 Oil painting ofRotterdam before 1912 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Netherlands | |
| Name | Rotterdam |
| Namesake | Rotterdam |
| Owner | NASM |
| Operator | Holland America Line |
| Port of registry | Rotterdam |
| Route | Rotterdam –Hoboken |
| Builder | Harland & Wolff,Belfast |
| Yard number | 390 |
| Laid down | 6 November 1906 |
| Launched | 3 March 1908 |
| Completed | 6 June 1908 |
| Maiden voyage | 13 June 1908 |
| Refit | 1926, 1936, 1937 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Scrapped in 1940 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 24,149 GRT, 15,020 NRT, 14,040 DWT |
| Displacement | 36,870 tons |
| Length | 650.5 ft (198.3 m) registered |
| Beam | 77.4 ft (23.6 m) |
| Draught | 33 ft 0 in (10.06 m) |
| Depth | 43.5 ft (13.3 m) |
| Decks | 4 |
| Installed power | 2,451NHP, 15,000ihp |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Capacity |
|
| Crew | 472 |
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
SSRotterdam was asteamocean liner that was launched and completed inIreland in 1908, and scrapped in theNetherlands in 1940.Holland America Line (HAL) owned and operated her throughout her career. She was the fourth of seven HAL ships to have been named after the Dutch city ofRotterdam. UntilStatendam entered service in 1929,Rotterdam was the largest and swiftest ship in the company's fleet, and was the company'sflagship.
In the 1900s HAL increased the size of its largesttransatlantic passenger liners. Between 1899 and 1902 it introduced threesister ships of about 12,500 GRT each, two of which were built byHarland & Wolff inBelfast. Then in 1906 Harland & Wolff completedNieuw Amsterdam, a new HALflagship of almost 17,000 GRT.Nieuw Amsterdam was also HAL's first ship withquadruple expansion engines, and at 16 knots (30 km/h) she was about 1 knot (2 km/h) swifter than HAL's three 12,500 GRT liners.
HAL then ordered an even larger ship from Harland & Wolff. Early in 1906 HAL had sold its previousRotterdam toDet Forenede Dampskibsselskab, who renamed herC.F. Tietgen.[1] HAL re-used the nameRotterdam for the new ship.
HAL had ordered the new ship by July 1906.[2] Harland & Wolff built her on slipway number 3 as yard number 390,[3] where she waslaid down on 6 November 1906.[4]
Her launch was planned for 22 February 1908.[5] By 1pm that day about 5,000 guests of Harland & Wolff had gathered, and thousands more spectators lined the shores. But two other ships had not been moved out of the way, so the director of the shipyard had to cancel the launch for that day. The next day, a storm prevented the two ships from being moved out of the way, so the launch was cancelled again. A third attempt was cancelled because the grease used to lubricate the slipway had been pushed aside.[6]
Rotterdam was successfully launched on 3 March 1908.[7] She was completed on 6 June that year, when she achieved 16 knots (30 km/h) on hersea trials. She then went toSouthampton to be inspected indry dock.[8]
Rotterdam's registered length was 650.5 ft (198.3 m), her beam was 77.4 ft (23.6 m) and her depth was 43.5 ft (13.3 m).[9] Hertonnages were 24,149 GRT, 15,020 NRT and 14,040 DWT.[4] Herdisplacement was 36,870 tons at 35 feet (10.67 m) draught.[10] The hull was divided into watertightcompartments by 13 transverse bulkheads and one bulkhead along the centre line of the ship. The bottom of the hull was double.[11] She hadbilge keels.[citation needed]
Rotterdam had eight double-ended and two single-ended boilers, heated by a total of 54 corrugated furnaces. They supplied steam at 215psi to twinquadruple expansion steam engines, each of which had a 60 in (1.5 m) stroke and cylinders of 33 in (0.84 m), 47 in (1.2 m), 68 in (1.7 m) and97+1⁄2 in (2.48 m) bore. The engines drove twinscrews. The combined power of the twin engines was rated at 2,451NHP[9] or 15,000ihp.[4]Rotterdam was designed to cruise at16+1⁄2 knots (31 km/h),[10] and comfortably maintained 17 knots.[3] She had two funnels and two masts, whereasNieuw Amsterdam had one funnel and four masts.
