SS Nieuw Amsterdam was a steam ocean liner that was launched in Ireland in 1905, completed in 1906 and scrapped in Japan in 1932. Holland America Line (Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij or NASM) owned and operated her throughout her career.
She was the first of four NASM ships to have been named after the former Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. She was the largest and swiftest ship in the company's fleet until entered service in 1908.
The ship's usual route was between Rotterdam and Hoboken. She remained in service through most of the First World War, despite numerous disruptions by the Allied and German navies. In 1918 she repatriated Dutch seafarers whose ships had been seized by the US government, and in 1919 she repatriated members of the American Expeditionary Forces from France. In 1922 a cargo fire damaged the ship, and she was under repair for the next six months.
In July 1931 the North Atlantic Shipping Conference responded to a slump in trade by agreeing to reduce the number of passenger liners running between Europe and North America. Nieuw Amsterdam was one of a number of older ships that were identified as surplus. In January 1932 she was sold to be broken up.
Building Harland & Wolff laid down the ship in Belfast as yard number 366 on slipway number 1 on 21 January 1904. She was launched on 28 September 1905 and completed on 6 March 1906. Her lengths were overall and registered. Her beam was and her depth was . Her tonnages were , and .
She had berths for 440 first class, 246 second class and 2,200 steerage passengers. Her passenger accommodation included a Dutch smoking room, decorated with views of New Amsterdam; a Japanese-style tea room; and an Empire style social hall. Her holds had capacity for of grain, or of baled cargo.
Nieuw Amsterdam was the first NASM ship to have quadruple expansion steam engines. She had twin engines driving twin screws. The combined power output of her two engines was rated at 1,767 NHP or 11,000 ihp. They gave her a speed of . She was a coal-burner. Her bunkers held 3,000 tons of coal, and at sea she burnt 100 tons a day. She had four masts, and was the last NASM ship to be equipped with auxiliary sails. She never used them.
NASM registered the ship at Rotterdam. Her code letters were PMSV. The Marconi Company equipped her for wireless telegraphy.
Early years Nieuw Amsterdam joined NASM's , , on the route between Rotterdam and Hoboken via Boulogne. She began her maiden voyage on 7 April 1906, and reached Hoboken on 16 April.
On 24 August 1906, while steaming up the Nieuwe Waterweg to Rotterdam, Nieuw Amsterdam grounded near Maassluis. Her passengers were transferred to smaller vessels, and part of her cargo was discharged to lighters.She was refloated the next day.
Nieuw Amsterdams boat deck was glazed-in in 1908. She represented the Netherlands at the Hudson–Fulton Celebration in September and October 1909. Her bridge deck was extended in 1910. By the middle of 1910 she was equipped for submarine signalling.
On 28 March 1910, Nieuw Amsterdam arrived at Ellis Island carrying passengers including 600 Dutch emigrants who intended to farm in the Dakotas, Iowa and Minnesota. However, one passenger was found to have smallpox, so 150 of them were quarantined at the isolation hospital on Hoffman Island. On 31 October 1910, the ship arrived at Hoboken carrying passengers including the soprano Lydia Lipkowska and singers of the Boston Opera Company.
On 15 April 1912 White Star Line's RMS Titanic sank with the loss of 1,517 lives. Under public scrutiny after the disaster, other companies admitted that their passenger ships carried too few lifeboats. Holland America Line was one of them, and the company duly had five more lifeboats installed aboard Nieuw Amsterdam, positioned on her poop deck. By 1913 her wireless telegraph call sign was MHB, but by 1914 it had been changed to PEB.
On a westbound crossing in November 1913, a passenger in second class, Mrs Bakker, was taken ill. She was admitted to the ship's hospital, but died two days after leaving Rotterdam. The Second Class chief stewardess took care of Mrs Bakker's three children, who were aged five, seven, and nine. Nieuw Amsterdams Master, Captain Baron, intended for Mrs Bakker's body to be buried at sea. Passengers raised a fund of $200 for the family, and asked Captain Baron to have her body embalmed for burial ashore instead. Despite having a wireless telegraph, Nieuw Amsterdam did not tell Mr Bakker of his wife's death. On 1 December he arrived at Hoboken to meet his family, and was told of his wife's death as he was meeting his eldest daughter. He thanked passengers for their generosity, and said he would have his wife's body buried in their home town of Ionia, Michigan.
On a westbound crossing in February 1914, Nieuw Amsterdam weathered continuous storms all the way from the English Channel to New York Bay. On 12 February, waves swept away two of her lifeboats, damaged three others, and bent one of her steel bulkheads. On that day she made only in 24 hours. At times her engines were reduced to dead slow; just enough to maintain steerage into the storm. Three crew members and two passengers were injured in the voyage. One passenger suffered a broken leg and several fractured ribs. On 13 February she altered course to avoid a waterspout, which passed within of the ship. On 15 February she sighted an iceberg at . The ship reached Hoboken on 19 February, three days late. Despite the storms, she had averaged during the voyage.
First World War
The First World War began on 28 July 1914. Because many people wanted to leave Europe, NASM created emergency berths for 50 people in Nieuw Amsterdams baggage room. On 8 August she left Rotterdam carrying a record number of passengers. Early in her voyage, a Royal Navy torpedo boat stopped and inspected her near the North Hinder Light. Off Plymouth the next day, another Royal Navy torpedo boat stopped and inspected her again. On the evening of 16 August the cruiser stopped her east of the Ambrose Channel Lightship, which asked if the Dutch liner had seen any German cruisers. By the time she reached Hoboken on 17 August, Nieuw Amsterdam was carrying 1,934 passengers: 647 in first class, 494 in second, and 793 in third.
