History
The ship was built in Rotterdam in 1929 as the luxury Dutch passenger ship MS Baloeran of the Rotterdamsche Lloyd.
The Baloeran was laid up in Rotterdam in 1940 due to the threat of war. The ship was unable to leave after the German invasion in May. Following the German invasion of the Netherlands, the ship was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine in May 1941. The ship was moored near the Waalhaven Sluisjesdijk. This was a strategic industrial and port area. The Baloeran was deployed as a power plant. The Baloeran was a modern passenger ship, equipped with an extensive and powerful electrical installation that the Germans could use directly.
The Strassburg in 1941 in an unknown port.
Hospital ship
The Baloeran was subsequently converted into the Lazarettschiff Strassburg at the Wilton-Fijenoord shipyard. The ship was completed in the summer of 1941 and had capacity for 500 patients and 160 medical personnel.
The ship served as a hospital ship from July 20, 1941, to May 30, 1943.
Controversy
Although hospital ships were protected under the Geneva Convention, the Strassburg was equipped with a strange combination of features at the time: it carried Red Cross markings but simultaneously had military camouflage paintwork. This led the British to regard the ship as a legitimate military target.
Last voyage
On September 1, 1943, during a voyage from Rotterdam to Hamburg, the ship struck a British acoustic naval mine off the coast of IJmuiden. The ship was severely damaged. To prevent sinking, the Germans grounded the ship 1.3 miles north of the North Pier of IJmuiden.
While the ship was stuck on the sandbank, it was torpedoed on September 19 by the British motor torpedo boat MTB 617.
The final end came a day later when British fighter planes bombed the wreck once again, after which it burned out completely and sank.
Description
Remnants of the wreck still lie 1.3 miles north of the North Pier in the North Sea near IJmuiden.The Baloeran lies approximately 2 miles north of IJmuiden.
References
- Stichting Maritiem Historische Databank
Baloeran ID 770