Lieutenant-Admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich (11 October 1886 – 20 September 1962) was

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

officer who served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

World War II

Helfrich was appointed overall commander of all forces in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

in October 1939. At the outbreak of the war in the Pacific he gave instructions to wage war aggressively. His small force of

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s sank more Japanese ships in the first weeks of the war than the British and American navies combined, an exploit which earned him the nickname "Ship-a-day Helfrich". Admiral Helfrich worked tirelessly to establish co-operation with the Allied navies in the area since he knew that the Dutch could not hope to protect the Dutch East Indies by themselves.

Java Sea

When a combined command ( ABDA) was finally created in January 1942, he was bypassed for the post of commander of the navy, in favour of Admiral Thomas C. Hart of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Helfrich's mission to defend

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

at all costs clashed with Hart's desire to conserve as many naval units as possible. On 12 February 1942, Helfrich succeeded Hart as commander of the American–British–Dutch–Australian naval forces in the Pacific and immediately went on the offensive. The courage of the "Striking Force" was to no avail in the face of the overwhelming superiority of the Japanese navy and after the disastrous Battle of the Java Sea, most of the ABDA ships under his command had been put out of action and ABDA itself was dismantled. Helfrich spent the remainder of the war in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

preparing the return of Dutch administration to the Dutch East Indies.

Japanese surrender

In 1945, he was given command of all Dutch naval forces and promoted to lieutenant admiral. On 2 September 1945, he signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the battleship on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Helfrich returned to the Dutch East Indies on 1 October 1945, where he commanded the Dutch forces in the Dutch East Indies until 24 January 1946 when the post of commander of the armed forces in the East was abolished. During that time, Commander Helfrich had to deal with the Indonesian struggle for independence. He was a fierce opponent of compromising with

Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

and, supported by Chief of the General Staff Hendrik Johan Kruls, he objected to the Linggarjati Agreement of 15 December 1946, but without effect. He remained in command until his retirement from the navy on 1 January 1949. He wrote his memoirs which were published in 1950 and he died in The Hague, on 20 September 1962.

Honours and awards

For his services during the World War, Helfrich received several awards. He was Commander of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

with Swords, Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

, Honorary

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(UK) and awarded the Silver Cross (5th grade) of the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

(Poland). He had also received the Expedition Cross.

Notes

References

External links

"World Battlefronts: Home Is The Sailor"
'' Time (magazine), Time''. March 9, 1942. {{DEFAULTSORT:Helfrich, Conrad Emil Lambert 1886 births 1962 deaths People from Semarang Royal Netherlands Navy admirals Admirals of World War II Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Navy Royal Netherlands Navy personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Dutch military personnel of the Indonesian National Revolution Dutch people of the Dutch East Indies