Gunther Mohr, Johan Hendrik Herman.

No Photos yet from his days with HAL

Captain Gunther Mohr is one of our more obscure captains as far as trying to trace his history. He came from somewhere else and went somewhere else and only spend 7 years with the company, of which one year in command.  This is what we know sofar.

He was born on 06 February 1883 in Oudenbosch, a town located in the mid southern part of the Netherlands. His father was called Johan Hendrik Herman Gunther Mohr and his mother was Amelia Zimmermann. Most likely the family was part of a very large group of German immigrants who came to Rotterdam in the 1870/1880’s to work in the port when it was expanding rapidly. Captains Buhse, Braun, etc. had a similar background.

The ss Rijndam (I) of 1901. This is the way the ship looked like until 1912 (open bridge) and as Gunther Mohr will have experienced it like this.

For the rest no information yet, of what is background was or why he went to sea. We know that he sailed for the KNSM (Royal Boat) as 2^nd officer before he came to HAL.

The ss Minerva of the KNSM. This company serviced an extensive network of lines and ports, mainly to Middle America and the Dutch colonies there. This was the ship where the captain was assigned to as 2nd officer in 1907. (Photo Courtesy MarHisData)

IF ANYBODY HAS ANY EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT HIS SAILING OR PRIVATE LIFE PELASE CONTACT THE EDITOR ON Captalbert1@aol.com.  SO WE CAN MAKE THIS BIOGRAPHY MORE COMPLETE.

He is taken on as 3^rd officer and joins the ss Rijndam on 18 June 1909.

He married in Amsterdam on 3 March 1914 Maria Christina Hauber (1889-1934). There was one daughter.  Maria Christina. She married Ir. Hendrik Sorgdrager.  (b)

The ship sailed so shortly in Holland America colours that there is no photo of the ship as ss Blommersdijk. Here we see her under her original name e ss Blotberg. Even the post card seller had to be creative and thus sold a postcard with the caption “The torpedoed “Blommersdijk” of the NASM” and used the formal name initals of the company but still with a photo of the ss Blotberg and funnel colors of the old company.

Captain Gunther Mohr was the 2nd HAL captain of the ship after it has been bought on 27 January 1916. He assumed command on 08 September 1916 sailing from Rotterdam to Kirkwall and then further around the United Kingdom to avoid the U-boats and arrived in New York on 03 October. After loading grain for 4 days, the ship departed again for Rotterdam and was torpedoed the next day.  At this moment in the war the U-boats were simply waiting for ships to come out of the American Harbors and then just torpeoded them. The USA was neutral and thus could not protect these ships. But they had navy ships on standby to pick up survivors.

The USS Benham as seen her from a contemporary painting. (Photo courtesy: from somewhere on the internet)

The ship was stopped  by the German submarine U53 (Capt Hans Rose) at 16.15 hrs. near Nantucket Lightship.   The captain is then ordered at 17.00 hrs to bring over the ships papers. this is done by lowering a lifeboat and row over with the Chief Officer in command.  After inspection the crew is given 25 minutes to leave the ship. The U boat commander is not convincd that the cargo on board will not be landed in England and decides to torpedo the ship but with notice. The Chief Officer protests at least 5 times but to no avail and he also does not get his papers back.  By the time hew as back in his lifeboat, the U – 53 already fired the first torpedo. Capain Gunther Mohr and his whole crew managed to disembark on time and all were safely picked up 20 minutes later by the American Torpedo Hunter / destroyer USS  Benham. At 19.35 an explosion is heard followed by a 2^nd one at 20.30 at the stern. The ship sinks in position 40.40 N., 069.35 West. After a buoy was positioned near the sunken vessel the USS Benham leaves for Newport where it arrives on 09 oct. at 3 am in the morning. The crew travels to New York and leaves from there with the ss Rijndam on 21 oct. and arrives in Rotterdam on 1 nov. at 02.45 in the morning.

