[BITList] Great Sea Story

[FA]

                    *Sometimes in life, the guy with the
                    so-crazy-it-just-might-work ideas hits one out of
                    the park and saves the day. This is what happened in
                    1942 aboard the HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, the last
                    Dutch warship standing after the **Battle of the
                    Java Sea
                    <http://thediplomat.com/2013/03/history-lesson-the-battle-of-java-sea/>.*


                            *Originally planning to escape to Australia
                            with three other warships, the then-stranded
                            minesweeper had to make the voyage alone and
                            unprotected. The slow-moving vessel could
                            only get up to about *
                            *15 knots
                            <http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-abraham-crijnssen>**and
                            had very few guns, boasting only a **single
                            3-inch gun and two Oerlikon 20 mm canons
                            <http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-abraham-crijnssen>**making
                            it a*
                            *sitting duck for the Japanese bombers that
                            circled above.*
                            *Knowing their only chance of survival was
                            to make it to the Allies Down Under, the
                            Crijnssen's 45 crew members frantically
                            brainstormed ways to make the retreat
                            undetected. The winning idea? Turn the ship
                            into an island.*
                            *You can almost hear crazy-idea guy
                            anticipating his shipmates' reluctance: Now
                            guys, just hear me out. But lucky for him,
                            the Abraham Crijnessen was strapped for
                            time, resources and alternative means of
                            escape, automatically making the island idea
                            the best idea. Now it was time to put the
                            plan into action.*
                            *HNLMS_Abraham_Crijnssen_Covered_In_Branches*
                            *The crew went ashore to nearby islands and
                            cut down as many trees as they could lug
                            back onto the deck. Then the timber was
                            arranged to **look like a jungle canopy
                            <http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-abraham-crijnssen>**,
                            covering as much square footage as possible.
                            Any leftover parts of the ship were painted
                            to look like rocks and cliff faces these
                            guys weren't messing around.*
                            *HRMS_Abraham_Crijnssen_disguised_as_a_tropical_island*
                            *Now, a camouflaged ship in deep trouble is
                            better than a completely exposed ship. But
                            there was still the problem of the Japanese
                            noticing a mysterious moving island and
                            wondering what would happen if they shot at
                            it. Because of this, the crew figured the
                            best means of convincing the Axis powers
                            that they were an island was to truly be an
                            island: by not moving at all during daylight
                            hours.*
                            *While the sun was up they would anchor the
                            ship near other islands, then cover as much
                            ocean as they could once night fell praying
                            the Japanese wouldn't notice a disappearing
                            and reappearing island amongst the nearly
                            **18,000 existing islands
                            <http://www.mapsofworld.com/indonesia/facts.html>**in
                            Indonesia. And, as luck would have it, they
                            didn't.*
                            *The Crijnssen managed to go undetected by
                            Japanese planes and avoid the destroyer that
                            sank the other Dutch warships, surviving the
                            eight-day journey to Australia and reuniting
                            with Allied forces.*

                    ***Sometimes in life, the guy with the
                    so-crazy-it-just-might-work ideas hits one out of
                    the park and saves the day. This is what happened in
                    1942 aboard the HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, the last
                    Dutch warship standing after the **Battle of the
                    Java Sea
                    <http://thediplomat.com/2013/03/history-lesson-the-battle-of-java-sea/>*


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