The Kriegsmarine

The former naval port of Hellevoetsluis and part of
the were immediately put into use by the German Kriegsmarine in the summer of 1940. Soon boats from the so-called Danube flotilla arrived, which had the task of protecting the inland waterways of Zeeland and South Holland and also clearing mines.

Later in the war, the Maas and Rhine flotillas were moored here, which also protected the ferry connections between Hellevoetsluis and Goeree-Overflakkee and Schouwen-Duiveland, and the convoy sailed on the inland waterways between, for example, Dordrecht and Antwerp. The flotillas consisted largely of seized fishing vessels, police vessels and coasters. Anti-aircraft guns were also placed on the ships because Allied planes regularly came to lay mines and also attacked the ships.

From the autumn of 1944, the Kriegsmarine deployed the Biber, a one-man mini submarine with two torpedoes or mines attached to the side, from Hellevoetsluis against Allied shipping on the Western Scheldt. The Linsen speedboats, loaded with 300 kg of explosives, were also used from Hellevoetsluis.

All in all, Hellevoetsluis was an important support point for the Kriegsmarine in the Delta area.