Rotterdam had berths for 3,340 passengers: 525 infirst class, 515 in second class and 2,400 in third class.
The first class dining saloon was 92 by 75 ft (28 by 23 m) and could seat about 500 diners. Its floor was covered in rubber. The lounge was 52 by 39 ft (16 by 12 m) and was finished with dark Spanishmahogany. It had a piano and an organ. The large lobby was finished in cream lacquered wood and had wide stairs with gilded wrought iron ornamentation and a copper handrail. It led to apalm court of 46 by 39 ft (14 by 12 m), which was finished in cream lacquered wood inLouis XVI style. Its sides containedDelftware tile tableaux. In the center a large cupola with stained glass windows shed light on the garden and stairs. The library measured 34 by 39 ft (10.5 by 12 m) and was decorated in Louis XVI style in Italianjuglans wood. The upper and lowersmoking saloons measured 59 by 44 ft (18 by 13.5 m) and 30 by 44 ft (9 by 13.5 m).[10]
There were 265 first class cabins, including 48 single person luxury cabins, and 12 state room suites with their own dayroom. There were about 100 first class bathrooms. The wide stairs gave access to the first class promenade decks. There were upper and lower promenade decks and a boat deck, totaling 28,255 sq ft (2,625 m2). Parts ofRotterdam's promenade decks had glass covers that could be brought up against the sea spray. At the time this was a unique innovation among transatlantic liners.[10]
The second class dining saloon was also finished in lacquered wood. It measured 46 by 75 ft (14 by 23 m) and seated 300 diners. On the upper decks was a ladies' saloon, and a smoking saloon finished in oak. The second class promenade decks measured 12,000 sq ft (1,100 m2). There were 158 second class cabins. Many were twin-berth, but there were also some four-berth cabins.[10]
There were two third class dining saloons, measuring 6,230 sq ft (579 m2) in total. Between them, the two saloons could seat only 581 diners, so third class passengers had to eat in shifts. Third class cabins were also twin-berth or four-berth, and got clean bedding each trip. Spacious lobbies with seats led upstairs to the third class promenade deck, which was 11,000 sq ft (1,022 m2).[10]
Rotterdam's holds had capacity for 620,000 cubic feet (17,556 m3) of grain or 570,000 cubic feet (16,141 m3) of baled cargo.[4] This was slightly less thanNieuw Amsterdam,[12] althoughRotterdam was a far bigger ship.
Rotterdam had a crew of 472: 51 on deck, 119 in herengine room andstokehold, and 302 serving the passenger. ThePurser had an Assistant Purser and fivestewards. There were 126 waiters in first class, 55 in second class and 31 in third class. There were 44 cooks and 15 linen maids.[11] The ship had three electricdishwashers: one with capacity for 4,000 pieces an hour, and two with capacity for 400 pieces an hour. There were also machines to peel potatoes and polish kinves.[13]
HALregisteredRotterdam at her namesake ofRotterdam. Hercode letters were PRMN.[9]
On 13 June 1908Rotterdam left Rotterdam on her maiden voyage toHoboken, New Jersey.[14] She carried only 285 passengers: 75 first class, 82 second class and 128 third class. On 1 July she left Hoboken on her return voyage, carrying 288 passengers in first class, 356 in second class and 298 in third class. 1908 was not a good year for the US economy, and passenger numbers improved only slowly. However, by 1910Rotterdam was carrying more than 1,000 migrants on each trip.[citation needed]
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By 1910Rotterdam was equipped forsubmarine signalling, and theMarconi Company had equipped her forwireless telegraphy.[9] By 1913 her wireless telegraphcall sign was MHR,[15] but by 1914 it had been changed to PEA.[16]
By 1914Rotterdam had begun seasonalcruising. That February she left Hoboken with 842 first class passengers on a cruise to theMediterranean viaMadeira. She toured the Mediterranean, visitingCadiz,Gibraltar,Algiers,Piraeus,Istanbul,Jaffa,Alexandria,Naples,Villefranche-sur-Mer, andBoulogne.[17]
In August 1914Rotterdam repatriated many US civilians who wanted to leaveGermany orSwitzerland.[18]
