1920 Maasdam III

The ss Maasdam (III)

TONN. BRT: 8,811.54            NRT: 5,417.19         DWT: 11,640

BUILT AT: N.V. Maatschappij voor Scheeps- en Werktuigbouw “Feijenoord”, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

BUILT IN: 1920                                                        YARDNO: 289

ENGINES: One set of double reduction geared Brown-Curtiss steam turbines by John Brown & Company, Glasgow, Scotland

ENGINE OUTPUT: 4,200 Shp.                               PROPS: One (fixed)

SERVICE SPD: 13 Knots                                         MAX. SPEED:

LENGTH.O.A: 141.98 Meters                                 LENGTH B.P.: 137.16 Meters

BEAM OA: 17.68 Meters                                         DEPTH: 12.19 Meters

DRAFT: .

PAX.CAP: 14 First Class, 174 Second Class, 802 Third Class

CREW: 89

SISTERSHIPS: Edam IV), Leerdam (II), Spaarndam (II)

REMARKS: Bunker capacity 1820 tons of oil.

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HISTORY:

Constructed of steel with two full decks. The ship had been laid down as a freighter of the Gaasterdijk class but because of to the proposed new route to Cuba and Mexico the hull was completed as a combination cargo and passenger vessel.

Due to the sinking of the ss Statendam (II) / Justicia as troopship under British flag, Holland America had received 60.000 tons of steel and a large number steam turbine sets and these were now used to built a number of cargo ships.  With an eye on the summer labor trade to Cuba, a rather basic passenger accommodation was added. Although classified as passengerships, the four sisters were equipped with only 1 propellor for propulsion while by this time two screws for passengerships were the norm to ensure redundancy and to make higher speeds possible.

The ship was launched on 21 October 1920 and delivered on 6 August 1921. Upon delivery she sported two funnels. Only one was in use, the 2nd one being a dummy or fake one. This 2nd funnel had been added for a better profile but also because many 3rd class emigrants and travellers thought that “the more funnels, the safer the ship”.

Commenced the maiden voyage on 7 September 1921 sailing from Rotterdam – via Antwerp,- Coruna – Vigo- to Havana – Vera Cruz – Tampico and New Orleans. From there the ship returned to Havana, and sailed via Vigo and Coruna to Rotterdam. The roundtrip  taking 2 months. The ship also called on occasion at Boulogne Sur Mer, Gyon, Santiago de Compostella – Bilbao – Teneriffe, Las Palmas and other ports. The focus point was on transporting Spanish and Portugese laborers who were travelling to Cuba and Central America for the sugar cane harvest.

In 1928 the accommodation lay-out is changed to 14 First Class and 950 Third Class. The 2nd class, which had been especially configured for the foremen/supervisors of the laborers, was removed as nobody used it and in the free coming space more dormitory style bunks were installed.

The ship had a fairly un-eventful service and was laid up in 1993 due to the depression.  In 1934 shew as sent for a refit at the yard of P. Smit Jr. in Rotterdam. As the company had decided not to return to the middle America service via the Iberian Peninsula, most of the passenger accommodation was removed. The capacity now became  30 Cabin class and 60 Third class with a crew of 48.  The dummy funnel was removed. The ship returned to service on 14 February 1935 and is palced on the route Rotterdam to New York with calls at the various ports on the North Eastern US coast. Ports of call include Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, aAlbany, Chester, Newark and New York.

In 1939 and early 1940 she makes a number of voyages back to Cuba, Mexico and the US Gulf of Mexico ports. In September 1939 the 2nd World War breaks out but the Netherlands is still neutral so the ship continues sailing on its normal routes. But it is not exempt from the war influence and in Febr. 1940 it saves the crew (27 of them) of the finnish ship “Wilja”.

