User:Motacilla/Village

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Building
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Career with CGT
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Career with CGSA
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Loss
During a heavy storm she lost the tow and wrecked at Texel. The empty ship, without cargo and fuel, was thrown high onto the beach. All 13 people onboard were rescued.

As the heavy ship was so high on the beach, the question was what to do with it. The municipality even considered purchasing the ship and using it as a tourist attraction. Despite the low value of the ship, a salvage contract was arranged. Company named Dros made a "no cure no pay" contract to salvage the ship.

The tugboats Dolfijn and Cycloop attached cables of 600 m to the stern and were anchored in the sea. With heavy pulleys they managed to move the ship towards the sea, but only 2 m. In the meantime, after weeks of struggle, they managed to repair the engine and so the pumps and screws could work again. With the screws it was possible to dig a deep hole in the sand. The pumps moved water from one tank to another, for balancing the ship. This was important because there was a risk that the ship would break. During stormy weather, the holds were pumped full of water to prevent the ship from getting higher on the beach again.

Over half a year later, at the beginning of June 1924 the ship had been pulled 50 m towards the sea. On 4 June five tugboats tried to refloat the ship. A huge crowd of people came to the beach to see it happen. However the rope of Cycloop broke twice and the attempt failed. On 6 June, without an audience, they managed to refloat the ship. The ship was then escorted to Nieuwediep.