Later the German government paid 3,000,000  Dutch Guilders compensation for the ship and its cargo. The Blommersdijk was a neutral ship and should thus not have been torpedoed.  The logic of the U boat Captain Hans Rose seems to have been, that nobody knew where the cargo was going as each ship had to stop for contraband inspection at the British ports of Falmouth or Deal. At times goods (and mail) were confiscated and suspecious cerwmembers arrested, so there can be some truth in the U-Boatcommander being supicious.

After returning  home, Gunther Mohr attends the Board of Inquiry meeting  on 23 November 1916 and then resigns on 12 December from HAL. He is exonerated from any blame on 21 Dec. 1916 by the Board of Inquiry and then joined a new company  founded in Rotterdam. This was an inland river company but it decided to branch out to deep sea. “W. Van Driel’s Stoomboot- en Transport- ondernemingen” ordered 6 new deep sea ships of various sizes.

The ss Oostzee was launched in 1917 and Gunther Mohr pops up as captain of this ship in Feb. 1920 in sailing notices. Then in August he is captain of the ss Zwarte Zee. After the war we find several details in the news papers with the ships sailing to North American ports. Mainly carrying bulk goods. (a)

Then in 1922 it is announced that the VNS bought the English ss Craino (ex German ss Gera) and puts it into service beween the Netherlands and the East Indies and further afield. This ship is renamed in ss Ouderkerk and Gunther Mohr is listed as the captain, sailing from Vladivostock on 18 aug. 1922. (a)

The VNS, or United Steam, was a joined venture of several Dutch company’s to cover a service (in competition with the British) that had ships sailing to South Africa and to the Far East via Suez but not in direct liner service.

In 1934 his wife passed away. In the same year he is assigned as captain of the new ms Bloemfontein, sailing for the Holland Afrika Line (part of the VNS) service to Capetown. He is mentioned in the newspapers when on 22 October 1934 the ms Bloemfontein makes her trial trip in the North sea.  (a)

The ms Bloemfontein of 1934. She was just over 10,000 tons and could carry 81 passengers in First Class and 32 in 3rd class. She was encgaged between Rotterdam and Capetown with many local port calls.

This ship brought had some fame to the company as it had been launched on 16 June 1934 via a “Marconi Wireless” radio signal from South Africa where the Prime Minister of the South African Union, Geneal Herzog, pushed a button in Cape Town and sent a signal to Amsterdam where it triggered the launching mechanism. During the Trial trip the captain received a silver (according to some newspapers a golden) napkin ring with the rank initials of a ships captain.

During the trial trip the ship was handed over and commenced shortly after on its maiden voyage. It being late in the year, the ship encountered some very bad weather in the Gulf of Biscay But Gunther Mother said that he was impressed by the sea going qualities of the ship.

It seems that he retired before the 2^nd world war started (1940 – 1883 =  57 years old, 3 years before compulsory retirement) or was stuck in the Netherlands during the war and too old to return to sea after the war was over.

Captain Gunther Mohr from a newspaper photo in 1957 (b)

He surfaces in the news papers again in August 1957 when a society page mentions them. By then he was retired and had a small sailing boat on which he lived 5 months out of the year (and that since 1948). During all his contacts with other sailors and peoples around the lakes, he had frequently mentioned that it was a dream of his to visit Australia as, in all his 40 years at sea, he had never been there. So it came as a welcome surprise that one of the large Dutch shipping company’s sailing there offered him a free journey as “assistant Captain”. (a)

This newspaper article also shows the first photo we have of him.

