The Blue Riband

6. Dutch ships in transatlantic passenger transport

Although none of her ships obtained the Blue Riband, the Dutch Holland Amerika Lijn was rather successful on the transatlantic route. The W.A. SCHOLTEN 1874 was one of her first ships. She could carry only 42 passengers. Sails were apparently still indispensable.

The company was founded as the Nederlandsch Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij, or NASM. This (for foreigners) unpronounceable name was soon replaced by Holland-Amerika Lijn, but the abbreviation NASM was kept.

On a cloudy day in the 30s we see moored at Wilhelminakade in Rotterdam at the left the ROTTERDAM (1908) and the VEENDAM or VOLENDAM (1923) and at the right, with three funnels, the STATENDAM waiting for their next trip to New York.

The NIEUW AMSTERDAM was built in 1938 at the Rotterdamse Droogdok Mij. Thanks to a royal subsidy from the Dutch government to fight unemployment, the ship could be built in the Netherlands, although yards in other countries were less expensive.

The ship survived the war without substantial damage. Her high speed, 21 knots, was an excellent defence against submarine attacks. In October 1947 she resumed her transatlantic service, until she went over to full time cruising in 1971. The extremely popular ship was demolished in Taiwan in 1974.

The ROTTERDAM was the largest liner built in the Netherlands. She sailed to New York until 1973, after that she made cruises. After completion of the new ROTTERDAM (6) at the end of 1997, she sailed for Premier Cruises as REMBRANDT. Since the company went bankrupt in 2000, her fate was uncertain. In order to save the ship from demolition, the Steamship Rotterdam Foundation (click on English in the upper righthand corner) was established. After a lot of trouble the foundation succeeded in bringing the ROTTERDAM back to Rotterdam. Since 2010 she is open to the public. See the website of the ROTTERDAM.