Balen van, Willem Hendrik
Captain Willem van Balen (company photo of around 1961)
Willem Hendrik van Balen was born on 01 May 1914 at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Named after his father but raised by his mother Mrs. W.C. Nantesse as the parents had divorced.
Obtained his nautical training at the Maritime School in Rotterdam (Cert. B no.6) and passed his 3rd mates exam on 22 May 1935. It is unknown where he did is apprentice ship. He joined Holland America in 1937, when the company was bringing ships back into service from lay-up. (see also biography of Captain Dirk Bak)
NOT MANY DETAILS ARE KNOWN ABOUT HIS LIFE YET. SO IF YOU READ HIS BIO AND HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT HIS PRIVATE AND/OR WORKING LIFE, PLEASE CONTACT ME ON CaptAlbert1@aol.com and I will delighted to make his biography more complete.
He was placed as a fourth officer on board the ss Burgerdijk, one of the 10 B class cargo ships built after the First World War.
The ss Burgerdyk. In 1937 the ship was employed on the Rotterdam – Gulf of Mexico service
As of know it is unknown what Captain van Balen did during the 2nd world war.
He continued to move through the ranks after the war and then was promoted to captain in 1956. He was assigned to the ss Blommersdijk (II) another of the 10 B class ships built in 1922.
The ss Arkeldyk. This was a Victory class ship in 1946 from the US Government and when Van Balen was in command, was sailing on the West coast service to Vancouver.
But quite quickly he was transferred to the ss Aagtedyk, one of the Victory ships that the company had bought after 1945 out of the American surplus fleet. In the coming years he would sail exclusively on these ships. Most of them were employed on the Gulf of Mexico service but from 1961 onwards they also went to the Far East via Africa in charter for the Dutch VNS.
The president of the Long Beach Harbour Board is seen here presenting Captain van Balen with a photo made by Apollo 9 astronaut Dave Scott of the Los Angeles area. The captain is indicating where his ms Katsedyk is docked.
In 1971 he briefly made the newspapers when his ship the ms Katsedyk was the first ship to arrive at Los Angeles as part of the new Euro Pacific service that had been set up in combination with some other company’s to continue the West Coast service to Vancouver. The most modern ships of each company were assigned to this service to provide an answer against the up and coming containerisation.
GAP Records stop in 1973 and in 1974 he must have retired after reaching the retirement age of 60 years old.
Nothing is known yet about his life after retirement.
Sailing listing:
Date: Function: Ship: Wages and/or remarks.
20 Jan. 1937 Fourth Officer Burgerdijk 92,– Temporary contract.
23 Jun. 1937 Fourth Officer Veendam 92,–
01 Oct. 1937 According to new regulation 102,–
29 Oct. 1937 4th. Officer Delftdijk 102,–
GAP In 1937 Holland America switched to a new adminstration system and the records from then onwards are held by the company’s pension fund and are not accesible for research,
GAP 2nd world war.
08 Jun. 1956 Captain Blommersdijk one voyage
05 Aug. 1956 Captain Aagtedyk coastal voy.
26 Sep. 1956 Captain Aardyk
26 Aug. 1958 Captain Arnedyk
18 Sep. 1958 Captain Appingedyk
07 Jan. 1959 Captain Arkeldyk
07 Jan. 1960 Captain Appingedyk
10 Aug. 1960 Captain Arkeldyk
15 Dec. 1960 Captain Averdyk
18 Jun. 1962 Captain Arkeldyk
30 Oct. 1964 Captain Schiedyk
GAP
06 May 1967 Captain Soestdyk
GAP
18 Jul. 1968 Captain Kamperdyk
GAP.
09 Mar. 1970 Captain Katsedyk
16 Sep. 1970 Captain Moerdyk (coastal)
09 Feb. 1971 Captain Katsedyk
Sources:
a. Stamboek & Mouvement boeken HAL ARchive as held by the Muncipal Archivs of the City of DRotterdam.
b. Capt. Albert voyage & ship database and photo collection
c. Contemproraty newspapers.
Last updated: 24 January 2025
April 5, 2019 at 9:55 am
Een beminnelijker mens was er niet. Ik spreek over de jaren vijftig en kwam bij de maatschappij als stuurmansleerling in juli 1952. Door deze man, destijds 1e stuurman, werd je in tegenstelling tot veel anderen die ik heb meegemaakt als jonge leerling en vierde stuurman als een normaal mens behandeld.