In April 1940 she is on a return voyage to Rotterdam and docks on 02 May in London. She remains in this port due to the developing situation in Europe and as soon asThe Netherlands gets invovled in the war, the ship is seized by the Dutch Government and chartered out to the British Ministry of War Transport. She is painted grey and in service for the allied war effort as a cargo ship with some passenger accommodation. She is from then on engaged on voyages between New York – Halifax (to join the Eastbound North Atlantic convoys) – and Liverpool. Before returning to New York, the ship would call at various ports around England and Scotland to load or deliver cargo.

On 11 June 1941 the ship leaves New York in convoy HX 133 bound for Great Britain. On 26 June 1941 a torpedo from the German Submarine U 564 hits home. The ship is not fatally damaged but when the ship next to it (the ms Malaya of the Danish East Asiatic company) explodes it causes so much damage that the ship sinks in position 59.56o North, 030.35o West There are two fatal casualties, both nurses who were on their way to Europe and who fell out of the lowered lifeboat and drowned. The crew and other occupants were picked up by the Norwegian tanker “Havpprins”  and later landed in the British port of Avonmouth. These nurses were from the Red Cross nurses and went to their American hospital in England  and the 11 (with their colleagues who have come over with another ship) were later received by Winston Churchill on 15 July 1941.  The Holland America Line crew was transferred and signed on, on other HAL ships.

It is a small world when at sea and Captain Boschoff met in February 1955 one of the nurses who had survived the sinking. Now he was captain of the ss Ryndam (II) and Mrs. Ruth Martin was a passenger who had joined in Southampton. The captain decided that this “reunion” should be celebrated  and the result was the photo below.

Captains:

Sievert de Jong            01 Aug. 1922 – 17 Jul 1922.

Reinier Brauen             01 Aug.1922 – 23 May. 1924

Antonie Jochems       03 Jun. 1924 – 08 Nov. 1924 (2 relieve voyages)

Jacobus de Koning     12 Nov. 1924 – 25 Apr. 1925

Johannes v. Dulken     01 May. 1925 – 02 Jan. 1926

Cornelis Coster             06 Jan. 1926-  12 Sep. 1926

Reinier Braun                  17 Sep. 1926 – 13 Dec. 1928

Corneles Tirion               25 Jan. 1929 – 08 mar. 1929 (relief voyage)

Cornelis de Korver       12 Mar. 1929 –  23 April 1930

Lamburtus Rijnink         04 Jun. 1930 – 05 Dec. 1930

No Captain                          Ship laid up due to the depression

Cornelis de Korver       10 May. 1931 – 28 Feb. 1932

Willem v. Hemert            22 May 1932 – 23 21 May 1932

Pieter Lagaay Sr.              26 May 1932 – 25 nov. 1932

No Captain                         Ship laid up due to the depression

Cornelis v. Beek               24 Mar. 1933 – 27 Jul. 1933

No Captain                        Ship laid up due to depression and refit.

Cornelis Kleyn                 01 Feb. 1935 – 20 Apr. 1935

Arie Kooy                           12 Jul. 1935 – 19 Dec. 1935

Cornelis Coster              03 Jan. 1936 – 24 Feb. 1936

Arie Kooy                            28 Mar. 1936 – 21 Mar. 1937

Siebe Vlietstra                 23 Mar. 1937 – 18 Jul. 1938

Theunis Stuut                   30 Jul. 1938 – 04 Sept. 1938

Cornelis van Beek          10 Sep. 1938 – 22 Oct. 1938

Cornelis v. Buuren           26 Oct. 1938 –  end date unknown.

Willem van Hemert       07 Feb. 1940  – 02 nov. 1940

Captain unknown            02 Nov. 1940 – 21 Jan. 1941

Jan Boschoff Sr.                 21 Jan. 1941 – 26 Jun. 1941

Sources:

a. Captain Alberts Ship database and photo collection.

b. Stamboek & Mouvementen boeken HAL as held by the Municiple archive of the City of Roterdam

c. contemporary newspapers (www. delpher.nl)

d. 2nd world ware Personell cards held by Holland America and the Dutch Government.