(coll. WS)

Holland America advertisement (coll. HSch)

In the 1850s F.J. Plate made an attempt to start an America service, unsuccessful however. His son and O. Reuchlin founded Plate, Reuchlin & Co. in 1871 and opened a Rotterdam - New York route in 1872 with the "Rotterdam". The company was superseded by the Nederlandsch - Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij or NASM, founded in 1873, predecessor of the Holland America Line. In 1874 they took over the "Rotterdam" and the "Maas". The "Castor" was chartered from the KNSM or Koninglijke Nederlandsche Stoomvaart Maatschappij, established in 1856 for European routes. In 1881 KNSM started a competing New York service from Amsterdam, which was taken over by NASM in 1883. From 1896 NASM ran under the official name Holland Amerika Lijn, commonly abbreviated HAL. Towards the end of the century, the New Waterway improved access to Rotterdam, thus becoming the most important Dutch harbour. In 1897 HAL introduced a new flagship, the 8,186-ton "Rotterdam", followed by the 12,500-ton "Ryndam". At the same time the company began employing liners also on cruises. HAL tenders had to be used at Hoek van Holland port (combined with a train connection from Amsterdam), at Boulogne (connecting with a boat train from the Netherlands) and then also at Galway, an Irish port-of-call of HAL transatlantic liners. From 1902 to 1917 the International Mercantile Marine Co. (IMM) had a minor participation in the Holland America Line. In 1906 the "Niew Amsterdam" (16,967 gt) and in 1908 a new "Rotterdam" (24,149 gt) entered the North Atlantic service, both laid out for an economically reasonable speed of 16 knots. In 1914 the "Rotterdam" undertook a remarkable cruise from New York to the Mediterranean.

"Rotterdam" of 1908 (official card before WWI, coll. WS)

Dutch tender "Holland" at Boulogne (old card, coll. Wilhelm Tausche, WS)

After interruption by WWI the transatlantic services of the Holland America Line were resumed. "It's good to be on a well-run ship", was the credo for that line, quoted by Peter C. Kohler in his report about HAL (published by Ships Monthly, Jan. 2008). Economy and good service were the principles of the line instead of taking part in a mad race for the Blue Riband. The "Volendam" (15,434 gt) of 1922 and her twin-funnelled consorts were built for a speed of 13 knots. The last of world's large North Atlantic liners put in service before WWII was the "Niew Amsterdam", completed at Rotterdam in 1938. That twin-screw turbine steamer of 36,287 gt with HAL's characteristic black hull, white superstructure and the green/white bands on the buff funnels, built for a speed of 21 knots, represented a decent modern elegance.


Nieuw Amsterdam (II) of 1938 (HAL ad, coll. HSch)

The "Johan van Oldenbarnevelt" (1929/19,787 gt) ran in 1939 on charter to carry refugees from Nazi Germany to New York. In August and September of that year the last departures for America were undertaken with the "Niew Amsterdam", Johan van Oldenbarnevelt", "Statendam", "Maasdam" and "Volendam". In May 1940 German troops invaded the Netherlands. One of the results was the loss of the "Statendam" of 1929. The "Nieuw Amsterdam" survived in service for the Allies. "During World War II, the company's headquarters moved from Nazi-occupied Holland to Dutch-owned Curacao, then the site of a strategic oil refinery, and after the war the company forged strong links with North American interests", reported M. Hannafin and H. Sarna (Frommer's Cruises & Ports of Call). The turbulent life of the new 12,000 ton "Westerdam" was described by P.C. Kohler: Launched in July 1940 at Schiedam, she was sunk by the Royal Air Force in 1942, raised, sunk by Dutch resistance forces, raised again, sunk again and finally she was completed in 1946.

After the war, operations to New York were resumed in 1946 with the "Noordam" (10,726 ts), one of a quartet of diesel-powered passenger-cargo ships of the '30s. HAL was fully back among the prestige lines when the beautiful "Nieuw Amsterdam" docked at New York, New Jersey pier, in 1947. A fleet of modest passenger-cargo ships was built in the years to follow. New passenger liners were the "Ryndam" (1951/15,015 gt) and the "Maasdam" (1952/15,511 gt), economic single-screw steamers for a traveling speed of 16.5 knots. The "Statendam" (1957/24,294 gt) was a little faster. The new flagship was completed at Rotterdam in 1959, christened by Queen Juliana on the name "Rotterdam" - an innovative twin-screw turbine steamer of 38,645 tons, marked by two 'smoking masts' instead of a conventional funnel, painted white with a grey hull. Prominent passenger on her maiden voyage from Rotterdam to New York was Princesse Beatrix of the Netherlands, dancing every evening in the ship's Cafe de la Paix nightclub, as the press reported.

"Statendam" of 1957 (old card, coll. WS)

"Maasdam" of 1952 (old card, coll. WS)

The Holland America Line changed more and more to cruises and in 1971 regular services were given up. The "Maasdam" was sold in 1968 to Polish Ocean Lines, renamed "Stefan Batory". The "Nieuw Amsterdam" went to the scrapyard in 1974. The "Statendam" was sold in 1982, becoming the "Rhapsody" of Paquet Cruises. The "Rotterdam" of 1959 however was saved as a historic monument in the city of that name.


"Rotterdam" of 1959 at Sydney, 1997 (WS)