© 2007-2010 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
Revision 3
1929:
Surabaya. Laid down at the Marine-Etablissement.
1930:
Launched and named FAZANT (Pheasant).
1931:
Completed as a patrol boat.
1931-1939:
Dutch East Indies. GM ss (Gouvernements stoomschip) patrol boat FAZANT is assigned to the Dutch civil navy. [1]
24 August 1939:
Following ever-rising tensions in Europe, the Dutch Army in the Netherlands starts its pre-mobilization.
30 August 1939:
GM ships FAZANT, SIRIUS and REIGER are earmarked for service as aircraft tenders and are so equipped at Surabaya.
1 September 1939: World War II Begins:
Following the mobilization in the Netherlands, Governor-General Alidius W. L. Tjarda van Starkenborgh-Stachouwer decides to militarize the GM and it becomes a part of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN). The patrol boats are put under the RNN's East Indies Squadron.
2 September 1939:
The GM ships' new status is activated. This does not mean every GM ship is now under military orders, but FAZANT is one that is; she becomes Hr.Ms. FAZANT.
6 September 1939:
Hr.Ms. FAZANT and six of the larger patrol boats are converted and assigned to the MLD as seaplane tenders. FAZANT is assigned to the Eskadercommandant. [2][3]
25 September 1939:
The CO GM is notified that FAZANT, AREND, MEREL, BELLATRIX, VALK, GEMMA, CASTOR, SIRIUS, REIGER, ZUIDERKRUIS, RIGEL and TYDEMAN are the only GM ships to receive orders from military authorities.
17 February 1942:
Sumatra. Palembang falls to the Japanese, who now march on Oosthaven at the island's southernmost tip. To prevent infiltration by light vessels the Sunda Straits Auxiliary Patrol is instigated. At first, it consists of five RNN auxiliary patrol vessels and Singapore escapees: HMS WO KWANG, HMS RAHMAN, HMS GEMAS, HMS JARAM and HMS SIN AIK LEE. These are coal burners and problems soon arise about their fuel supply.
19 February 1942:
Hr.Ms. FAZANT, BELLATRIX, SIRIUS, REIGER and MEREL are assigned to anti-infiltration patrols in the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java. These units are commanded by KLTZ Jonkheer J. F. W. de Jong van Beek en Donk. They patrol at night and are at anchor during the day near Merak or in the western part of Bantam Bay.
22 February 1942:
The British coal-burners are replaced by Australian Captain G. L. Cant's 21st Auxiliary Minesweeping Group's brand-new corvettes HMAS MARYBOROUGH, BENDIGO, BALLARAT and BURNIE.
27 February 1942:
FAZANT and SIRIUS are at Merak harbor with many other ships including the four Australian corvettes and gunboat Hr.Ms. SOEMBA. The latter is the largest ship and becomes the focus of aerial attacks by bombers, which attack three at a time, but none of the ships are hit. That same day, corvettes HMAS TOOWOOMBA and GOULBURN arrive as reinforcements. That night, gunboat SOEMBA goes to Veeckens Bay to refuel from tanker TAN-8. Later, SOEMBA escorts the tanker to Colombo, Ceylon.
28 February 1942:
The Japanese start landing at the Bantam Bay and near Merak harbor at the Northeastern entrance to Sunda Strait. Jonkheer de Jong van Beek en Donk receives an order for those of his ships still are at sea to sail for Tandjong Priok. FAZANT and MEREL witness the fight between USS HOUSTON and HMAS PERTH and the Japanese invasion covering force. The Dutch ships witness the loss of the Allied cruisers. They cease their assigned patrol and miraculously succeed in reaching Tandjong Priok. [4]
1 March 1942:
Tandjong Priok (near Batavia (now Jakarta), Java. Luitenant-ter-zee 1e klasse (LtCdr) Frederik Jacob Keizer's
FAZANT is scuttled by her crew as a blockship in the harbor.
8 March 1942:
Bandung. Governor General Tjarda van Starkenborgh-Stachouwer surrenders the Dutch East Indies. FAZANT’s hulk comes under Japanese control. Lt Keizer later dies in Semarang (Bangkong PW camp) on 23 April 1945.
31 July 1944:
Raised, refloated and towed to Surabaya. Undergoes repairs by the IJN's No. 102 Repair Station.
15 October 1944:
Registered in the IJN as Patrol Boat PB-109. Attached to the Maizuru Naval District. Assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet's Second Southern Expeditionary Fleet at Surabaya. Undergoes repairs at IJN's No. 102 Repair Station.
10 December 1944:
Planned end of repairs.
30 April 1945:
Work is actually completed.
2 August 1945:
PB-109 departs Batavia (Jakarta) for Singapore with an unidentified escort escorting a convoy consisting of cargo vessels FUYO and TENCHO MARUs and repair ship SEIHA MARU No. 2.
3 August 1945:
About 1730, British submarines HMS TRUMP and HMS TIPTOE attack the convoy. LtCdr A. A. Catlow's HMS TRUMP fires eight torpedoes at TENCHO MARU, but they all miss or are evaded. At 1850, LtCdr R. L. Jay's HMS TIPTOE torpedoes and sinks TENCHO MARU at 03-07S, 107-02E near Billiton Island.
Later that day, the convoy arrives at Singapore.
September 1945:
Batavia. PB-109 is surrendered to British forces.
21 April 1946:
Ceded to the Netherlands as a war reparation.
5 March 1947:
Discarded by the Royal Netherlands Navy.
1949:
Sovereignty of the former East Indies is transferred to the Indonesian Government, as is FAZANT.
1951:
Following temporary repairs, FAZANT sails for Surabaya. Her old Deutz diesel engine is replaced by a new, direct-reversable Werkspoor engine. FAZANT becomes the Presidential vessel for President Sukarno and is renamed KARTIKA.
1954:
KARTIKA is decommissioned and scrapped.
Authors Notes:
[1] GM ss (Gouvernements stoomschip). The Dutch civil navy, tasked with transport of government goods, charting sealanes and countering piracy, was militarized in September 1939 and became a part of the RNN as the GGM (Gemilitariseerde Gouvernementsmarine - Militarised Government Navy Force).
[2] The Eskadercommandant is the CO of the Netherlands East Indies Seagoing Squadron which normally included the bulk of the Dutch surface fleet. Since 7 December 1937, the Eskadercommandant was schout-bij-nacht (Rear Admiral) G.W. Stöve, predecessor of Rear Admiral Karel W. F. M. Doorman, who took over on 17 June 1940.
[3] MLD=Marine Luchtvaart Dienst (Naval Service).
[4] Dutch sources vary about which ships witnessed the fight of USS HOUSTON and HMAS PERTH. Some say it was FAZANT and MEREL, others say REIGER and MEREL and still others say BELLATRIX, REIGER and MEREL.
Special thanks go to Mr. Aldert Gritter ("Admiral Gurita") of the Netherlands for his assistance and hard work in producing this TROM. We are also indebted to Ms. Anita M. C. van Dissel of the Dutch Institute for Military History (Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie) for her assistance.
Photo credit goes to Jan Klootwijk of the Netherlands via Tom Womack's "The Dutch Naval Force Against Japan: The Defense of the Netherlands East Indies, 1941-1942."
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.
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