The Captain of the Air Chooses the Water
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The Captain of the Air Chooses the Water
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There was an interesting thing about Jim that becomes apparent as one examines the record of his adventures and talks with his family - If he was not in the cockpit, Jim really didn't like to fly. 30,000 + hours at the controls or not - it was a fact.
At every chance where it was possible, he would choose his true love - the train - to go hither & yon even if he could have easily hopped a flight from somewhere and dead head to his destination. Jim's photo albums are full of snapshots from wherever he went of the odd little trains or the behemoths of the rail. His love of the railroad, and especially that of the great steam engines, never left him.
Or, he would board a freighter and sail to where he needed to go - perhaps an odd choice for someone who couldn't swim. Never-the-less Jim chose this mode of transportation often.
Jim's Indonesian Air Force contract was up on February 22, 1954 and it was time to return home with his three souvenirs of the Far East. Since Jim's family had not yet met Sally and his daughters plus his connections with Douglas were still intact and a position was waiting for him, this was an excellent moment to say farewell to the Far East and introduce this family to their new homeland.
So, naturally, a captain of the airways would select a 7 week voyage on the Dutch freighter MS Weltevreden to arrive at New York City instead of a two or three day flight to Des Moines to see the relatives before going to Long Beach and Douglas. Therefore, the Harpers reunited in Singapore and boarded Weltevreden on April 15, 1954 and set off for New York City via the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean, the Strait of Gibraltar and the North Atlantic.
Jim recorded this adventure in his flight log.
The path of the voyage
Images of the Passage
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A stop in New York City, a car rental, a road trip and a new home in Long Beach, CA. delivers Jim, once again, into the sphere of the home of Douglas Aircraft.
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Weltevreden was launched in 1937 by Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd, and in addition to the intended activities of commerce, she served Allied supply and troop transport duty in the Pacific during WWII. She was one of 105 foreign flagged merchant ships obtained through the Ship Requisition Act of 1941 that operated under the US War Shipping Administration. This group of ships sustained nearly 50% losses during the war.
Welteverden was scrapped at Bruges, Belgium in 1963.
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Below is an image of the new boat named in honor of this Dutch merchant marine vessel and the 1954 passage of the Harper family aboard her ......
SV Weltevreden II of the home port of Berwick, IA - christened in 2008
Currently located - Placencia, Belize C.A.
Weltevreden is Dutch for 'well pleased'