Blokland van, Henricus Franciscus Theodorus Willem

Van Blokland was born in the town of Weltevreden, part of the city of Batavia (capital of the Dutch East Indies) on 10 January 1896. Here his father was a captain in the Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) for the Infantry.

His fathers full name was  (*) Mr. Henricus Franciscus Theodorus van Blokland. The name of his mother was Hendrika Wilhelmina de Jongh.  (a)

(*) He was deceased by the time Blokland Jr. was accepted at the Maritime Academy, hence the acceptance articles were signed by the mother. A contemporary newspaper reported that captain H.F.Th. van Blokland retired with full pension from the army on 02 March 1898.

He had been given in May 1893 a 2 year furlough to Europe due to illness. It was then announced that on 17 October 1901 captain van Blokland had passed away. Among the decorations was a 4^th. class knighthood of the Military Willemsorde. (This is a Dutch decoration for outstanding bravery which is very seldom handed out. A 4^th. class is normally the highest a regular military man can achieve.

Class 1: For Field Marshals, Admirals and Heads of State.

Class 2: For Generals in the field and Admirals at sea

Class 3: For those who already have nbr 4. and have reached the rank of General or Admiral.

So to get the M.W.O class 4, is not a mean feat.

(In Dutch the name “Van Blokland” indicates coming from a location called “Blokland”. There are two “Bloklands” in the Netherlands, a town north east of The Hague and a farming locality in the center of the Netherlands near the city of Utrecht. The name means “enclosed land”, e.g. land enclosed by a dyk.)

It is unclear yet of he had any brothers and sisters but the newspapers give a large numbers of “Bloklands” with similar initials from 1880 onwards until well in 1940’s who were all stationed in the Dutch East Indies.

The family at that time (1913) was living in the city of Arnhem (Van Lek/ Dekstraat 64). His mother remarried with Adriaan Antonie Walraven (born 02 Aug. 1867 at Terneuzen. ED: It will be interesting to find out eventually, if this gentleman was related to the Bastiaan Carolus Walraven who by that time was captain with Holland America. If so he might have been the inspiration for Blokland Jr. to go to sea and not to follow in his fathers foot steps. Still the army must have appealed to him somewhat as he was rated excellent in weaponry while at the maritime academy and also managed to rise to the rank of Lieutenant during his national service time which is un-usual for a sailor pushed into a land army situation, starting as a regular soldier.

He entered as Cadet into the “Kweekschool voor de Zeevaart in Amsterdam” on 17 September 1913.  He followed the two year course which indicated that he had several years of secondary schooling, including mathematics and physics. Finished as number 40 of the 72 cadets of his year. His scores were sufficient but not outstanding except for “Weaponry” where he had the top marks of a 10 and a 9. (b)

On 16 August 1915 he was placed as Cadet on board the ss Zaandijk (I) sailing from Rotterdam to North America. In October 1915 he transferred to the ss Westerdijk which ship was employed on the service Rotterdam – New York and North East American ports on a bi-monthly schedule. He returned to the school on 31 August 1916 and passed his 3^rd mate license on 21 December 1916. He is then discharged from the academy on 31 December 1916 with good marks for skills, a good attest for his sailing year and excellent marks for behavior. (b)

His plans to rejoin Holland America are put on hold as he is called up for military service and reaches the rank of Lieutenant. Dismissed in 1919 he rejoined Holland America as 4^th. officer and is placed on board the ss Gorredijk (I).

He is noted again to be in military service in the summer of 1924 as he kept his reserve officer status going. Eventually he would retire in ???? as reserve officer. Then shortly after on 22 January 1925, while at school studying for his first mates / captains license, he married Jacoba Helena Knuth (born 09 March 1906 at Amsterdam), daughter of Mr. Frans Jacob Heinrich Knuth and Geertruida Visser. At that moment they are noted to live at “Ginneken en Bavel”(**). This is  a small municipality east of Breda in the province of North Brabant.  The marriage is annulled on 28 August 1940. (Noted on 27 November 1940 in the Amsterdam registry). There were 3 children.

(**) Blokland Jr. is entered in the persons registration there from 01 January 1912.

So far I have only found the name of one daughter:  Alice van Blokland.

