Ferry - Koningen Emma Zeeland Shipping Harwich/Hook of Holland Dutch stamps 1949

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  mv 'Koningen Emma', Zeeland Steamship Company - Hook of Hollan to Harwich Daily Service
• Publisher: Agtmaal, Hilversum
• Postally used: yes
• Stamp:  Netherlands 6c x 2
• Postmark(s): Hoek van Holland 1949 cds
• Sent to:  C. Frank Page, School House, Caister on Sea, near Great Yarmouth, England
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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HMS Queen Emma was a commando troop ship of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Built as a civilian passenger liner in 1939 by De Schelde at Vlissingen, she was named the MS Koningin Emma, after Queen Emma of the Netherlands, and operated by Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (SMZ) (The Zealand Steamship Company) between Flushing and Harwich, along with her sister ship, MS Prinses Beatrix. After fleeing to Britain after the German invasion in 1940, she was requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport, renamed HMS Queen Emma and converted to a troopship at Harland and Wolff's yard in Belfast. During the war her main role was transporting British Commandos, and she participated in the Lofoten Islands Raid and the Dieppe Raid. She had the advantage of a high speed that allowed hit and run operations. Later designated as a Landing Ship, Infantry (Medium) she took part in the landings in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy. She operated in the Indian Ocean, and in the Dutch East Indies after the end of the war. In 1946 Queen Emma was returned to her owners and continued to operate as ferry from the Hook of Holland until 1969, when she was scrapped in Antwerp, Belgium.

The MS Koningin Emma was ordered by the Zeeland Steamship Company (SMZ) in December 1937 to operate between Vlissingen (Flushing) and Harwich. The keel was laid on 7 May 1938 at the De Schelde shipyard at Vlissingen, and the ship was launched on 14 January 1939 by Queen Wilhelmina.^[2] However the Emma stuck on the slipway and it took more than four hours to free her.^[3]

During sea trials Koningin Emma made more than 24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph) which was 1.5 knots (2.8 km/h; 1.7 mph) more than was contractually agreed. On 19 May 1939 the ship was handed over to the SMZ. It had a gross tonnage of 4,135 tons and was capable of carrying 1,800 passengers. Propulsion was provided by two 2-stroke Sulzer diesel engines with a total output of 12,500 shp.^[2]

Koningin Emma entered service on 4 June 1939, but after the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939, was withdrawn, and remained in port. On 10 May 1940 the Germans launched their invasion of the Netherlands, dropping mines in the Schelde estuary, and bombing and strafing shipping. Koningin Emma promptly fled, arriving at London on the 15 May.^[2]

Two days later the British Ministry of War Transport chartered her as a troop transport. She was fitted with "degaussing" coils as protection against German magnetic mines and sailed with her original civilian crew on board in addition to a Dutch Marine detachment.^[2]

The ship was ordered to take French troops evacuated to England from Dunkirk back to Brest to continue the fight. She left Plymouth on 2 June and sailed with 1,712 aboard, accompanied by the French corvette Commandant Rivière. They returned the next day, then sailed once more with approximately 1,500 men on board, returning with British troops. On 16 June Koningin Emma, made her last voyage to Brest. By now the Germans had occupied most of northern France, so she was ordered to Bayonne on the 20 June where 1,482 evacuees were boarded.^[2]

Koningin Emma then took part in the British occupation of Iceland, landing troops and equipment. In September 1940 Koningin Emma was formally taken over by the Admiralty to be converted into an "assault ship" at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. The upper deck was largely cleared and gravity davits installed enabling six LCAs and two LCM(1)s to be carried, along with 450 troops. Koningin Emma was armed with two 12-pounder guns, two 2-pounders, four Hotchkiss 20 mm machine guns, and four .303 cal. machine guns. The ship was commissioned as HMS Queen Emma on 22 January 1941 as a special service ship.^[2]

Her first major action in her new role was Operation Claymore, a raid on the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway. On 22 February 1941 Queen Emma arrived at Scapa Flow, where men of 4 Commando boarded, as well as Royal Engineer demolition experts and a contingent of Norwegian troops. The British ships - five destroyers and two troop ships - entered the Vestfjord on the morning of 4 March, and launched their attack. Surprise was complete and there was little resistance. All targets selected were located and destroyed. The troops were embarked by 13.00 hours and within half an hour the British had left. After returning to England Queen Emma was used for the training and exercise of Special Forces in Scotland.^[2]

In late 1941 she was selected to join the forces gathered at Freetown, Sierra Leone, for Operation Pilgrim, the planned occupation of the Canary Islands, if either the Spanish or the Germans captured Gibraltar. After maintenance at Glasgow Queen Emma sailed to Freetown, arriving on 5 October 1941. However, it soon became clear that Franco did not plan to join the Axis, nor was he prepared to allow the German troops free passage through Spain to attack Gibraltar, and the operation was cancelled.^[2]

On 4 November 1941 the British navy tanker RFA Olwen reported that she had been attacked by a German raider, between Natal, Brazil and Freetown. Queen Emmawas one of the ships sent to search. No German raider was found and the Admiralty assumed that a German U-boat had shot at the tanker. However, on 22 November the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis was sunk by the British cruiser Devonshire in the southern Atlantic close to Ascension Island, and on 1 December the cruiser Dorsetshire sank the German supply ship Python in the same area. Almost all the crews from both ships were taken aboard German and Italian submarines. The British feared that the Germans would try to land on Ascension and overwhelm the tiny garrison. Queen Emma was hurriedly loaded with troops and set sail. However, while en route it was learned that the German crewmen were on their way to Bordeaux and the ship was recalled.^[2]

On 14 February 1942 Queen Emma left Freetown, and returned to England for refitting, after which she was reclassified as a Landing Ship, Infantry (Medium).^[2]

In April 1942 Queen Emma was selected to take part in a raid on the French coast at Dieppe. On the evening of 18 August 1942 a fleet of more than 200 ships sailed across the Channel. Queen Emma and the former Belgian ship Princess Astrid landed men of the Royal Regiment of Canada on "Blue Beach" to the east of Dieppe at Puys. However, the raid was not a success, and the losses were high.^[2]

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In January 1946 the ship was ordered to return to England, arriving at Portsmouth on 6 March 1946. The landing craft, weapons, and other military equipment was removed and on 29 April 1946 the Queen Emma arrived back in her home port of Vlissingen after an absence of six years to be handed back to the Dutch Government. The ship was officially returned to SMZ in early March 1946 and resumed her original name MS Koningin Emma.^[2]

Post-war shortages of materials and labour meant that it was 5 March 1948 before Koningin Emma could return to service, sailing for the first time to Harwich from the Hook of Holland. She remained in service on the same route until 1968, when she was replaced by a new generation of roll-on/roll-off ships. The thirty-year-old Koningin Emma was taken out of service and sold for scrap just before the year's end in Antwerp.^[2]