M.S. Johan
van Oldenbarnevelt,
became the T.S.M.S. Lakonia
in 1963
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With
Reuben Goossens
Maritime Historian, Author,
Cruise‘n’Ship Reviewer and Maritime Lecturer
Please Note: All ssMaritime and related maritime sites are 100% non-commercial and
privately owned, thus ssmaritime is NOT associated with any shipping company or
any other organisation! Although the author has worked and been involved in the
passenger shipping industry for well over 60 years, but due to his old age and
poor health, he was forced to retire. Yet, he has completed well over 1,365
Classic Liners, Passenger-Cargo Liners as well as humble converted C3 converted
Migrant Liners, which has transported countless thousands of folk to the new
world, as well on vacations’. I trust the features online will continue
to provide Classic Liner and Ship enthusiasts both the information they are
seeking, but more so provide a great deal of pleasure and relive many happy
memories!
“Memories of the JVO”
m.s. Johan
van Oldenbarnevelt
The
Harold William Heasman Story
His Wartime Service on the MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt
![](JVO-war-Harold-ship.jpg)
ms Johan van Oldenbarnevelt seen prior to the war bedecked in flags as she
departs for another world voyage
From the
author’s private collection
The following story was sent to
me by his son Robert
Heasman
in November 2010, and I am sure you will find it an interesting addition which
will add to the memory not only regarding this fine gentleman but also of this
great ship! Although 99% is as Robert
sent it to me, some of it has been slightly edited and rephrased for continuity
sake, but be assured that the essence of the details and story has not been
altered whatsoever!
Reuben Goossens.
Mr. Harold William Heasman, was born in Portsmouth
in 1915. He became a printer’s compositor by trade, working in Aylesbury
when the Second World War broke out.
Harold volunteered for service in the Royal Navy in November 1940 at HMS
Collingwood, near Portsmouth
and he joined the “Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship” (DEMS) force
as a gunner being a small cargo vessel the SS Fidra
in December 1941. Sadly on January 24, 1942 the SS Fidra
together with two other ships ran aground in a severe storm just off Peterhead.
All three ships were lost with their crews rescued by the local Peterhead
lifeboat. Harold’s life was
saved by the action of a life boatman as the ship was floundering against the
rocks.
After a period of survivors leave, Harold joined the crew of a famed Dutch liner, the Johan van
Oldenbarnevelt at Liverpool. For interest, by then he had
become a Petty Officer. On board the JVO there were five
Royal Navy crew’s who would man the two guns onboard.
![](jvoch21.jpg)
The JVO is
seen here during one of her frequent visits to Liverpool in the UK
Harold arrived in Cape Town
on the JVO in April 1942, the ship then continued to Bombay and returned to Cape Town and back to Liverpool arriving in July 1942. The ship
also docked at Freetown but no shore
leave was permitted. During this period, Harold
produced two drawings of the JVO, one for himself and one for a member of the
Dutch crew for a school in Holland
I believe.
![](JVO-drawing-wartime-William-Heasman.jpg)
A drawing
by Harold Heasman of the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt
made whilst on board
Provided by his
son Robert Heasman This image is © and may NOT be
copied & used by any media online or private, etc.
Please respect
ownership!
Whilst on the JVO, Harold on the ship during the
Operation Torch landings in North Africa in November 1942, then
arriving again in Cape Town
in December.
In August 1943, whilst in dock in Liverpool, Harold’s wife, Sybil, was given permission to come
on board the ship and she remembers thinking at the time what a grand ship she
must have been in her pre-war splendour. She recalls the chef giving her an
enormous freshly baked loaf, which she shared with others at her lodgings in Liverpool.
The JVO set sail from Liverpool in August 1943, however, due to a
mechanical failure the ship was forced back to port immediately. Lengthy
repairs were needed thus all Royal Navy crew were ordered to return to Portsmouth.
This would be the last time that Harold sailed on this grand ship, the
JVO.
From then until the end of the war Harold
continued sailing on the various larger “DEMS” type of liners
converted as troopships crossing the Atlantic from Liverpool to New York or
Halifax in Canada. He predominately served on the French liner the Ile De
France, but he also made a single voyage on the famed Cunard liner the Queen Mary.
However, Harold was particularly fond of the
JVO and was very proud of the time he served on board her. I remember him
reading the newspaper around Christmas 1963 regarding the sinking of the
Lakonia and exclaiming “that’s my old boat the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt”,
he was devastated!
Sadly Harold passed away in 1992, but my mother is still alive and she provided me with most of
the above details from his notes as well as those from her own memory.
Robert Heasman.”
Also read Chapter 2: JVO the Trooper
Return to the - JVO Index
***************************
“Blue Water Liners sailing to the
distant shores.
I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them die.”
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no longer available, due to the author’s old age and chronic illness as
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Goossens
can no longer handle same. He sincerely regrets this!
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Photographs
on ssmaritime and associate pages are either by the author or
from the author’s private collection. In addition there are some images
and photographs that have been provided by Shipping Companies or private
photographers or collectors. Credit is given to all contributors, however,
there are some photographs provided to me without details regarding the
photographer or owner concerned.
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