Trevessa
The typical ship Warturm
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The Trevessa (built as a beekeeping tower ) was a cargo ship that became famous for its sinking on the south coast of Mauritius in 1923.
The ship
The bee tower of the German Steamship Company “Hansa” (DDG “Hansa”), completed in 1909, was the third ship of the Warturm class that had been in service with the shipping company since 1908.
During the First World War , the ship was interned in Surabaja by the Dutch in 1914 and handed over to Great Britain by the Netherlands in 1919. The new owner was the Hain Steamship Co., which renamed the ship Trevessa.
The shipwreck
In 1923 the ship from Fremantle in Australia was on its way to South Africa with a cargo of zinc concentrate. About 1,700 miles from Mauritius, the Trevessa sank on June 4, 1923 in the open sea after being damaged by rough seas. The crew went on board the two lifeboats and tried to get to a safe shore. The first boat had room for 20 sailors under the command of Messrs. Foster and the second for 25 sailors under the command of Captain Smith. After 5 hours they lost visual contact with each other.
There was only little food and especially water on board, so that thirst soon spread and the first people died of thirst.
As if by a miracle, Foster drove the boat to the coast of Rodrigues Island after 22 days . Three sailors were dead, the others could be saved. After 25 days, Smith's boat also reached land. They ended up in Mauritius at Bel Ombre . This boat lost 9 lives (later another sailor died on land). Despite tough rationing, the supplies were completely exhausted. Only one bread was left. It is now in the History and Naval Museum in Mahébourg . Those rescued were in poor condition and were nursed to health in the Port Louis hospital . Then the sailors returned to Australia.
The commemoration
The rescue of the sailors resulted in extensive coverage and was an important event in Mauritius. The island's bishop, Golding Bird, visited the rescued. In Bel Ombre, the director of the local sugar plantation, James Albert Wilson, in whose house the sailors had initially stayed, suggested that a memorial stone be placed. It was placed at the end of the beach near the St. Martin cemetery and inaugurated by the island's governor, Sir Herbert Read . The monument was later placed under monument protection. In 1955 Fritz-Otto Busch published a book about the shipwreck of the Trevessa .
See also
literature
- Jean Pierre Lenoir: Bel Ombre, entre mer et montagne, 2011, pp. 81–83
- Fritz-Otto Busch : The shipwreck of the "Trevessa". British cargo steamer "Trevessa", Munich 1955.