As Nieuw Amsterdam returned from Hoboken on her way to Rotterdam, the French armed merchant cruiser (AMC) :de:La Savoie stopped and inspected her. 400 German and 250 Austrians, reported to be military reservists returning home, were found aboard. La Savoie interned them and took them to Crozon in Brittany.
On 21 September, Nieuw Amsterdam arrived at Hoboken with 1,793 passengers, most of whom were German Americans. The Entente Powers often inspected neutral ships, to try to ensure they were not violating their blockade of the Central Powers. On 29 September she left Hoboken for Rotterdam. On 8 October, UK authorities held her at Plymouth.
1915 On 18 January 1915, the armed merchant cruiser HMS stopped and inspected Nieuw Amsterdam off Sandy Hook. US citizens were required to show their passports.
In the North Sea on 29 May 1915, Nieuw Amsterdam passed within of three British trawlers as three German biplanes tried to attack them. The next day, a Royal Navy AMC stopped Nieuw Amsterdam and ordered her to anchor at The Downs. Six German and Austrian passengers were arrested. One was later released, but the other five were taken to an internment camp near Margate. The ship was detained at The Downs for four and a half days. British authorities did not allow passengers ashore, but local fishing smacks delivered newspapers and telegrams to the ship each day. On 30 June 1915 Nieuw Amsterdam was again anchored at The Downs, when another steamship collided with her. It was the eighth collision at The Downs in three days.
In September 1915 the US Government accused the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Washington, Konstantin Dumba, of trying to organise the sabotage of US munitions production. Austria-Hungary recalled Dumba, and on 5 October he left Hoboken for Rotterdam aboard Nieuw Amsterdam.
On 14 December 1915 Nieuw Amsterdam left Hoboken for Rotterdam. The Royal Navy detained her at The Downs and seized all her mail. As she left The Downs, the liner grounded at Forkspit, off Deal. She was refloated at noon, and continued to Rotterdam.
On 31 December 1915 Nieuw Amsterdam left Rotterdam for Hoboken. A Royal Navy cruiser intercepted her the next day, and she was held at The Downs for 24 hours. She was then held at Falmouth for five days, where her mail was censored, and 150 bags of mail from Germany were seized. She reached Hoboken with 550 passengers on 15 January 1916.
1916
On 16 March 1916 a German U-boat sank the Dutch liner by torpedo in the North Sea. NASM introduced extra safety measures. Nieuw Amsterdam was equipped with 38 life rafts to supplement her lifeboats. Two seagoing tugs would follow her across the North Sea, and the Dutch government stationed another tug off the North Hinder Lightship, off the mouth of the Maas. A sailing of Nieuw Amsterdam from Rotterdam that had been scheduled for 29 April was postponed until 8 May.
Early in August 1916, UK authorities again seized Nieuw Amsterdams mail when she was headed for Rotterdam. By October 1916, her route between Rotterdam and Falmouth was via Orkney and the north coast of Scotland instead of the English Channel. At first the UK authorities required neutral ships on this route to call at Kirkwall for inspection. From the end of October this requirement was suspended, because of the dangers of northern Scotland's rocky coast in winter. The ships would still be inspected at Falmouth.
On 17 November 1916 Nieuw Amsterdam reached Hoboken carrying cargo including dyes worth $1 million for Herman A. Metz, President of Farbwerke Hoechst. It was alleged that the dyes were for printing US banknotes. The UK government had ceased granting permits for German dyes to be exported for this purpose.
On 21 December 1916, the naval trawler HMT St. Ives was sent to sweep for mines to let Nieuw Amsterdam enter Falmouth. Off St Anthony Head the trawler hit a mine laid by a German U-boat, which sank her, killing 11 of her crew. In Falmouth, UK authorities removed one Hungarian passenger from Nieuw Amsterdam. The ship reached Hoboken on 2 January 1917. Among her passengers were 214 Belgian refugees, all with relatives in the USA. They included 84 children, some of whom travelled unaccompanied. The Belgians were held at Ellis Island, and reached New York on 4 January.
1917 In February 1917 Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. Nieuw Amsterdam was recalled to port by wireless, and arrived off Hook of Holland on 3 February. She was laid up in Rotterdam until 30 June, when she left for Hoboken carrying passengers but no cargo or mail.
On 6 April 1917 the USA declared war against the Central Powers. From about August 1917, the USA started detaining Dutch ships in US ports. By the beginning of October, Nieuw Amsterdam was in "an Atlantic port" of the US, loaded with 10,000 tons of corn for the Commission for Relief in Belgium. However, the US Exports Administrative Board would not let her leave port, because the USA was considering using neutral ships for US war service. By early November, she had embarked 300 Dutch refugees, who wished to return to the Netherlands, but the War Trade Board still would not release her. She was finally allowed to leave New York on 24 November, but then the UK authorities detained her at Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was there during the Halifax Explosion on 6 December. A week later the UK authorities would not release her, because Germany would not guarantee her safe passage. However, by 15 December NASM hoped that she would soon be allowed to continue.
Early 1918