Grutto
| Name | Grutto | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 920 tons | ||
| Completed | 1925 - C. van der Giessen & Zonen´s Scheepswerven NV, Krimpen | ||
| Owner | Smith & Van Ommeren, Rotterdam | ||
| Homeport | Rotterdam | ||
| Date of attack | 5 Mar, 1940 | Nationality:  Dutch | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-17 (Udo Behrens) | ||
| Position | 51.41N, 02.47E - Grid AN 8723 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 18 (18 dead - no survivors) | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Rotterdam (5 Mar) - London | ||
| Cargo | General cargo | ||
| History | | ||
| Notes on loss | At 20.15 hours on 5 Mar, 1940, the Grutto (Master B. Kuiper) was spotted by U-17, heading east-northeast with all navigation lights burning. At 20h40 hours, a torpedo was fired, which missed. 18 minutes later, a second torpedo was fired and struck the ship amidships, breaking her in two. The stern section sank within one minute and the bow followed six minutes later. In the early morning of 6 March, a ship of the Dutch ´Batavier´-line spotted wreckage and a raft marked Grutto 7.5 miles southwest of Thornbank. The Belgian pilot-boat No.8 also reported this raft and later picked up debris two miles west of the Belgian lightship Wandelaar. This wreckage was later identified as belonging to Grutto. The Belgian Pilot boat No.5 salvaged the raft and delivered it to Oostende. On 29 March, the bodies of two crewmen washed ashore on the Dutch coast, the body of sailor B. van der Spek near Callantsoog and the one of first steerman R. Teensma on Texel. Both were identified by their families. | ||
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