The European war was only a few days old on September 8, 1939, but the belligerent nations had already been busy sewing mines in the waters around Europe. Neutral nations also laid mines in defense of their own ports. One of these fields was laid by the Dutch in the North Sea off Terschelling Island. However fate has a strange way of playing things out. On that day the Dutch minefield was entered by HNLMS Willem van Ewijck, one of a nine ship class, built in 1937. She struck one of the mines laid earlier and sank taking about thirty men with her. There were about twenty survivors who were picked up by several small craft and a seaplane.
That was not the only ship lost to a mine that day, the Germans lost two of their own. Both ships, coastal steamers, went down in the Baltic Sea. One, the 727 ton Helfrid Bissmarck, not far from Møns Klint, Denmark. The other, Helga Schroder, went down off Marstel, Denmark. Both of these ships were sunk by German mines laid on Sept. 4th.
Being able to inform friendly forces where the minefields were was difficult in the early days of the war, and would continue for all sides until long after the wars end. As recent as 2009 German mines, still active, were found by the Swedish. However it is ironic that the first three ships sunk by mines in the Second World War did not sink an enemy ship, but ships of the nations that laid the mines. The Greek steamer Kosti had been damaged on the same minefield on Sept. 4th, but was towed to port. |
