Captain Jan Burger (a)

Captain Jan Burger was born on 27 January 1876 in the town of Brielle located at the western part of Island of Voorne, in the South West of the Netherlands.

His father was Jan Burger who was a sea pilot  and his mother’s name was Trijntje Noltee (b)

He married on  07 February 1919 in The Hague with Bartha Jacoba Anthonia Buijs (also spelled as Buys) (born on 31 March 1892 at Willemstad Curacao. Daughter of Mr. T.J.C Buijs  who was a Phamarcist  and Mrs. S.J.W Verwoerd)  There were two children, Tiny and Jan. (d)

I only know very little about his early years and career. The company advised he was of the Protestant  faith.

Between 1902 and 1903 he was  Captain of the Steamship Heelsum (Maatschappij Oostzee) Ship and company mainly focused on trade between The Netherlands (Amsterdam) and the Baltic ports. (b)

He came to Holland America as a Captain in 1920 as they needed a relief captain for the ss Warszawa, the small coastal passenger ship which the company operated between Poland and Rotterdam. (ED: it would make sense to me for the company to engage an experienced master who knew the Baltic extremely well, as Holland America did not sail there at all, so none of the regular company captains would have been familiar with the area). He was the only captain who sailed on the Warszawa as long as the ship was in service. When the ship was in lay up, he was engaged on the cargo ships or on loan to the VNS in which company the HAL had an interest.

The ss Warszawa (ex ss Madison) arriving at Rotterdam with a full complement of emigrants waiting to be transferred to one of the large ships for the voyage to  America.  As Captain Burger was the only captain sailing the ship he will be the one standing on the flying bridge right behind the forward Mast. (a)

He retired in 1931 after 11 years with Holland America. He passed away on 14 December 1941 in Wassenaar (near The Hague) at the age of 65, and was cremated at Velsen (west of Amsterdam) on 18 December.

3rd mates license:             10 Oct. 1894

2nd mates license:            29 Dec. 1897

1st mates license:             24 Apr.  1900

Any information is welcome to complete the biography.

Date:                     Function:                             Ship:                                      Wages and/or remarks.

20 Jul.    1920       Captain                                 Warszawa                           600,–

01 Jan.   1920       wage increased                                                                 650,–    backdated.

16 Oct.  1921       Wage decreased                                                                585,–

23 Dec. 1921       Captain                                 Gorredijk                             585,–

22 Feb. 1922       Captain                                 Warszawa                           585,–

16 Mar. 1922       Wage decrease                                                                 560,–

17 Nov. 1922       Captain                                 Meerkerk                            625,–    Holl Br. India Line

18 Dec. 1922       Captain                                 Warszawa                           560,–

16 Mar. 1923       Captain                                 Bovenkerk                          625,–

04 Apr.  1923       Captain                                 Warzawa                             560—

19 Dec. 1923       Captain                                 Streefkerk                          625,–

22 Jan.   1924       Captain                                 Blijdendijk                           560,–

30 Apr.  1924       Captain                                 Gaasterdijk                         560,–

16 Jun.  1924       Captain                                 Warszawa                           560,–

04 Sep.  1924       Captain                                 Bovenkerk                          560,–                    VNS

29 Sep. 1924       Captain                                 Kinderdijk                           560,–

04 Dec. 1924       Captain                                 Boschdijk                             560,–

03 Feb. 1925       Captain                                 Beemsterdijk                     560,–

08 Apr.  1925       Temporary ashore

21 Apr.  1925       Captain                                 Bilderdijk                             560,–

27 May. 1925       Temporary ashore

01 Jul.   1925       Captain                                 Hoogkerk                            625,–                    VNS

16 Jul.    1925       Temporary ashore

20 Jul.    1925       Captain                                 Warszawa                           560,–

08 Aug. 1925       Captain                                 Beemsterdijk                     560,–

27 Oct. 1925       Captain                                 Boschdijk                             560,–

15 Mar. 1926       Temporary ashore

01 Apr. 1926       Captain                                 Warszawa                           560,–

13 May. 1926       Returns with the ss Volendam back to Rotterdam after handing over the Warszawa in New York.

26 May. 1926       Temporary ashore

18 Jun. 1926       Captain                                 Beemsterdijk                     560,–

22 Jul.    1926       Temporary          ashore

03 Aug. 1926       Sailed with the Volendam to New York as passenger to join the Vechtdijk

17 Aug. 1926       Captain                                 Vechtdijk                             560,–    at New York

01 Apr. 1927       Wage increase                                                                   580,–

20 Jul.    1927     Captain                                 Veendam                            580,–  at New York (as passenger to R’dam)

03 Aug. 1927      Captain                                 ashore                                  580,-

01 Sep. 1927       Captain                                 Burgerdijk                           580,–

01 Jan.   1929      Wage increase to                                                              600,–

20 Nov. 1929       Captain                                 Noorderdijk                       600,–

01 Jan.   1930       Captain                                 Noorderdijk                       620,–

28 Oct. 1930        Temporary ashore                                                           620,–

01 Jan.   1931       Dismissed due to reaching the age limit for compulsory retirement from the sea. . The company continued to pay his wages until 1 July 1931

(a) Photo via Mr. D. van der Horst.

(b) Information from Piet’s Scheepvaart Index. (https://www.scheepsindex.nl)

(c) Voyage listing out of the HAL HR “Stamboek” records as held by the Rotterdam Municipal Archives.

(d) Genealogy Information via Mr. E.H Kruidhof