Thursday, August 16, 2012

HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81)


Hr.Ms. Karel Doorman (R81) was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy of the Netherlands. Formerly the British ship HMS Venerable, she was sold to the Netherlands in 1948 as a light attack carrier. In 1960, she was involved in the decolonisation conflict in Western New Guinea with Indonesia. In the mid 60's the role was changed to anti-submarine warfare carrier and only ASW aircraft and helicopters were carried. An engine room fire took her out of service in 1968. She was sold to Argentina in 1969 and renamed ARA Veinticinco de Mayo. Zwollywood from Zwolle sent me this card.
The people of Zwolle are nicknamed Bluefingers. During the middle Ages the cities of Zwolle and nearby Kampen made life as difficult as possible for each other. The inhabitants of the latter city were named Kampen Sturgeons. The nickname Bluefinger was given to the Zwolle people because they supposedly committed perjury against the Duke of Gelre.
Some time later, another explanation was given. When Zwolle offered its glockenspiel from the Grote Kerk (St Michael’s Church) for sale, Kampen agreed to buy it and arrived with a wagon full of pennies. The citizens of Zwolle had to count a huge amount of copper coins and so earned their blue fingers. In 2007 the name Bluefinger surfaced across the Atlantic, as the title of a CD by Black Francis, a former member of the American band The Pixies. The source of inspiration for this CD is the late well-known musician and painter Herman Brood, who was born and lived in Zwolle.