HNLMS Moera Boelian

History
Netherlands
Name	Moeara Boelian
Builder	Tandjong Priok Drydock Co., Tanjung Priok
Launched	1930
Commissioned	1930 as MV Moeara Boelian
Out of service	2 March 1942
Fate	Scuttled by own crew
General characteristics
Type	Auxiliary, Tanker
Displacement	194 t (191 long tons) standard Empty load
Length	33.7 m (110 ft 7 in)
Beam	6.4 m (21 ft 0 in)
Draught	2.1 m (6 ft 11 in)
Installed power	120  hp (89 kW)
Propulsion	1 x Kromhout diesel engine
Speed	9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) normal

MV Moeara Boelian was a small merchant tanker. It was one of many commercial ships used as tankers for the Government Navy and later the Royal Netherlands Navy due to the lack of a dedicated tanker. ^{[1] [2]}

Service history

From 1930 to the start of the war in the Pacific in 1941, Moeara Boelian was one of many tankers serving in the Netherlands East Indies to transport oil from the many drill sites. After the defeat of the Allies at the Battle of the Java Sea by the Imperial Japanese Navy, Moeara Boelian was trapped in Surabaya harbor. Unable to flee, the ship was scuttled by its own crew on 6 March 1942. ^{[1] [3]}

After the end of World War II, the ship did not go back to the Netherlands and was instead given to the Soviet Union as a war reprisal. It was eventually renamed Polyarnik and served with the Soviet Pacific Fleet. It was decommissioned sometime after 1985 and was stricken on 1987 or 1990 depending on the source.

References

1. Mark, Chris (1997). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II. Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 978-90-6013-522-8.
2. von Münching, L. L. (1978). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in de tweede wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Alkmaar: Alk. ISBN   978-90-6013-903-5.
3. Helfrich, Conrad Emile Lambert (1950). Memoires van Admiraal Helfrich Amsterdam: Elsevier.