info@nnpc.nl+31 (0)50 534 32 11
    • Dutch
    • English
    • About NNPC
      • The best solution for our members and clients
      • Our specialists
      • Worldwide network
      • History
      • Working at NNPC
    • Products and services
      • Mutual insurance
      • Fixed Premium
      • Other insurances
        • Inland shipping
        • Marine insurance
      • Risk check
    • News and publications
      • Publications
      • News
      • Newsletter
      • NNPC downloads
    • Contact
    • My NNPC
    Search
    START TYPING AND PRESS ENTER TO SEARCH
    • About NNPC
      • The best solution for our members and clients
      • Our specialists
      • Worldwide network
      • History
      • Working at NNPC
    • Products and services
      • Mutual insurance
      • Fixed Premium
      • Other insurances
        • Inland shipping
        • Marine insurance
      • Risk check
    • News and publications
      • Publications
      • News
      • Newsletter
      • NNPC downloads
    • Contact
    • My NNPC
    Search

    Our fleet during World War II: Food aid during the Hunger Winter

    17 September 2024

    Captured merchant vessels, voyages to England, heroic deeds or sunk without trace… NNPC was founded shortly before the Second World War and so there’s a treasure trove of tales about the fleet that we insured at the time. What happened to “our” ships—where did they go and did they come back?

    In this series of articles, we dive into the Dutch Merchant Shipping Database for 1940-1945 to find out what happened.

    Famine and balloon barrage vessels

    In this fourth and final part, we will look at the ships that delivered food aid to the Netherlands at the tail end of the war, during the Hunger Winter of 1944-1945. There was a desperate shortage of food and fuel then, particularly in the cities in the west of the Netherlands and twenty thousand people ultimately lost their lives as a result. In addition, we will be highlighting two ships that were given a very unusual task in England: they were deployed as balloon barrage vessels. Large, rocket-shaped balloons were attached to the ships, which sailed alongside convoys to prevent German fighter aircraft from getting close enough for low-level attacks. The balloons could be raised or lowered using winches.

    Kuwi

    The motorised freighter Kuwi managed to escape in May 1940 and was used for a long time for cargo transport around the British Isles. The ship’s most important contribution, however, was probably in 1945 when it crossed the North Sea in a convoy with other Dutch vessels (the Alcyone, the Martha, the Njord and the Twee Gebroeders) to take food supplies to the liberated part of the Netherlands. The convoy sailed via Vlissingen to Bergen op Zoom. The most cruelly bittersweet aspect is that the famine was most acute in the western part of the country, which they could not reach because it was still occupied.

    Alcyone

    As you just read, the coaster Alcyone was part of the same food convoy. Like many others, the ship got away in May 1940 and made the crossing before being used for numerous cargo voyages. In March 1941, while sailing from Partington to Par (both in England), it came across a lifeboat with thirteen survivors from a Belgian coaster called the Eminent, which had earlier hit a mine. The Alcyone also took part in Operation Neptune, the Allied invasion of Normandy, and carried food in March 1945 to the recently liberated areas of the Netherlands.

    Helena

    The motorised freighter Helena was moored in St. Malo in France with a cargo of coal when war broke out in the Netherlands on May 10th, 1940. The ship, which had been built in 1934, immediately set sail for England. Once it got there, it was used in Liverpool as a balloon barrage vessel, the important role that we described earlier. It is not known what happened to the Helena after the war.

    Westlaan

    The Westlaan, built in 1931, was another that managed to escape in May 1940 and sail to England. This coaster was also deployed as a balloon barrage vessel on the River Mersey near Liverpool. So it’s highly likely that the Westlaan would have come across the Helena, each with its own balloon. The ship is known to have had a crew until at least 1946, so it made it through the war years. Moreover, it was still largely manned by its original crew, under the captaincy of Geert van der Laan from Groningen.

    Read the rest of the series “Our fleet during World War II” as well!

    • Part 1 – Operations Dynamo and Neptune
    • Part 2 – Seized by the Germans
    • Part 3 – Ships that were badly damaged or sunk
    • Part 4 – Food aid during the Hunger Winter
    Previous Post
    New Dutch Inland Navigation Police Regulations (BPR) to Permit Unmanned Ships from January 1, 2025
    Next Post
    The “Bow Jubail” Incident

    Noord Nederlandsche P&I Club
    Rijksstraatweg 361
    9752 CH Haren (Groningen)

    Phone: +31(0)50 534 321 1
    E-mail: info@nnpc.nl

    PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

    • Mutual insurance
    • Fixed Premium insurance
    • Marine insurance
    • Inland shipping insurance
    • Risk check

    GO DIRECTLY TO

    • Contact
    • Find ships
    • Find correspondents
    • News and publications

    NEWSLETTER

    I would like to receive the digital newsletter of NNPC.

    Sign up

    FOLLOW US ON

    © 2025 NNPC – All rights reserved | Colofon | Privacy and cookies |

    Beheer cookie toestemming
    Om de beste ervaringen te bieden, gebruiken wij technologieën zoals cookies om informatie over je apparaat op te slaan en/of te raadplegen. Door in te stemmen met deze technologieën kunnen wij gegevens zoals surfgedrag of unieke ID's op deze site verwerken. Als je geen toestemming geeft of uw toestemming intrekt, kan dit een nadelige invloed hebben op bepaalde functies en mogelijkheden.
    Functioneel Always active
    De technische opslag of toegang is strikt noodzakelijk voor het legitieme doel het gebruik mogelijk te maken van een specifieke dienst waarom de abonnee of gebruiker uitdrukkelijk heeft gevraagd, of met als enig doel de uitvoering van de transmissie van een communicatie over een elektronisch communicatienetwerk.
    Voorkeuren
    De technische opslag of toegang is noodzakelijk voor het legitieme doel voorkeuren op te slaan die niet door de abonnee of gebruiker zijn aangevraagd.
    Statistieken
    De technische opslag of toegang die uitsluitend voor statistische doeleinden wordt gebruikt. De technische opslag of toegang die uitsluitend wordt gebruikt voor anonieme statistische doeleinden. Zonder dagvaarding, vrijwillige naleving door uw Internet Service Provider, of aanvullende gegevens van een derde partij, kan informatie die alleen voor dit doel wordt opgeslagen of opgehaald gewoonlijk niet worden gebruikt om je te identificeren.
    Marketing
    De technische opslag of toegang is nodig om gebruikersprofielen op te stellen voor het verzenden van reclame, of om de gebruiker op een site of over verschillende sites te volgen voor soortgelijke marketingdoeleinden.
    Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
    Bekijk voorkeuren
    {title} {title} {title}