During the depression he was one of the “lucky” officers for not being dismissed due to the reduction in personnel. The company had a policy to let go the youngest in each rank, who were either not married or did not have any children. By 1930 he was one of the senior officers in his 2^nd rank group, plus he was married and had children. He just had to adjust to the fact that his wages were reduced with the depression getting more and more severe. Being senior is easy to see from his sailing list as he sailed for the duration of the depression on the passenger ships. But he was at once promoted to Chief Officer in 1936 when times were getting better and more company ships came back into service from layup.

In 1939 he was called back for active service in the Dutch army due to the threat of war with Nazi Germany. Hence when The Netherlands had to caputilate due to the Rotterdam bombings, he was stuck in The Netherlands for the duration of the war.  During the occupation he managed to avoid being deported to Germany in 1941 (which officially was ordered to all Dutch Military living in the Netherlands) by moving to Friesland and taking a job there with the help of false identity papers. Officially he was employed by the CDK = Central Distribution Office, which duties included inspecting whether nobody was hiding contraband and other goods that should have been reported to the Occupier. It gave an excellent chance to work for the Dutch Underground and thus ensure that only that was “reported” what was not of much use anyway.  (e)

As Chief Officer van Blokland was stuck in the Netherlands he thus had the chance to remarry on 24 January 1941, at Rotterdam, Elisabeth Wilhelmina Hendrica Kelder (born 1900 in Amsterdam – passed away 1989) daughter of Jan Peter Kelder (company manager) and Elisabeth Wilhelmina Hendrica Witteveen. She was divorced from Melchior Dominicus Hendrikus Glansbeek. (a)

With the war over, he reported back to Holland America and was at once promoted to captain of the ss Philips Wouwermans, a cargo ship owned by the Dutch Government but managed and crewed by Holland America. He made one voyage with the ship leaving on 05 August 1946 from Rotterdam and sailing to Montreal and then back to Rotterdam (arrival 26 August). This was the last voyage the ship made in HAL management. His was also a last minute appointment as for some reason Captain Gaart had to go home. Hence Captain van Blokland was already captain and away at sea before his promotion was made official on 16 August. While underway the ship was transferred to the “Netherland line” of Amsterdam and later renamed in ss “Ceram”.

The Holland America decided to buy a large number of USA surplus cargo ships to restart their cargo liner service. In total 13 of these ships were purchased and Captain Van Blokland was assigned to the ss Abbedyk, a victory class ship originally called the ss Milford Victory. For this he, with his crew, travelled to Seattle on the West coast of the USA and thus he leaves on 18^th. of January 1947 with the ss Amsteldyk (II) from Rotterdam. Slowly but steadily all the crew arrive in the USA with various HAL ships, regroup in Seattle, and then the  ship is handed over on 06 March at Todd Pacific Shipyard in Seattle. It entered service at once, loading cargo in Tacoma, Olympia, Billingham, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cristobal (bunkers) and then sailed to London and Rotterdam for discharging; entering Rotterdam on 11 May 1947. After 11 days at home he then set sout again with the ss Abbedyk for the next voyage, this time going to the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1953 he was captain onboard the ms Dongedyk. A short observation from one of his navigation officers from those days says that he was a large (***) and very quiet man, who seldom visited the bridge, except at 09.00, and 12.00 (When it was time for the noon position observations) and then again after dinner with the passengers, late in the evening. (d)

(***) The records of the Maritime academy indicate that he had a length of 188 cm., almost 6 feet 2 inches, which was very tall for those days.

Captain Blokland retired from Holland America on 20 January 1956 after the arrival of his last ship the ss Ryndam (II) in Rotterdam. In a newspaper article of 23 January1956 he said that given the chance he would take another job because he felt much too young to do nothing and also because his pension was much too small to live on.

In Febr. 1957 the company offered him an official retirement party.

Captain H.F.T.W van Blokland passed away on 01 January 1970 at Dordrecht (hospital?) and was cremated at the Crematory at Ockenburg in The Hague.  His last address Boterbloemstraat 7 Papendrecht. (a)

There was a remembrance announcement by his colleagues of the “International Cargo Inspection Bureau” (****) of Rotterdam, hence Captain Blokland did indeed take another job after his retirement. The HAL pension for those who retired shortly after the war was not very good. Some captains carried out coastal / relieve voyages on the HAL ships and others had some sort of job after retirement to complement their meager pension. (**** a “google” in newspapers and the internet did not provide any information what sort of company this was and if it is still exists)

Sailing List (a, f.)

