The wooden minesweeper ‘M477 Oudenaarde’, currently moored at the Antwerp Dry Dock Site, has been protected as a monument by Flanders. Some volunteers, including former crew members, have restored the unique minesweeper to its original state.
During a ceremony at the Antwerp Dry Dock Site, Flemish Minister of Immovable Heritage Matthias Diependaele announced that the wooden shallow-water minesweeper ‘M477 Oudenaarde’ will be protected as a monument. This is a provisional protected status pending a public enquiry that could then lead to a final protection.
“The ‘M477 Oudenaarde’ is the last surviving wooden minesweeper of its kind. All other examples have been completely rebuilt or completely scrapped,” Martin Ferket, director of the private foundation Maritime Patrimony (MPM), told IANS. “The minesweeper belongs to the Herstal-class river minesweepers of which 16 were built shortly after World War II. The task of those ships was to defuse mines in shallow water, including on the Zeeschelde, in ports and along the coast.”
Kruibeke shipyard
“The ship is significant because it was built together with four other ships in 1958-1959 at the Mercantile Marine Yard in Kruibeke,” says Ferket. “On board the ship there were 14 crew members: two officers (commander and first lieutenant), five non-commissioned officers and seven sailors. Often novice naval officers were given their own command on such a minesweeper after a few years of sailing. Those young men were then very proud when they performed from Ostend for the first time as commanders in front of their families who came to wave them off.” This was also how Admiral Jan De Beurme took his first steps in the navy on the ‘M477 Oudenaarde’.
“I myself also did my army service on the ‘Oudenaarde’, which incidentally was a Dutch-speaking ship. And I am glad the ship cannot talk,” laughs Martin Ferket. “I was on board for almost a year. We covered a lot of nautical miles on it and had a lot of adventures on it. I was also well sick a few times…”
On loan
“M477 Oudenaarde” sailed until 1985 and was decommissioned in 1987. In 1988, it was given on loan by the navy to the City of Antwerp and it was given a place under a hangar near Het Steen,” he says. “The navy did look strange when the loan expired in 2018 and they got their hands on the ship again. They were dumbfounded that they once again had an (old) minesweeper in their possession.”
As the ship was still in good condition, the navy decided to keep it and sold it to Maritime Patrimony (MPM) for one euro. That private foundation was created in 2018 on the initiative of the late Jean-Jacques Westerlund (who was also president of the umbrella association Water Heritage Flanders) to save valuable sailing maritime heritage from demolition or neglect. As of 2018, MPM could thus call itself owner of the historic minesweeper ‘Oudenaarde’. The handover of the ship by the Belgian Navy was in honour of the lamented Jean-Jacques Westerlund. His daughter was given the ship’s bell.
Lyceum helps
Due to renovation works on Steenplein and the quay walls, the ship moved to the Droogdokkensite in 2018 at the city’s expense. There it can now be visited. “Sind 2018, we meet there every Tuesday with some volunteers to maintain the ship,” he says. “Every first Saturday of the month, the minesweeper can also be visited. That way, we hope to raise some pennies, because maintenance costs a lot of money. Thanks to this recognition as heritage, we can recover 40% from the Flemish Community.”
“We work with many volunteers, but we also get help from pupils of the Stedelijk Lyceum Eilandje in Antwerp. The pupils of the Lyceum’s ‘class 6 wood’ committed to renovating and rebuilding the wooden compartments of the ship: the base of the compass, the stairs, walls, and so on. They are all polite and friendly young people who all helped willingly. Surely that is not so obvious today either,” Ferket concludes.