The Netherlands was one of the countries through which theEntente Powers'Blockade of Germany was evaded. Germany sought to import goods including copper, coffee, cotton, wool, livestock fodder, nitrate fertilisers, and up to a third of the total food supply for its population.[19] In September 1914Rotterdam left Hoboken carrying 1,500 tons of copper. She was arrested and brought toPlymouth on 22 September.[20] However, the copper could not be unloaded from her holds as thePort of Southampton was closed. Instead, the UK government bought the copper, and the ship was released on 6 October. The copper was to be unloaded at Rotterdam and stored there for the UK government.[21]
On 12 October 1914Rotterdam reached Rotterdam carrying 8,000 25 kg (55 lb) sacks of flour. On 16 October she left for Hoboken again, carrying almost 2,000 passengers. She then made another trip from Rotterdam to Hoboken, and two trips betweenItaly and Hoboken.[citation needed]
The war sharply reduced the number of emigrants willing to cross the Atlantic. After most US citizens who wished to leave Europe had done so, there were too few passengers to make a profit.[22] In 1915Rotterdam ran a regular schedule between Rotterdam and Hoboken. Often fewer than 100 passengers embarked in Hoboken, but about 500 embarked in Rotterdam.[citation needed]
Increased cargo trade kept HAL ships busy in the war. After an initial decline, exports from the Netherlands increased. Imports to the Netherlands increased so much that HALchartered ships to carry the extra cargo.[22] Late in 1915Rotterdam's cargo included 25,500 bales (60 kg (130 lb) sacks) of coffee.[citation needed]
TheEntente Powers often inspectedneutral ships, to try to ensure they were not violating theirblockade of the Central Powers. On a westbound voyage in June 1915 theRoyal Navy heldRotterdam for a total of eight days, first atThe Downs and then atAvonmouth.[23]
On 29 August 1915 a fire was discovered in hermailroom. Sulphur gas was pumped into the compartment in an attempt to extinguish the fire. On arrival in Rotterdam on 2 September it was found that the fire was still burning, so it was extinguished with water.[24] The fire probably started in her cargo of cotton. Of the 201 sacks of mail stored above, seven were burnt, and the rest were badly damaged by water. In the first years of the war the Rotterdam also regularly transported gold to the Netherlands.[25]
On 11 May 1916Rotterdam left Hoboken for Rotterdam. In England the UK authorities seized her mail. Also in England, she embarked survivors from theRoyal Rotterdam Lloyd shipPalembang, which amine planted byUC-10 had sunk on 18 March.[26]
HAL then laid upRotterdam. The official reason was that were she lost, she could not be replaced for many years because Dutch shipyards were not able to build a ship of the size of theRotterdam.[27] In July 1914 Harland & Wolff had launched a newStatendam for HAL, a ship even larger thanRotterdam, but in 1915 the UK government had requisitioned the uncompleted ship for conversion into atroopship. She was completed in 1917 asJusticia, and sunk by a U-boat in July 1918.[28]Rotterdam remained safely laid up after Germany's resumption ofunrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917.[29]
After theArmistice of 11 November 1918,Rotterdam was dry docked inGlasgow, as the Netherlands had no dry dock big enough for her.[29] On 24 January she left Rotterdam for Hoboken carrying fewer than 100 passengers, but inBrest, France she embarked many US troops. She continued to repatriate US troops for some months,[citation needed] and on 24 January 1919 she resumed civilian service between Rotterdam and Hoboken. In 1920 she was converted from coal to oil fuel.[30]
At the beginning of April 1921, a delegation of theWorld Zionist Organization sailed from Rotterdam to Hoboken aboardRotterdam. They includedAlbert Einstein, Ben-Zion Mossinson,Menachem Ussishkin andChaim Weizmann. Also in April 1921,Rotterdam became the first ship to use the new 46,000-ton dry dock atWilton's Dok- en Werf Maatschappij inSchiedam.[citation needed]
In the 1920sRotterdam resumed winter cruises from Hoboken to the Mediterranean, including in 1923,[citation needed] February 1924,[31] and February 1925.[32] In 1929 she was refitted as a two-class ship, with berths for 517 first class and 1,130tourist class passengers.[4]
