- World War II troop ship
- Sinking of the Klipfontein
- References
- External links
{{other uses}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image=Klipfontein.jpg | Ship caption=
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship name= | Ship owner=Holland Afrika Line | Ship operator=Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepv Mij. | Ship registry= | Ship route= | Ship ordered= | Ship builder=Smit P Jr., Rotterdam, Netherlands | Ship original cost= | Ship yard number=517 | Ship way number= | Ship laid down= | Ship launched=March 4, 1939 | Ship completed= | Ship christened= | Ship acquired=July 29, 1939 | Ship maiden voyage= | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship identification= | Ship fate=1953 sunk - Off Ponta Zavora (East Africa) struck sunken German U-boat. | Ship status= | Ship notes= Wreck rests at 24° 37' 7 South - 35° 16' 69 East
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption= | Ship class=Cargo / Passenger Liner | 10,544}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register: Klipfontein}} | Ship displacement= | 499|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}}- {{convert|520|ft|0|in|m|1|abbr=on}} LOA{{sfn|Lloyd's Register: Klipfontein}}
| 62|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register: Klipfontein}} | Ship height= | Ship draught= | 33|ft|1|in|m|1|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register: Klipfontein}} | Ship depth= | Ship decks= | Ship deck clearance= | Ship ramps= | Ship ice class= | Ship sail plan= | Ship power= | Ship propulsion=*2 × 5 cyl diesel 12000 pk B&W | Ship speed= | Ship capacity=*9933 tn Cargo | Ship crew= | Ship notes=
}} | The Klipfontein was a Dutch ocean liner built in 1939. World War II troop shipKlipfontein had been one of the Dutch ships taken over by the War Shipping Administration 23 February 1942, allocated to U.S. Army with the nature of the operating agreement with the Netherlands Ministry of Shipping changed 23 May 1942 to a time charter extending until 1 February 1946.{{sfn|Maritime Administration Ship History|Klipfontein}}{{sfn|Grover|1987|p=23}} The operating agreement was with the Army Transportation Corps with the ship known as the USAT Klipfontein.{{sfn|Maritime Administration Ship History|Klipfontein}}{{sfn|Office Of The Chief Of Military History|1959|p=342}} The U.S. Army X Army Corps departed San Francisco Port of Embarkation aboard on 14 July 1944 on the way to Oro Bay, New Guinea and ultimately the Philippines.{{sfn|Office Of The Chief Of Military History|1959|p=342}} Sinking of the KlipfonteinOn 8 January 1953 the ocean liner Klipfontein struck a foreign object off the coast of Mozambique in uncharted waters. She sunk in three hours time. All were saved by the ocean liner Bloemfontein Castle under the command of Captain J.H.F. Ferguson. Around 11.18 GMT, the Klipfontein struck an object below the waterline near Zavora Point and started sinking. Captain Oosterhuis radioed for help which was received at Beira station and by the nearby Bloemfontein Castle. The ship sank at 14:22 GMT, and six lifeboats were deployed. All 234 passengers were saved and safely aboard the Bloemfontein Castle at 15:45 GMT. Newspapers from the time state that with the navigational equipment on board it is not likely that a reef was the 'object'. The region has a couple of sunken ships from the war. According to reports, only one German U-boat was torpedoed in shallow waters but was never charted. The cargo was 1000 tons of copper and manganese ore and 100 bales of wool. Some headlines in various newspapers of the time: - "We thought it was a realistic drill".{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
- "Was it a wreck?"{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
- "The most comfortable shipwreck".{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}
References- {{cite book |last=Grover |first=David |title=U.S. Army Ships and Watercraft of World War II |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-87021-766-1 |lccn=87015514 |ref=harv}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/pdffile.php?name=42b0489.pdf |title=Lloyd's Register |author=Lloyds |date=1944–45 |website= |publisher=Lloyd's Register (through PlimsollShipData) |accessdate=30 May 2014}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.marad.dot.gov/sh/ShipHistory/Detail/8920 |title=Klipfontein |author=Maritime Administration |date= |work=Ship History Database Vessel Status Card |publisher= U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration |accessdate=30 May 2014|ref=harv}}
- {{Citation |last=Office Of The Chief Of Military History |title=Order Of Battle Of The United States Army Ground Forces In World War II—Pacific Theater Of Operations |place=Washington, D.C. |publisher= Department Of The Army |series= |volume= |year=1959 |page= |pages= |ref=harv}}
{{refbegin}}- SS Maritime.net page about Klipfontein
{{refend}}External links- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4AxJpgInOc Youtube - Footage of the sinking of the Klipfontein]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jphl_jnwFug Youtube - Video of shipwreck / artificial reef system]
{{1953 shipwrecks}} 7 : 1939 ships|Cargo liners|Ships built in the Netherlands|Transport ships of the United States Army|World War II merchant ships of the Netherlands|Merchant ships of the Netherlands|Maritime incidents in 1953 |