HNLMS Karel Doorman was a ‘Colossus-class’ aircraft carrier of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Formerly the British ship HMS Venerable, she was sold to the Netherlands in 1948 as a light attack carrier. In 1960, she was involved in the decolonisation conflict in Western New Guinea with Indonesia.
In 1960, during the Dutch decolonisation and planned independence of Western New Guinea, a territory which was also claimed by Indonesia, Karel Doorman set sail along with two destroyers and a modified oil tanker to “show the flag”. In order to avoid possible problems with Indonesia’s ally Egypt at the Suez Canal, she instead sailed around the Horn of Africa to Australia. She arrived in Fremantle, where the local seamen’s union went on strike in sympathy with Indonesia; the crew used the propeller thrust of the aircrafts chained down on deck to nudge the carrier into dock without tugs. In addition to her air wing, she was ferrying twelve Hawker Hunter fighters to bolster the local Dutch defence forces, which she delivered when she arrived at Hollandia, New Guinea.
On the way back from New Guinea the ship visited Sydney.
See also Andere Tijden
The following documents are from the Archives of the Nederlandse Vereeniging in NSW.
Visit of HMNLS Kortenear to Sydney
Before the vist of the Karel Doorman, HMNLS Kortenaer, stationed in Dutch New Guinea, visited Fremantle, Hobart en Sydney in February 1960. It later joined the Karel Doorman on its trip around the world.
The following documents are from the Archives of the Nederlandse Vereeniging in NSW.
