''SS Veendam'' was a

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). C ...

built for the

Holland America Line Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operated ...

. Built in 1922 by Harland & Wolff Limited, in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south b ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, she would operate on transatlantic routes between

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

via the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. In 1941 she was seized by the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with th ...

as an accommodation ship and in 1945 after heavy damage, she was returned to her former owners the Holland America Line. She would go on to serve for another eight years before she was scrapped in 1953 at

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. She was the sister ship of SS ''Volendam''.

Construction and design

''Veendam'' was built by

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the ...

for the Holland America Line. She was built as yard number 650, launched on 18 November 1922, and completed on 20 March 1923. The ship had an overall length of , a beam of , a draft of and a depth of . She was propelled by four Brown – Curtis

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turb ...

s that drove two

screws A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...

. It developed 8000

shaft horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are th ...

(6,000 kW) of which gave ''Veendam'' a top speed of . ''Veendam'' was constructed out of steel and had four decks. Initially, passenger accommodation was divided into three classes, 263 in first class, 435 in second class and 1200 in third class. As for crew, she would usually carry a crew complement of 328.

History

Peacetime service

''Veendam'' commenced her maiden voyage on 18 April 1923 from

. In 1923 she became to first

cruise to the

from New York. On 15 July 1927, ''Veendam'' collided withand sunk the Norwegian steamer Sagaland. ''Veendam'' was involved in another collision on 28 May 1928 when she was struck on the port side by the steamship ''Castrico''. The collision flooded her boiler room and number four passenger deck. She was towed to

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 ...

and repaired.

Wartime service

After the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, she continued her transatlantic voyages between

and

. On 17 September 1939, with the British cargo ship ''Collingworth,'' she rescued survivors from the aircraft carrier , which had sunk. During the Battle of the Netherlands, she was caught in the crossfire between Dutch and German troops. This caused a crane to collapse and smash into the deck resulting in a minor fire of which was quickly extinguished. Unlike her sister ship ''Volendam'', she was unable to avoid capture by Axis troops. In January 1941 she was transferred to the

and was converted into an accommodation ship for off-duty

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

crews. During 1943 she was struck repeatedly by

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called a ...

bombs with one setting the ship on fire and severely damaging the engine room. On 31 December 1944, she was set on fire again after another Allied bomb strikes the first class accommodation. She was hit repeatedly until the

Capture of Hamburg The Capture of Hamburg was one of the last battles of World War II, where the remaining troops of the German 1st Parachute Army (Germany), 1st Parachute Army fought the British XII Corps (United Kingdom), XII Corps for the control of Hamburg, Ger ...

on 4 May 1945.

Postwar service and scrapping

After the end of the

, she was used as an accommodation ship for returning Dutch crews. Soon afterwards she was returned to the

. However, the ship was in very poor shape as she was partially submerged and suffered heavy fire damage as a result of negligence and bomb damage. The ship was towed to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and would finish repairs in 1947. After the repairs, she continued operations as an Ocean liner and primarily ferried post-war immigrants between

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and North America.

Fate

On 30 October 1953 ''Veendam'' concluded her final voyage with 600 passengers in New York. She sailed under her own power to Baltimore and was scrapped in November 1953 by the

Bethlehem Steel Company The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

References

External links

SS Veendam passenger lists (1923 - 1948)

Images related to the SS Veendam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veendam (1922) 1922 ships Passenger ships of the Netherlands Ships built in Govan Ships built by Harland and Wolff Ships of the Holland America Line Steamships of the Netherlands Troop ships of the Netherlands