In a letter published in this newspaper an anonymous Dutch navy officer described the miserable condition of the Dutch warships serving at that moment in the Dutch East Indies. He was quite cynical in his comment dealing with the condition of the ships ending with the phrase Happy Indies! Happy Navy! Poor Netherlands!
The Zr.Ms. Ardjoeno could not longer go to sea without an escort. Her main task was the defence of Macassar and Celebes in the Dutch East Indies.(1)
Note
1. Steam warship, on stocks at Amsterdam, Netherlands 4 February 1849 as Pluto, launched on 1 or 2 September 1849, renamed Ardjoeno in December 1849, engines manufactured by the N.S.M. (decided 26 August 1847 for ƒ 210.979,00 to deliver on 15 March 1849), trial on 28 April 1850, departed on 28 December 1850 towards the Dutch East Indies, arrived there on 26 May 1851, stricken 1873, dimensions 56,00 x 10,70 x 4,80 metres, displacement 1.486 tons and a horsepower of 300 hp.
