34. A Hair-Raising Journey to Safety
The Abraham Crijnssen’s flight was an agonizingly slow and terrifying ordeal. The crew spent the daylight hours at anchor, hoping and praying that their ship’s camouflage would hold up, and avert detection by the numerous Japanese ships and airplanes crisscrossing the Java Sea. Once the sun went down and the tropical night descended, the small vessel pulled anchor and resumed her journey to safety.
As the ship inched her way towards Australia, the crew prayed that the sounds of the Crijnssen’s engines would not attract the attention of nearby enemy ships or watchers. Luck was with the plucky Dutch minesweeper. After one of the more hair-raising journeys of WWII, which lasted for eight frightful days, she finally reached safety. On March 20th, 1942, the Crijnssen arrived in Freemantle, Western Australia.