The rescue of the Turbo

Showpiece

This beautiful painting, made in 1930 by H.A. Jaarsma, is one of the showpieces of the National Lifeboat Rescue Museum. Haaike Abraham Jaarsma is a well-known painter of maritime scenes from Den Helder in the Netherlands. He painted the story of the legendary rescue of the crew of the English steamship called Turbo.

Difficult rescue

On January 6, 1908, this steamship was stranded by a storm on the ‘Zuiderhaaks’ off the coast of Den Helder. The ship was carrying petroleum from Batoum to Hamburg. The Turbo broke in half through a huge sea of land. The rowing rescue boat from Nieuwediep station was towed to the two wreckage by the tugboat Atlas. Skipper Dorus Rijkers and his crew made two difficult rescue trips to the ship. On the second trip on January 7, skipper Janus Kuiper's Huisduiner rescue vessel was also taken along. After a lot of effort, the Nieuwedieper lifeboat and the tugboat Hercules finally rescued 33 people from the Turbo.