebrated. Every crew member who crossed the equator for the first time had to undergo a ritual that can somewhat be compared to the hazing of new students. In addition, they were tackled by an old hand disguised as Poseidon (Neptune) soaped, shaved and rinsed. Upon successful completion, each was presented with a certificate personally signed by “Neptune“. See my father's copy. On February 8, 1939, the ship arrived in the Netherlands Antilles. Details of this period in the West are scarce. From photos by my father it appears that Suriname (on around 18 June), Aruba and Caracas in Venezuela were visited. These film images give a good impression of the stay of the Johan Maurits on the quay of Willemstad on Curacao. This is where the famous floating Pontjesbrug, or Emmabrug, comes into view. The period in the Antilles was cut short because the mobilization in the Netherlands started in September 1939, in connection with the impending German danger. The new artillery instruction ship . Van Kinsbergen would take over the task of station ship from the Johan Maurits. The Dutch waters were considered too dangerous for artillery courses so they had to be continued in the West. On October 31, 1939, the Van Kinsbergen arrived in Willemstad. Subsequently, the Johan Maurits departed on November 8 1939 to the Netherlands, after which it passed the Tropic of Cancer again on November 13 and arrived in the Netherlands on November 29, 1939. To be continued in Part-2: The full story about the Maurits van Nassau can be read here in Dutch and English: in het Nederlands in English Source: NIMH (with permission). The original B/W footage has been motion-stabilized, speed-corrected, restored, enhanced and colorized by means of A.I. video software,
