SS Rotterdam (1872)

Construction

Rotterdam was constructed in 1872 at the Henderson, Coulborn & Co. shipyard in Renfrew, Scotland, United Kingdom. She was completed in 1872 and launched on 6 June 1872. She was named Rotterdam after the Dutch city (of the same name) and served from 1872 until her demise in 1883.

The ship was 81.8 metres (268 ft 4 in) long, with a beam of 10.7 metres (35 ft 1 in) and had a depth of 8.7 metres (28 ft 7 in). The ship was assessed at 1,694 GRT and had 2 decks. She had a 1 x 4 cyl quadruple expansion engine driving a single screw propeller but she could also use her 10 sails for propulsion. The engine was rated at 1300 ihp.

Maiden Voyage

She commenced her maiden voyage on the 15 October 1872 sailing from Rotterdam, The Netherlands via Plymouth, United Kingdom to New York, United States with on board were 10 Cabin class passengers, 60 emigrants and 600 tons of cargo was carried. The crossing was made in 14 days and 6 hours. This was also the first voyage of an own ship for the company. The ship left New York on the 5 November 1872 to return to Rotterdam.

The Boston Forger Escape

Some excitement occurred on 28 January 1876 when the New York Times reported that the wellknown “Boston Forger” Mr. E.D Winslow, had escape from the United States to Holland by taking passage on the SS Rotterdam. He had his family (3 persons), a Bankers draft for 3,700 Dutch Guilders and $200,000 in Gold coins with him. He was followed in hot pursuit by two Detectives but they only traced him to the Holland America docks by the time the ship had sailed. As the USA had no extradition treaty with the Netherlands, his escape was complete.

The 1879 Incident

On 29 November 1879 the New York Herald reported that the arrival of the ship created quite a stir as she arrived minus her foremast and her steerage quarters completely wrecked. The ship had left Rotterdam on 8 November 1879 and should have arrived, with good weather, in New York on 20 November. Some ferocious weather had caused considerable damage to the ship and had resulted in a delay of 6 days as she docked on the 26 November 1879. There were no reports about any casualties.

New Boilers

In the Spring of 1883 the ship is refurbished and new boilers are installed at the yard of the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij in Rotterdam. (2,040 Brt.) this improves the fuel consumption considerably. The ship returns to service but only makes a few crossings.

Sinking

On 26 September 1883, Rotterdam was on her 65th voyage from New York, United States to Rotterdam, The Netherlands under the command of captain Samuel Jacob Krijt when she ran ashore on the Zeehondenbank near the Dutch island of Schouwen. All 56 passengers survived the incident and were all evacuated from the ship by the local life boat the Zierikzee (A local fishing vessel, adapted for this purpose) and landed safely ashore. The crew arrived shortly after having been transferred to the tugboat Nieuwesluis which had been sent out after the stranded ship had sent out a request. Later on a 2nd tugboat, the Hellevoetsluis was dispatched. However the ship was sitting so high up on the bank that very little could be done.

Then the weather turned for the worse and the abandoned ship broke into two pieces on 12 October 1883 due to the pounding waves building up over the Sandbank and eventually the hull disappeared under the sea. Any salvageable items were sold by public auction on 29 October 1883. Some remains of the wreck are still there, located in 5 meters deep water and it sometimes visited by local divers.

Wreck

The wreck lies 5 meters deep and is still very good divable and in a reasonable state. You can still find the funnel.51°41′08″N 3°36′50″E