Date:                    Function:                            Ship:                                    Wages and/or remarks.

16 Aug. 1915      Cadet                                  Zaandijk                              20,–

14 Oct. 1915       Cadet                                  Westerdijk                          20,–

31 Aug. 1916      Temporary dismissed to go to school for 3^rd mates license

21 Dec. 1916      Passed for 3^rd mates license.

06 Feb. 1917       In military service. Achieves the rank of Lieutenant.

01 Aug. 1919      4^th. Officer                         Gorredijk                            100,–

01 Jan. 1920       Wage increase                                                               110,–

28 Jun. 1921       3^rd officer                                                                        125,–

Wage increase to                                                                                        170,–    starting 1 Jan. 1920

12 Jun.1921        Temporary ashore due to illness

15 Aug. 1921      3rd officer                          Maasdijk                             170,–

01 Sept. 1921     Wage decrease                                                              161.50

16 Oct. 1921       Wage decrease                                                              153,–

17 Nov. 1921      Temporary ashore to go to school to study for 2^nd mates license

23 Mar. 1922      Passed exam for 2^nd mate

28 Mar. 1922      3^rd officer                           ashore                                 140,–

07 Apr. 1922       3^rd officer                           Amsteldijk                          140,–

28 Apr. 1922       3^rd officer                           Waaldijk                             140,–

16 Aug. 1922      Temporary ashore

18 Sep. 1922       3^rd officer                           Ijseldijk                                140,–

06 Oct. 1922       3^rd officer                           Moerdijk                             140,–

07 Jul. 1923         Temporary shore

17 Aug. 1923      3^rd officer                           Noorderdijk                       140,–

16 Nov. 1923      3rd officer                          Moerdijk                             140,–

29 Mar.1924       Act. 2^nd officer                  Edam                                   210,–

24 May 1924       Act. Chief Officer              Edam                                   285,–

15 Jun. 1924       Act. 2^nd officer                  Edam                                   240,–

25 Jun. 1924       3^rd officer                           ashore                                 140,–

14 Jul. 1924         In military service

03 Aug. 1924      Temporary ashore

11 Aug. 1924      3^rd officer                           Veendam                            140,–

17 Sep. 1924       Act. 2nd officer                 Ijseldijk                                240,–

16 Dec. 1924      3^rd officer                           Noordam                            140,–

19 Dec. 1924      Temporary ashore to go to school to study for first mate

06 Jul. 1925         Passed for first mates certificate

07 Jul.1925          Temporary ashore

01 Sep.1925        3^rd officer                           Binnendijk                          140,–

09 Sep. 1925       2^nd officer                           Zijldijk                                  240,–

27 May. 1926     Temporary ashore

14 Jun. 1926       2^nd officer                           Breedijk                              240,–

15 Jun. 1927      2^nd officer                           Burgerdijk                           240,–

25 Jul. 1927         2^nd officer                           Noordam                            210,–

08 Aug. 1927      in military service

29 Aug. 1927      2^nd officer                           Ashore                                210,–

01 Sep. 1927       2^nd officer                           Gaasterdijk                      210,–

01 Dec. 1927      2^nd officer                           Rotterdam                         210,–

12 Mar. 1929      Wage increase to                                                             215,–

16 Jan. 1930       2^nd officer                           Rotterdam                         215,–

Senior on 2 April 1930, then 5 years 2^nd officer.

Wage increase to                                                                                                   230,– starting 1 Jan. 1930

09 Apr. 1931       Temporary ashore                                                              230,–    due to scarlet fever at home

15 May. 1931     2^nd officer                           Nieuw Amsterdam           230,–

05 Nov. 1931      Temporary ashore                                                               230,–

12 Nov. 1931      Wage decrease to                                                                208,–

And put on 70% standby money

04 Jan. 1932       2^nd officer                           Veendam                            208,–

08 May. 1932     Temporary                         Ashore                                  208,–

23 May. 1932     2^nd officer                           Veendam                            208,–

18 Sep. 1932       Temporary ashore 70%                                                208,–    port watch

25 Sep.1932        2^nd officer                           Breedijk                              208,–

08 Oct.1932        2^nd officer                           Veendam                            208,–

23 Jun.1933        Wage decrease# with 5% in accordance with circulaire No 929 dated 27 june 1933

09 Jul.1933          2^nd officer                           Veendam at 70%              208,–

23 Jul. 1933         Temporary ashore                                                              208,–    Regular leave

