Dutch WW II video with shots of US destroyers

[GlueIt]

Hello fellow members,

I found this video from 1943 on the internet with shots in them of two Benson class destroyers leaving the port of Willemstad (Dutch Antilles).

Here is the link:
Webspecials | Ministerie van Defensie

Go to the video which says: De motortorpedodienst in Curaçao, 1943

There are also shots of dutch MTB's.

Enjoy

Ron.

[Don Boose]

This is a good find with lots to see, in addition to wartime Willemstad.

Near the beginning are scenes of a U.S. escort carreir (CVE) in what appears to be Measure 33, which would date the film as later than March 1943, when that scheme was instituted. I cannot read a hull number.

There is also a convoy with a number of interesting merchant ships, U.S. Navy motor minesweeper YMS-56 with a vertical white stripe amidships, and a Dutch trawler.

The two destroyers are DD-425 (USS Madison) and DD-426 (USS Landale) in Measure 22 and still mounting five 5-inch guns. Lansdale had distinct dark gray or black canvas covering the railing above the bridge and had the Number 3 5-inch gun removed sometime prior to 22 October 1943. So the film must have been made between March and October 1943, probably in the summer.

The Dutch motor torpedo boat, TM22, was one of a class of Scott-Payne MTBs built for the Dutch by Canadian Power Boat of Montreal (TM-22 class MTB).

My sources for the information on the CVE camouflage, YMS-56, and the two destroyers are:

Al Adcock, Don Greer, David Gebhardt, and Darren Glenn, US Destroyers in Action, Part 3, Warships Number 21, Carrollton, TX: Squadron Signal, 2004, pp. 22-24.

James C. Fahey, The Ships and Aircraft of the United States Fleet, Victory Edition, New York: Ships and Aircraft Press, 1945, pp. 23, 39.

United States Navy Camouflage of the WW2 Era, Philadelphia: Floating Drydock, 1976, pp. 17, 19-23.

Thanks for bringing this film to our attention. I am sure that others will find much more of interest, and may be able to identify the jeep carrier.

Don