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Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereniging

Published on the Website of the South African Military History Society in the interest of research into military history

UPDATE on the SS. ROOSEBOOM

This update refers to the article by Michael Pether first posted in 2013

Researched by Jos Rozenburg

Sunk on 1 March 1942 by IJMS submarine I-59

Complement: appr. 500 (xx dead and 6 survivors)

Company: Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij, Batavia

Notes:

1. Crew composition. If the Rooseboom crew was a standard KPM crew in the (pre) WW2 era, and nothing suggests otherwise, the average crew composition would have been approximately 45 persons total, divided in three different groups.
The Officers would have been Dutch born, numbering 8-10 persons (Captain, three Deck Officers, three Engineer Officers and either a Wireless operator, Chief Steward and/or Boatswain. Most of these Dutchmen were born in the Netherlands East Indies, knew the culture and spoke the local languages and dialects.
Also on board were 2-5Indonesian crewmembers, usually provision clerks, cargo clerks, assistant mates or engineers, chief stewards and/or boatswains. They were educated people, mostly from the islands of Timor or Ambon, and conducted local business with the Indonesian people and institutions the crew encountered during local portvisits in the Indonesian archipelago.
The remainder of the crew (appr. 30 men) would be comprised of local Indonesian personnel, mostly illiterate and hired for one voyage at the time.
You mention Malay personnel, probably referring to Malaysian nationals, but the KPM as a rule did not hire Malaysians. They preferred hiring Indonesians, because they were living in the Netherlands East Indies around the main ports of entry, so they were easily hired and dismissed. Also they were subject to Dutch laws and regulations, which was generally preferred above hiring crew members from other nations.

2. Documentation found. Dutch documentation on this tragic voyage is scarce. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, in the beginning of March 1942 the war in the NEI was considered lost, as the Japanese had won the Battle of the Java Sea on 28 February, and consequently landed great numbers of troops on the main island of Java. Generally realization dawned that surrender was only days away, and chaos reigned. The Dutch rule of law collapsed, brutal violence was rampant and local people seized the opportunity to rebel. Nobody cared about keeping official records anymore, everyone was busy to survive the turbulent times.
Secondly, none of the Dutch crewmembers survived the attack and aftermath. They could therefore not testify on the events and record their testimony. As all ships documents were also lost in the attack, going down with the ship and/or lost with the lifeboat, there was little information to start with. The two Indonesian survivors that were picked up by the PALOPO were most probably illiterate and unable to provide the in depth and detailed information that would have been required to shed light on the exact sequence of events.
As during WW2 it was believed that the two Indonesians were the only survivors, no other supporting evidence was added. When after the war the British survivor came forward with his version of events, this could not be not supported by other testimony. This does not in any way make his version less believable, but the fact remains that the Rooseboom story was solely based on the recollection of one person. Even the official date of the attack is not uniformly agreed upon. Most Dutch sources agree on the attack taking place in the late evening hours of March 1, but February 28 was mentioned also.

3. The known names of the crew. I have been able to retrieve the data on all Dutch and Indonesian educated crewmembers, apart from the identity of the Chief Officer. He remains a mystery sofar.

Individual information:

- The officer in your document that was called DIRK does exist, but he was not the Chief Officer. Instead he was the Third Officer, called Dirk Honig. His wife was also on board, called Suzanna Honig-Aten. Below is a picture of a remembrance monument that was erected in their hometown by family members on top of a family grave.

- The Indonesian survivor that is mentioned as JATTIMO is probably named JATIMOEN, which is concurrent with comparable names from that time. The other survivors name DAI is probably correct.

- Apart from the missing Chief Officer, all remaining crewmembers would have been Indonesian local personnel. Their names I have not been able to find yet.

- In light of the greater events unfolding, many more people must have been looking for a way to escape the NEI in their quest to escape to a safe haven. So it is very possible that there were more KPM officers or staff personnel on board, unrecorded and therefore still unknown. This is even more likely as the ship originated from Batavia, where many of the KPM key personnel lived.

Crew member names (12):

- BOON, Marinus Cornelis Anthonie
Master (+).
born Kesteren, 2 November 1899

- BOTBIJL, Arnoldus
Third Engineer Officer (+).
born Geervliet, 27 August 1910

- BUURMAN, Jacob
Second Engineer Officer (+).
born Apeldoorn, 11 August 1907

- DAI
Fireman.
born xx (Netherlands East Indies), xx
survived the attack, rescued after nine days by PALOPO.

- DEDEKAHA, A.O.
Assistant Mate (+).

- HONIG, Dirk
Third Officer (+).
born Zaandijk, 14 November 1909

- HONIG-ATEN, Suzanna
Passenger (Female) (+).
born Wormerveer, 13 July 1916
wife of Dirk Honig

- JATIMOEN
Fireman.
born xx (Netherlands East Indies), xx
survived the attack, rescued after nine days by PALOPO.

- KRAAYENBRINK, Jan
Second Officer (+).
born Abbenbroek, 13 December 1904

- PATTIMAHU, J.
Clerk (+).

- SONDAKH, E.J.
Clerk (+).

- VRIES, Willem de
Chief Engineer Officer (+).
born Harlingen, 7 July 1901

Sources:

National Archive The Hague,
2.12.30 / 2.16.31 / 2.16.32 / 2.16.40 / 2.16.54 / 2.06.084

Netherlands Institute for Military History,
LOCK archive (London Collection Netherlands Merchant Navy)

Link to original article: