During World War I, Aruba was a major supplier of calcium phosphate (Guano), used in the production of fertilizers and explosives. In early May 1940, the German freighter Antilla anchored in the waters off Aruba, while a chain of events unfolded in Europe. On May 10, the Germans invaded the Netherlands, landing in Rotterdam and The Hague. Queen Wilhelmina was forced to flee to England. The Dutch army surrendered four days later. Holland was now at war with Germany and thousands of miles across the Atlantic, the peaceful island of Aruba automatically became enemy territory for the Germans. It has often been said that the Antilla was an auxiliary ship in disguise for submarines. No confirmations of this were found, nor of the presence of ammunition, torpedoes, fuel, etc. in the wreck when rescue was considered. Furthermore, prior to May 10, 1940, the ship was repeatedly searched by military authorities for weapons and nothing was found. Some information suggests that the Antilla was carrying a load of sulfur that was unloaded at the port of San Nicolás in October 1939.
Unaware of the events that were taking place between Germany and the Netherlands, the German freighter Antilla was captured in Dutch waters. To confiscate the Antilla, the Dutch Marines attempted to get on board, however, German Captain Ferdinand Schmidt refused to lower the gangway and the German crew told the Marines to return early the next morning. Immediately afterwards, Captain Schmidt ordered the 34 crew members to open the valves and set the ship on fire. When the marines returned to the Antilla a few hours later, the ship was already listed for port by then. They could do nothing more than watch the ship sink and arrested the crew that had left the ship. Although it has sometimes been suggested that the cause of the sinking of the ship was that the crew heated the boilers of the ship and let cold sea water enter causing a large explosion, in official documents nothing similar is mentioned.
According to an inspection of the wreck by divers between May and August 1940, the ship's superstructure was damaged by fire, but the ship's hull was undamaged and in one piece. The report concluded that the sinking was caused by the vessel's valves opening. The rupture of the wreck is the result of strong waves.
In the Netherlands Antilles, a total of 220 German merchant sailors were arrested from 15 ships. Apart from the crew of the Antilla, the crew of the German ship Goslar that was docked in Dutch Suriname managed to sink their ship before it was confiscated. All of these merchant sailors were transported to Bonaire where the sailors were detained in a school building. Along with these sailors, 200 German and Austrian civilians (including also civilians who fled the threat of Nazi Germany, as well as approximately 20 people who were considered a threat to national security for being alleged Nazi sympathizers) were detained in various school buildings.
On May 11, 1940, an agreement had already been reached between the Dutch authorities on Curaçao and the British consul that Britain would accept the 220 German merchant sailors and detain them in an internment camp in British Jamaica. In the period between their arrival in Bonaire and their dispatch to Jamaica, the sailors had to build an internment camp on Bonaire to house the other civilian inmates. They finished building the camp in early July 1940, and on July 5, 1940, the Antilla crew along with their 185 colleagues were escorted to the Jamaica Producer ship and transported to the camp in British Jamaica, where they spent the remainder of the war.
Therefore, the Bonaire internment camp was not bought by Captain Schmidt of the Antilla, as has been widely suggested, but by a local businessman. At the camp site, the Zeebad Hotel was initially built and then the Divi Flamingo Hotel, which still exists to this day.
The Antilla is the largest shipwreck in the Caribbean, covered by tubular sponges, coral formations, tropical fish, shrimp, lobsters and orange anemones. Pelicans know this area very well and they love to rest in it and enjoy a meal from the silversides that jump out of the water. The wreck is about 130m long and much of the ship is still intact today. The porthole, deck hardware, and interior sections can be explored.
Source: Aruba Tourism Authorities
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