Maritime record MWX2023 - Binnendijk

The BINNENDIJK, having received radio instructions to change course and enter Weymouth Bay, a contraband port, for examination, detonated a mine the explosion of which put her radio equipment out of action. Distress rockets were therefore sent up and three rescue ships came out in 15 minutes, taking off 14 officers and 28 men, the ship now being on fire which later sank blazing from stem to stern. There was no need for the ship to launch any of her own boats and everyone had time to collect their personal belongings. She sank at 2pm. the day after the explosion. She was carrying 1000 tons of cargo. Arriving on the scene in forty minutes they found the Dutch steamship BINNEDIJK a large freighter bound from New York to Rotterdam, in a sinking state, but her crew 41 had already been rescued by a naval examination vessel. The lifeboat was asked to stand by in case salvage should be attempted, but the steamship sank within a few hours.(5)

The BINNENDIJK was built in 1921 by N V Werf de Noord. She had a 648 Hp engine and was screw driven, SS turbine x 3 Owner: Nederl-Amerik Stoomv. Maats Construction: Ship had three steam turbines coupled to a single shaft; 2 x decks; Machinery was supplied by Harland and Wolff, Belfast. (2)

Survey History:
10-OCT-1942 Located in position 254 deg. General depth 84 feet.

07-MAR-1947 Dispersed. Drift swept. Clear at 46 feet. 14-SEP-1949 Position 074.5 Deg Portland lighthouse, 4.82 Miles. Drift swept - clear at 52 feet, foul at 53 feet. Lies 070/250 deg. Length 500 feet. Lies in 13fathoms.

07-JUN-1952 Salvage operations in progress. 08-AUG-1952 Salvage operations discontinued.

10-AUG-1988 Stands up to 6m high in 50 32 04N, 02 20 00W. Lies N/S.

15-NOV-1990 Least echo sounder depth 17.3 in general depth 25.6M. No scour. Height 3m. Main wreckage dimensions about 120 x 30m, orientated 070/250 deg. (1) A porthole has been recovered from this site, position 50 32.11N 002 20.02W. (Droit A/317) A 4 brass door hinge recovered from this wreck, Position 50 32.11N 002 20.01W.(Droit A/539) A porthole recovered from this wreck in Weymouth Bay.(Droit A/709)

Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index: LR.1939-40 No.20933(B);

Gross tonnage

<1> United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1992, Hydrographic Office wreck index (Index). SWX4837.

<2> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23 November 1992 (Index). SWX5030.

<3> Hocking, Charles, 1990, Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam, p85 (Monograph). SWX4536.

<4> 1989, Lloyds war losses: the Second World War 3 September-14 August 1945, p13 (Index). SWX4997.

<5> Farr, Grahame, 1971, Wreck and rescue on the Dorset coast, p56 (Monograph). SWX1056.

<6> Receiver of Wreck, Droit of the Receiver of Wreck A/0709 (Unpublished document). SWX315.

<7> Receiver of Wreck, Droit of the Receiver of Wreck A/0317 (Unpublished document). SWX249.

<8> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<9> Receiver of Wreck, Droit of the Receiver of Wreck 214/01 (Unpublished document). SWX70.

<10> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 060 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<11> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 13/14 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 904630 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 14 2023 7:46PM