TheGreat Depression that began in 1929 brought a global slump in commercial shipping. On 24 December 1930, NASM revised its fares for 1931. Fares were seasonal, and until 1930 the company had divided them into summer, winter, and intermediate. For 1931, NASM abolished the intermediate seasons, simplified the fares to summer and winter only, and announced significant reductions. OnRotterdam, the minimum first class fare would be US$200 eastbound from August to April, and the same westbound from November to July. The minimum first class fare for summer, which now included the former "intermediate" seasons, would be $220.[33]
Rotterdam was a coal-burner. At the beginning of September 1932, members of theBond voor Minder Marine Personeel (BMMP)trade union working for most Dutch shipping lines struck for better wages. AsRotterdam left Boulogne on 4 September on a westbound crossing, herships' stokers demanded that she terminate her voyage and return to Rotterdam.[34] HerMaster anchored her near the West Hinderlightvessel, where a detachment of 30Dutch Marines boarded the ship from apilot boat. The ship returned to Rotterdam, where 11 members of her crew were arrested formutiny.[35] On 7 September, NASM announced that it would not re-hire 400 BMMP members.[36]Rotterdam and other NASM ships remained in Rotterdam as the strike continued.[37]
On 15 September some shipping lines reached an agreement with the BMMP, oncluding reinstatement of the 400 members that NASM had dismissed, but BMMP members at Rotterdam voted to reject it.[38] However, the "contact commission" between the shipping companies and the BMMP established that an aggregate of the votes from the separatemass meetings at Amsterdam and Rotterdam produced a majority in favour of returning to work.[39] NASM crews resumed service.Veendam left Rotterdam on 17 September, and all ships returned to normal their schedule.[40]
Late in 1933,Rotterdam was reconditioned, and an artificial beach was installed in one of her well decks. She started her cruising season on 18 November, leaving Hoboken with 450 passengers on a cruise to theWest Indies.[41] On 23 December she left Hoboken on a nine-day cruise to Nassau and Kingston.[42] On 3 March 1934, she left Hoboken on a cruise to Central America.[43]
By 1930Rotterdam was equipped with wirelessdirection finding.[44] By 1934 the new four-letter call sign PHEG had replaced her code letters and three-letter call sign.[45] Also by 1934, her hull had been repainted white.[4]
Volendam and her sisterVeendam were rarely in the same port at the same time. One exception was on 16 March 1935 in Hoboken, whenVeendam arrived from Rotterdam in the morning, andVolendam was already in port, waiting to start a cruise to Nassau and Bermuda on 23 March.Rotterdam,Edam and the cargo steamshipBeemsterdijk were also at Hoboken on the same day. It was rare for five NASM ships to be in the same port on the same day.[46]
On 29 September 1935,Rotterdam was cruising offJamaica at the time of the1935 Cuba hurricane when she ran aground onMorant Cays.[47] TheElders & Fyffesbanana boatSS Ariguani took off all of her 460 passengers and 70 of her crew, and landed them at Kingston.[48] On 1 October, NASM'sVolendam left Hoboken, without passengers.[49] On 7 October she left Kingston carrying 350 ofRotterdam's passengers and crew,[50] and on 11 October she landed them at Hoboken.[51]Rotterdam was refloated on 5 October.[52]
In January 1936 HAL reclassifiedRotterdam,Volendam andVeendam as "cabin class" ships.Rotterdam's one-way fares were reduced from $169.50 to $161.50 in the summer season, and from $161.50 to $153.50 in the off-season. HAL was the last major shipping line to adopt cabin class.[53]
In 1937Rotterdam made a summer cruise to theNorth Cape and theBaltic. InLeningrad the Soviet authorities refused to let some passengers ashore fromRotterdam and three other ships. The reason why they chose certain passengers for exclusion was not clear.[54]
On 21 November 1939Rotterdam began her final transatlantic voyage from Rotterdam to New York.[3] She got back to Rotterdam on 28 December.[4] By then she had steamed the equivalent of 70 times the circumference of the earth.[citation needed]
In January 1940 HAL soldRotterdam to Frank Rijsdijk's Industriëele ondernemingen ofHendrik-Ido-Ambacht for scrap. On 5 January 1940 she was towed from the Wilhelminakade toWaalhaven, where her superstructure was demolished.[4]
HAL next used the name for theRotterdam launched in 1958. She is now a combined hotel,museum ship andvocational education school.
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