02 Aug. 1933      2^nd Officer                          Veendam             70%       208,–

07 Aug. 1933      2^nd officer                           Veendam                               208,–

19 Oct. 1933       2^nd Officer                          Veendam             70%       208,–

25 Oct. 1933       2^nd Officer                          Delftdijk                                208,–    port watch

30 Oct. 1933       2^nd officer                           Boschdijk                               203,-      port watch

12 Nov. 1933      Temporary ashore at 70%                                               208,–

15 Nov. 1933      2^nd Officer                          Blommersdijk                      208,– port watch

25 Nov. 1933      Temporary ashore at 70%                                               208,–

29 Nov. 1933      2^nd Officer                          Statendam                             208,–

05 Dec. 1933      2^nd officer                           Dinteldijk                                208,–

14 Dec. 1933      2^nd officer                           Dinteldijk at 70%               208,–

28 Dec. 1933      Wage decrease to                                                                187,20 see circ 929 dated 28 june 33

06 Jan. 1934       2^nd Officer                          Dinteldijk                            187,20

08 Jan. 1934       2^nd officer                           Breedijk                              187,20

07 May. 1934     2^nd officer                           Veendam                            187,20

01 Oct. 1934       Wage decrease to                                                            181,–

28 Oct. 1934       Temporary ashore                                                            181,–    regular leave

02 Nov. 1934      2^nd officer                           Veendam                            181,–

19 Jan. 1935       2^nd Officer                          Maasdam                           181,–

04 Feb. 1935       2^nd Officer                          Edam                                    181,–

25 Feb. 1935       2^nd Officer                          Veendam                            181,–

01 Oct. 1936       Temporary ashore                                                            181,–    Regular leave

19 Oct. 1936       Act. Chief Officer              Breedijk                              208,–

19 Jun. 1937      Temporary ashore                                                               208,–    regular leave

01 Oct. 1937       According to new regulation                                        238,25

17 Jul. 1937         Chief Officer                      Blommersdijk                      208,–

GAP

TBA as here the company records in the archives stop. More information is held by the HAL Pension fund in Rotterdam but these records are not accessible for researchers.

1940 – 1945/46 stuck at home in occupied Holland.

Appointed Captain on 13 August 1946.

05 Aug.1946      Captain                               Philips Wouwermans                      Until 29 Aug. 1946

18 Aug.1947       Captain                             Travelling to collect Abbedyk.

06 Mar.1947       Captain                               Abbedyk                              xxx         Until 06 Aug. 1948

Leaves Rotterdam on 18 January 1947 with the ss Amsteldyk (II) to NY and then Seattle for collecting the ship.

01 Sep.1948        Captain                               Sloterdyk (II)                      xxx         Until 04 Sep. 1949

10 Oct.1949        Captain                               Blommersdyk (II)              coastal  Until 15 Oct. 1949

03 Nov.1949       Captain                               Arkeldyk                                             Until 21 Jul. 1950

06 Oct.1950        Captain                               Alblasserdyk

10 Nov.1952       Captain                               Almdyk                                coastal Until 20 Nov. 1952

01 Jan.1953        Captain                               Alblasserdyk                                      Until 09 Jun. 1953

26 Jun.1953        Captain                               Dongedyk                                          Until 04 Nov. 1955

31 Oct.1955 (+)  Captain                               Ryndam (II)                                       Until 20 Jan.1956 (++)

(+ Appointed on this date. He transferred directly from the Dongedyk to the Ryndam with 3 days leave in between. First departure from Rotterdam on 08 Nov.1955.

(++) Retires this day from ship and company

Passed away 06 Jan. 1970.

Sources:

• E.A Kruidhof.
• Comportimenten boeken Kweekschool van de Zeevaart, Amsterdam.
• Stamboeken Holland Amerika Lijn Archief as held by the Municipal Archives of the City of Rotterdam.
• Frank van der Meulen (Ex Holland America Line Deck Officer from the 1950’s)
• Dutch newspapers via the Search engine “Delpher”.
• Albert Archives.

Last Updated: 08 July 2025