A fishing boat with a Second World War secret
Some reading this will know why this story struck a chord with me. A 34-foot wooden fishing boat named Thor, which was used to help Jews out of Denmark during World War II, will soon be on display at the Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.
After Denmark was invaded by Germany in 1940, the Danish government resisted any anti-Jewish laws. But in the fall of 1943, the Germans announced that all Danish Jews would be deported. Over the next couple of days, the Danish resistance movement, with the help of Danish citizens, managed to evacuate 7,220 Jewish people, plus 686 non-Jewish spouses, to nearby neutral Sweden by boat.
Thor was one of the boats used in that effort. Instrumental in finding and recovering Thor were two Tampa Bay residents, Margot Benstock and Irene Weiss. Both women’s parents escaped Denmark by boat and believe bringing the vessel to Florida would provide a chance for younger generations to feel empowerment and optimism.
Those being snuck out of Denmark during WWII would hide below deck to escape the Nazis. Weiss recalls her father telling her they put fish over him, “to disguise what they were doing,” she said to Bay News 9.
It is great to see this vessel will be restored and kept for future generations. What a remarkable story and one I am very happy to share.
‘Simple wiring error’ led to collision between two Royal Navy warships in Bahrain
Forgive me, but this story is just ‘nuts’, hugely embarrassing for those concerned, and raises several questions. I understand the Royal Navy has launched an investigation after one of its minesweepers collided with another of the fleet in Bahrain. The excuse is that a wiring error inadvertently sent the vessel into reverse.
Yes, it seems that military sources have confirmed faulty rewiring was the cause of this avoidable accident. I have seen the video. It shows the minehunter HMS Chiddingfold moving in reverse and crashing into HMS Bangor. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported, although there is a sizeable hole above the waterline requiring attention. So, to reiterate, naval sources said they believed the cause of the accident was a simple rewiring error in a recently inspected vessel. Well, that’s good then. My questions are. Who did the inspection and were they competent to do so? Why was the rewiring not done correctly? What are the repercussions for the personnel responsible? I am sure we will never know the answers, but it smacks of incompetence in my opinion.
Diesel heaters impounded at the Port of Felixstowe
I am most grateful to my good friend, Geoff Waddington, for whom cheap imported diesel heaters became something of an obsession a couple of years back, for spotting and sharing this news story. Click here to read his original article.
Geoff and I were both delighted to read that the Suffolk Trading Standards Imports Surveillance Team has detained 973 diesel heaters at the Port of Felixstowe. All seized products were found to be unsafe, with listings for all sellers removed from a well-known website. Consignments arrived at the Port in October and November 2023 and were stopped by the team, with samples sent to a test house for assessment. Each of the products did not meet the requirements of the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 because they could present the hazards of fire and death due to poor supporting installation information.
Manuals supplied with the products failed to give measurements for installation, and did not give the minimum distance the exhaust pipe can be installed from flammable material, or material that could give off poisonous fumes when heated, such as insulation material. No warning was provided about heat and dangers to the user if installed incorrectly. Large parts of the manuals were written in poor English and had incorrect words used. The intended meaning was, in some cases, difficult to understand.
Additionally, the products and instructions did not have the name and address of the importer or manufacturer and did not include the required Declaration of Conformity (DoC). A DoC is a formal declaration by a manufacturer, or the manufacturer’s representative, that the product to which it applies meets all relevant requirements of all product safety directives applicable to that product.
It seems the word is finally getting out and this makes Geoff and I very happy!
Until the next time.
Mike Schwarz
