Buitenzorg

The steel steamship Buitenzorg was launched from the Flushing, Holland yard of Koninklijke Matschapij de Schelde (Yard No 162) in 1916. She measured 445.7′ x 54.0′ x 37.0′ and her tonnage was 7098 gross tons, 4522 net tons. She was powered by a 3 cylinder triple expansion steam engine by Mats de Schelde delivering 500 nominal horse power. She as built for Rotterdamsche Lloyd (Ruys Willem and Co) Rotterdam but two years later was requisitioned for wartime duties by the United States Government. She survived World War One and was returned to her owners to begin her post war career.

With the outbreak of World War Two Buitenzorg’s voyages between the Far East, Africa and European ports became much more dangerous.  However, she continued to ply back and forth dodging the attentions of the German U-boats and aircraft patrolling the Eastern Atlantic in most cases relying on her speed to outrun any attackers rather than steaming in one of the many convoys travelling the route.  On 4th October 1940 she departed from Calcutta bound for Dundee, Scotland with a valuable general cargo including tea and latex.  After calling at Colombo, Durban and Cape Town she reached Freetown, Sierra Leone on 17th December where she joined convoy SL60 bound for Liverpool.  The convoy consisted of 30 merchant vessels with 12 escort ships.  The voyage went well and when they reached the North Channel the ships began to disperse with Buitenzorg heading north to the convoy mustering point in Lynne of Lorne. 

At 3:05pm on January 14th, 1941 a wireless message reached the Lloyds’ office in London – ” SOS – aground sinking fast!” It was from Buitenzorg. The message was received from the ship as she steamed through the Sound of Mull. The next message, received later that day, said that the ship had struck rocks 49 degrees one cable from Gray Island – this probably would mean that she had run aground on Eilean Rubha an Ridire – and that she had gone down within 15 minutes. Luckily the crew had managed to escape before she went down. The wreck was located two days later in a position 155 degrees 9.25 cables from Ardtornish point in 48 fathoms.

The loss of a ship is often surrounded by rumour and speculation which grows over time as stories are exaggerated or enhanced by the narrator. The details of the loss of the Buitenzorg are vague – there are even conflicting reports on her route. Lloyds records indicate that she was en route to Calcutta from Dundee while the records in the Dutch Maritime Museum in Amsterdam indicate the reverse. There are local rumours on Mull that an explosion was seen at the stern of the ship just before she sank and that perhaps she had been sabotaged. This seems unlikely given the wireless message received at Lloyds.

The final mystery revolves round her cargo – there have been strong rumours in the Western Isles since the war that her cargo included 300 tons of tin which would be worth a substantial fortune at today’s prices. Two missing pages in the cargo manifest in Amsterdam further add to this mystery. In 1985 the wreck was the subject of a sophisticated salvage attempt using remote controlled underwater cameras but if the tin is actually there it remains hidden in the ship’s deep holds buried in 50 years of silt.

The wreck is charted in 56° 30.240’N, 005° 44.532’W (WGS84) with the bow in 93 metres and the stern in 80 metres. The least depth is shown as 72 metres. The wreck lies oriented 173/353 degrees. Divers report wreck with a 25 degree list to starboard and a large hole on starboard side at No 2 forward hold.