The screw-driven steamship Falcon (De Valk) was a patrol vessel of the Government Navy, designed for coastal surveillance and light transport duties in the outlying regions of the Dutch East Indies.

Upon its arrival in the Dutch East Indies, *De Valk* was stationed at Ambon to support the civil administration and maritime police, as well as to combat opium smuggling.

NA_4.MST_5288

Early Sunday morning, an explosion was heard, and the ship caught fire. A blaze had broken out aboard the Falcon despite various attempts, the vessel could not be saved, as the fire kept flaring up repeatedly. Due to the risk of explosion posed by the carbide cargo, the harbormaster decided to tow the wreck away from the anchorage. The SS *Kotei* towed it to the beach at Poka, where the carbide was still burning two days later.

Attempts were made to raise the wreck or salvage parts of it in order to keep the shipping channel clear.

Because the ship had run aground and burned out in the shallow waters along the coast near Poka, the ruined hull remained there for years as a striking and recognizable wreck on the shoreline. It was only much later that the remaining sections gradually disappeared due to salvage operations and the effects of rust.

The *Valk* was manned by a mixed crew—typical of the Government Navy (*Gouvernementsmarine*) at the time—consisting of European officers and engineers in command, supplemented by sailors, stokers, and oilers of East Indian and Asian origin

• Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië 14-3-1918
  Het verbranden van het Gouv. SS Valk
• Nationaal Archief, 4.MST bouwtekeningen marine
  ref. no. 5277
• Hokke, C., (1950)
  Opkomst en ondergang van onze Gouvernements Marine
  Leidsche Uitgeversmij