SS Nieuw Amsterdam (1937)
Nieuw Amsterdam at Hook of Holland in 1949 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | |
| Name | Nieuw Amsterdam |
| Namesake | New Amsterdam |
| Owner | NASM |
| Operator | Holland America Line |
| Port of registry | Rotterdam |
| Route |
|
| Ordered | 1935 |
| Builder | Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij. Rotterdam |
| Cost | 20 million guilders |
| Yard number | 200 |
| Laid down | January 3, 1936 |
| Launched | April 10, 1937 |
| Completed | April 23, 1938 |
| Maiden voyage | May 10, 1938 |
| Out of service | 1973 |
| Refit | 1947, 1961 |
| Identification |
|
| Nickname(s) | "Darling of the Dutch" |
| Fate | Scrapped 1974 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 88.3 ft (26.9 m) |
| Draft | 31 ft 6 in (9.60 m) |
| Depth | 50.0 ft (15.2 m) |
| Decks | 5 |
| Installed power | 8,116 NHP, 34,620 ihp |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed |
|
| Capacity |
|
| Troops | 6,800 |
| Crew | 700 |
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
| Armament | in Second World War: 36 guns |
SS Nieuw Amsterdam was a Dutch transatlantic ocean liner that was built in 1938 and scrapped in 1974. She was the second Holland America Line (Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij, or NASM) ship to be named after the former Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now New York.
When new, Nieuw Amsterdam was the largest and swiftest ship in NASM's fleet, the largest ship in the Dutch merchant fleet, and the largest ship ever built in the Netherlands. She succeeded Statendam as NASM's flagship. She was the Netherlands' "ship of state", just as Normandie was for France, Queen Mary was for the United Kingdom, and Rex was for Italy.
Her peacetime career, both before and after the Second World War, was seasonal. She made transatlantic crossings between Rotterdam and Hoboken, New Jersey from about April to December, and cruises from about December to April. She cruised from NASM's terminal in Hoboken, mostly to the Caribbean. She twice cruised around South America: the first time early in 1939, and the second time early in 1950.
From 1940 to 1946 Nieuw Amsterdam was an Allied troopship. She served mostly in and around the Indian Ocean, but also in the Atlantic, and occasionally in the Pacific.
By 1969 she had started cruising from Port Everglades, Florida. In 1971, she ceased scheduled transatlantic services and was employed solely for cruising. She was withdrawn at the end of 1973, and scrapped in Taiwan in 1974.