The fishing fleet disaster of Moddergat and Paesens on March 6, 1883.

The fishermen of Moddergat and a few of neighboring village Paesens on the north coast of Friesland had had a long winter, with no income and with little to eat left for themselves and their families. The spring was early that year and the continuing beautiful weather tempted especially the young fishermen to sail out again. They were anxious and impatient and didn't want to sit home with such attractive weather any longer and to suffer lack of food. On Friday, March 2, the ships were retrieved from Oostmahorn where they always were lying in the harbor for the winter, because Paesens and Moddergat do not have their own port. That same day and the day after, everything they needed was brought to the ships by rowing boats, because the ships could not get close to the shore because of the shallow water. The fourth march was a Sunday when they went to church and shortly after midnight on 5 March 1883 the fishing fleet sailed out. The 22 ships set sail for the so called "Scholveld", the rich fishing grounds northeast of the island of Borkum. Under an awakening north-westerly wind, the 5th of March the nets were dragged across the fishing grounds. Because the catch was disappointing, they kept on fishing until late in the evening, while a dark sky rose in the northwest. Shortly after ten o'clock that evening, the fishermen were overtaken by a sudden northwestern storm on their open, barely seaworthy sailing ships. Eyewitnesses on shore said that on the 5th of March a black sky came rolling low over the water, full of hail and snow. The North Sea became a swirling, furious monster within fifteen minutes, with waves that were whipped up to 20 meters high. An inky night followed. Their struggle to sail west and then through the gaps between the Wadden Islands to reach their home port, must have been incredibly difficult. In the early morning the wind increased more and more to a wind force of 9 to 10. 'De Twee Gebroeders' (W.L.7) was probabrly the first ship to fall prey to the raging waves. In the morning around 8 o'clock it capsized at the ‘Simonszand' and disappeared into the ice-cold depth. The five-man crew died. Only the mortal remains of the 64-year-old Douwe Jelles Basteleur were recovered 5 days later, brought back to his birthplace Moddergat by the sea current. In the following hours, a catastrophe occurred that claimed almost the entire fishing fleet of Moddergat and Paesens. In total, 17 of the 22 ships sank or stranded. 82* fishermen died in the storm, most of them have never been recovered. Some families had lost all their male members in one fell swoop.

* Not the 83 mentioned on the memorial stones. The 13-year-old Hille Botes Groen, who is mentioned as a crew member of the W.L. 8 "De Vier Gebroeders", was not on board. He died the day after the disaster, March 7, 1883, in his parental home.