May 1915, World War I
This is a family story about my grandfather Bastiaan Roeleveld, this story started on May 1915.
Around that time, Britain, France and Russia were caught up in World War I (1914-1918)
against Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Germany had invaded Belgium and Luxembourg.
A few months earlier there had been a naval battle fought in the North Sea near Doggers Bank.
7 may 8:30 a.m.
In the early morning on the 7th of May 1915, the Danish steamer 'Lilian Drost' left
the harbour of Blyth (Britain) with 1500 ton pit coal and 950 ton coke in the direction
of Copenhagen.
The 'Lilian Drost' had 18 crewmembers
With
1st mate E. Hellessen
and 3rd mate F. Jons
14 Danish
3 Swedish
1 Fin
The Doggersbank (red cirkled area)
8 may 7:10 p.m.
On Saturday the 8th of May at 7:10 p.m. they were situated North of Doggers Bank (56.40N, 4.0E).
At that same moment a German U-boat, the 'U36' commanded by Ernst Graeff, was on
the same spot. Commander Ernst Graeff only had one mission; disturb all sail
activities in the North Sea. The Lilian Drost was its first target. The U-boat
'U36' fired its torpedos and hit the steamer on the 8th of May 1915 at 19:10.
There was a big explosion at the prow of the ship. The crew of the steamer did
not see any German activities so they guest that they were hit by a mine. The
U36 waited a few minutes till the steamer sank and went on with their mission.
The captain oft the Lilian Drost realized that the ship was sinking rapidly and he ordered the crew to
leave the ship by the two lifeboats. It must have been a shock when they noticed
that one lifeboat was too damaged to be of any use. The crew was disciplined enough
not to fight for a place in the only lifeboat left, because of this all eighteen
sailors were able to get a place in the lifeboat. After a headcount they noticed
that one crewmember was missing, the engineer. On top of that the lifeboat was
so overloaded with people that water came over the edge of the boat. This meant
that it wouldn’t be possible to do any rowing.
Even in this hopeless situation they felt relieved when they spotted the engineer
holding onto a piece of driftwood while peddling towards them. The crew was quick
to help him but in the process more and more water came into the lifeboat. To avoid
getting too much water in they had to scope the water out by using their boots, heads
and hands. During this anxious day and this life-threatening night two steamships passed
them without seeing the distress signal the crew sent from their lifeboat. This
made the crew even more depressed and frightened.
9 may 9:00 a.m. The Dutch Captains.
In spite of the Dutch neutrality during WW I it was still risky to sail to Dogger Bank. But it was worth the risk
because Dogger Bank was a very important fishing area, with cod and herring in large quantities.
For the Dutch fishermen fishing on the North Sea was their way of live.
It was Sunday morning around 9:00 when the SCH243, a Dutch fishing boat, was sailing to the fishing areas
North of Dogger Bank when at position 56.40N, 4.0E they spotted the overloaded lifeboat.
Captain of the Dutch fishing boat decided not to help the distressed crew. This could have been for
financial reasons or the fact that he was afraid of mines that lay beneath the water’s surface.
10:30 a.m
One and a half hour later at 10:30 the SCH243 spotted a colleague fisher boat, the VL93, and they hailed them
to speak with Captain Bastiaan Roeleveld.
The Captain of the fishing boat told Captain Roeleveld about his encounter with the overloaded lifeboat.
He asked the VL93 to join him to search together for the lifeboat to rescue the survivors. The VL93 did
not hesitate and went directly to the area.
3:30 p.m.
Bastiaan Roeleveld, captain of the VL93, sailed all around Dogger Bank in search for the distressed crew.
The captain of the SCH243 kept its distance. After two hours searching, at 3:30 p.m., the VL93 found the
lifeboat with all eighteen survivors. They were exhausted and under cooled and the water in their boat
reached till their knees.
After the rescue the Dutch fishermen were very open and welcoming to the crew. They were given dry
clothes, a warm bed and plenty of warm drinks and food.
When the SCH234 saw that all survivors of the Lilian were save on the VL93 they hailed for a second time
and asked captain Roeleveld if the SCH234 was needed for escort. Captain Roeleveld told the captain of the
SCH243 that they would head directly to the harbour of IJmuiden and that they did not need an escort.
The captain of the SCH243 knew that his roll in this whole rescue scene could get him in to trouble with the law, so
he asked Roeleveld to tell the authorities back home that the SCH234 sailed away from the drowning crew
because they thought he saw a submarine instead of a lifeboat. The SCH234 continued their voyage to the
fish area north of the Doggers Bank. This trip gave them a catch with a revenue of 3000 gulden.
14 may 10:00 p.m. IJmuiden harbour
Directly after the rescue the VL93 headed back home to IJmuiden. Without any other
lifesaving events they arrived four days later on Wednesday evening 10:00 in the harbour
of IJmuiden. The crew of the Lilian Drost were invited by the vice consul of Britain to
spend the night in the Queen Willems House. The following day it was time to say goodbye.
They praised the fishermen of the VL93. After an emotional goodbye the crew of the Lilian
had to travel on to the Danish consulate in Amsterdam. Later that year the captain of the SCH243 was send
to prison by the court of The Hague, because of neglecting one’s duty.
24 july 1915, The U-boat
The U-boat 'U36' commanded by Ernst Graeff sunk by gunfire from Q-Ship Prince
Charles off the Hebrides 5907N 0530W. This resulted in the dead of 18 men and the capture
of the rest. One captured German crewmember was carrying the logbook of the U-boat.
This made it possible to determine the route the U-boat took. The logbook reported that
17 ships were hit by U-boat and one of them was the Lilian Drost (First on the list).
5 december 1916, Honoured.
In a letter from the Danish Consulate to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs send on
26 May and 13 July 1915 the Consulate asked for attention from the ministry for this rescue
on the North Sea. On 11 May 1916 Bastiaan recieved an letter from the "Det Knogelige Dansky
Konsulat" located in Rotterdam.
A short translation
Sir, I just visited Copenhagen and I insist the
authorities to officialy reconize your heroic
rescue of the crewmembers of the Lilian Drost
Consul General
One and a half year later, on 5 december 1916, captain Roeleveld
was honoured by the Danish ministry of Foreign Affairs with the heavy silver globet on the picture below.
