History
Multiple owners
The Hr.Ms. Jean Frederic was built during WWI for the Royal Navy as the HMS James Hulbert and was intended to be used as an escort ship. Yet the ship was only finished after the war ended. It was then probably sold to a commercial party and was sold on for a few more times in the following years. Between her commissioning and the transferral to the Dutch Navy, the Jean Frederic was subsequently called James Hulbert (mercantile, 1919-1920) and M.J. Reid (mercantile, 1920 - 1922).
SheThe ship was requisitioned by France because of the threat of WWII in 1939. When France capitulated to the Germans in 1940, the Jean Frederic was in the port of Falmouth and was requisitioned by the British. They decided to temporarily loan the vessel to the Dutch navy in exile to be used as an anti-submarine trawler, together with another ship with the same purpose, the Notre Dame de France. At first it was used by the anti-invasion forces but later it escorted convoys and ships between Falmouth and Dartmouth.
It was operated by a mixed crew consisting of Dutch and French sailors (of the Free French Naval Forces - FNFL) and seemingly flew the flags of both nations.
Demise
In 1941, the Jean Frederic was lost during one of her escorts. On May 1st, the ship was attacked by a German dive bomber with bombs and machine gun fire and was sunk. The lifeboat was damaged so the crew of 39 went into the rafts, but there was not enough room so they used all kinds of materials to stay afloat.
The convoy was unaware of the attack and it was not until the afternoon of the next day around 1400 hours, that the British motor launch ML-157 picked up survivors from the rafts. By then, almost two-thirds of the crew had succumbed to exhaustion and wounds - 25 men died and only fourteen were saved.
Description
Type: trawler, Mersey class
Yard: Lobnitz & Company Limited, Renfrew (Scotland)
Armament:
4 x 75 mm (4x1)
4 x .303 (7.7-mm) Hotchkiss machineguns (2x2)
2 x .50 (12.7-mm) machineguns (1x2)
Propulsion: steam, 1 boiler, triple expansion engine, single shaft
| Power | 600 hp |
|---|---|
| Speed | 11 knots ~ 13 mph (20 km/h) |
| Length | 138.5 feet (42.2 m) |
| Width | 23.7 feet (7.2 m) |
| Draft | 15.7 feet (4.8 m) |
| Displacement | 329 ton |
References
- Netherlandsnavy.nl.
anti-submarine trawler Jean Frederic. - Clyde Ships.
Screw steamer James Hulbert.