He passed away in Bentveld (a small town west of Haarlem in the province of North Holland on  1 December 1974 (b)

Sailing List:

Date:                    Function:                            Ship:                     Wages                                                                                                                                              and/or remarks

xx.xxx. xxxxx       Unknown period from maritime academy to 2^nd officer KNSM

17 Nov. 1906      Act. 2^nd Officer               Orion                                                 45,-

11 Apr. 1907       2^nd Officer                        Minerva                                            50,-

04 Mar. 1908      2^nd Officer                         Adonis                                              45,-

14 Jul. 1908         2^nd Officer                         Mars                                                  45,-

19 Sep. 1908     Temporary dismissed to go to school for navigator exam.

15 Mar. 1909      2^nd Officer                          Iris                                                      55,-

03 Apr. 1909       2^nd Officer                          Orion                                                55,-

12 May. 1909     Dismissed from KNSM on own request to join HAL.

18 Jun. 1909      3^rd. Officer                         Rijndam                                           50,–

19 Jul. 1909         2^nd Officer                          Zaandijk                                        60,-

24 Sep. 1909       2^nd Officer                          Maartensdijk                             60,–

01 Aug. 1909      2^nd Officer                          Potsdam                                       60,–

16 Aug. 1910      transferred in New York to the ss Rijndam due to  the transfer of 2^nd officer Buhse from that ship to the ss Zijldijk (see under Buhse)

03 Sep. 1910       2^nd Officer                          Potsdam                                        60,-

10 Oct. 1910       2^nd Officer                          Andijk                                             60,-

01 Jan. 1911       due to the wage review                                                         110,-

29 Apr. 1911       Temporary dismissed to go to school for 1^st mates license. (SEE Note)

24 Jul. 1911         2^nd Officer                          Rijndam                                       110,-

29 Jul. 1911         2^nd Officer                          Potsdam                                      110,-

13 Oct. 1911       wage increased to                                                                    115,-

15 Nov. 1911      2^nd Officer                          Maartensdijk                            115,-

28 Feb. 1912       Temporary dismissed due to illness

20 Jun. 1912       Did not pass exam first mate license

26 Jun. 1912       2^nd Officer                          Zaandijk                                       115,-

21 Jun. 1912       temporary dismissed for study

18 Sep. 1912       Passed first mates exam

25 Sep. 1912       wage increase                                                                             130,-

25 Sep. 1913       2^nd Officer                          Amsteldijk                                  130,-

29 Dec. 1913      wage increase                                                                             140,-

29 Dec. 1913      temporary Act. Chief officer (not officially promoted)

25 Feb. 1914       Chief Officer                      Amsteldijk                                 140,-

01 Aug. 1914      temporary in service as captain Amsteldijk

Regular Captain Braun is called in for navy service.

22 Oct. 1914       wage increase                                                                             160,-

22 Oct. 1914       Chief Officer                      Amsteldijk                                 160,-

21 Jul. 1915         Wage increase                                                                           175,-

31 Jan. 1916       wage increase                                                                             190.-

01 Feb. 1916       Temporary ashore

04 Feb. 1916       Chief Officer                      Noorderdijk                             190–

10 Jun. 1916      wage increase to                                                                        200,-

08 Sep. 1916       Act. Captain                       Blommersdijk                           250,-

ss Blommersdijk on 08 October 1916 near Nantucket lightship torpedoed by the German submarine U 53.  Crew picked up by the American destroyer Benham and on 9 Oct at 1500 hrs. arrived in Newport. Returns per ss Rijndam on 10 November in Rotterdam.

15 Nov. 1916      Appointed as Chief officer

12 Dec. 1916      Dismissed at own request.

xx.Feb.1920          Captain                                Oostzee

xx.Aug.1920          Captain                               Zwarte Zee

xx Aug. 1922         Captain                               Ouderkerk

GAP

15 Oct.1934        Captain                               Bloemfontein (VNS Holland Afrika Line)

Note: This is a peculiar entry, as the newspapers on 12 March 1909 reported that J.H.H. Gunther Mohr passed the exam for First Mate in The Hague.

Sources:

Photos from the collection of the author.

(a) Mr. Laurens van der Laan.

(b) Mr. M.A vd Driest. Grandson of the daughter. (See comment section)

(c)  Stamboeken & Mouvement boeken of the HAL Archives as held by the Municipal Archives of the City of Rotterdam

(d) Various newspaper clippings via Delpher.

Website last updated: 09 April 2025.