Jong de, Auke
Captain Auke De Jong. company photo early 60s. (a)
Captain Auke de Jong was born on 23 April 1908 in Dubbeldam, a small village east of city of Dordrecht. Dordrecht itself is located southeast of the City of Rotterdam. We do not know, yet what might have inspired Auke de Jong to go to sea but Holland America had a ship called the ss Dubbeldam between 1892 and 1895, so who knows.
His father Teije de Jong was a Doctor (G.P. for the English speaking world) in Dordrecht and lived at the Hugo de Grootlaan 43 in Dordrecht. His mothers name was Jacoba Antoniette Eijkman. Auke was named after his grandfather Auke Jans de Jong who lived in the village of Smallingerland in the province of Friesland.
For reasons unknown he went to the Maritime School in Harlingen (In the province of Friesland in the North of the Netherlands) for the first year and for the next two years to Amsterdam. As he does not show up in the register of the “Kweekschool voor de Zeevaart” the most prominent Maritime Academy in Amsterdam, we can assume that the attended the “Maritime School in the Seamans House” in Amsterdam which was open for those who had spent some time at sea already, could not get into the “Kweekschool” or attended for their next ranks.
The ss Spaardam (II) was a cargo passenger ship of a series of 4. Designed for the Rotterdam to Gulf of Mexico service via Spain and Cuba. This photo shows her around1929 (a)
In our case, we have to assume that the break in schools had a different reason because after he joined Holland America on 12 September 1927 as cadet on board the ss Spaarndam (II), he spent a full year as cadet so there were no previous sailing days he could have collected somewhere and that would have counted.
The ss Sommelsdyk (II) was a cargoship bought in 1912 to replace the first one which had burned out. By the 1930’s it was sailing on the long voyages to the Dutch East Indies from Rotterdam. (a)
After completing his cadetship, he failed his 3rd. mates exam with the notification that he had to wait for 3 months for his next try and then he passed. Whatever the reason was for this, Holland America did not seem to have minded it as after short illness he was engaged as 4th. officer on board the ss Sommelsdyk (II) on 9 September 1929.
For the next 2 years he then sails on board the ss Sommelsdyk but with the depression biting, he was mainly assigned as a watch officer for short periods on the ships in lay up in Rotterdam. Holland America used a rotation system for the surplus 4th. officers, so they did not have to be dismissed and still made some money.
The ss Rotterdam (IV) built in 1908 seen here arriving at New York in 1930. She had been the flagship of the company until the arrival of the ss Statendam (III) in 1929. (a)
This changed on 15 February 1931 when he was dismissed due to “over capacity”. By now Holland America was dismissing officers in every rank and those who were not married or did not have children went first. He was allowed to come back on 22 January 1932 to sail on the ss Rotterdam (IV) to complete the sailing days (total of 716 days) he needed to go to study for his second Mate’s rank. On 3rd of April 1932 he left Holland America and passed his 2nd Mates exam on the 9th. of May 1933.
The ss Boschdyk belonged to a series of 8 identical cargoships from the early 1920’s. She caught fire and burnt out in May 1940 during the invasion of Rotterdam. (a)
Auke de Jong was lucky as far as he only had a short spell away from the company, due him being away at school and was then taken back on again. Some Officers had to wait several years before a new opening became available . So on 18 December 1933 he was given an assignment as 4th. Officer on board the cargo ship ss Boschdyk and then for the next 3 years, he goes up and down in rank and rotates over various ships until 1936. By that year the company was bringing a lot of ships back in service and Auke de Jong is promoted to 2nd officer.
In 1937 the company changed to another administration system, which records are with the Holland America pension fund and they do not give access to historians. Hence we have gaps in his sailing period until he made captain.
GAP.
Somewhere in the 1903s he married Hendrika Wilhelmina van der Kulk (born 18 November 1910, and passed away at Dordrecht on 12 October 1979)
On 30 July 1938 a daughter Jacoba Antionette was born and on 30 June 1940 a son Dirk Auke. At that time the family was living at the Hugo de Grootlaan 3 in Dordrecht. (This according to the military files. According to the news papers there were 4 daughters) TBC
When the war broke out in the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, he was away at sea as 2nd officer on board the ss Nieuw Amsterdam and would not return to the Netherlands until 1945. He had joined the ship on 21 September 1939 for a regular crossing to New York and then the company decided that the ship was to valuable to stay on the North Atlantic now the 2nd worldwar had broken out on 05 September. The Kingdom of the Netherlands was neutral but whether an U-boat captain would respect that was another question. Also the danger of floating mines made the company decide to sent the ss Nieuw Amsterdam (II) cruising from New York to the West Indies.
A photo of the ss Nieuw Amsterdam (II) in the period between 5 September 1939 and 10 May 1940 (a)
When the war broke out the ship became a troopship in charter for the British and remained so until 1945. During the war he sent home a weekly stipend of $ 71.19, which reached the family by means of the underground system of “De Zeemanspot” run by Captain Filippo (see his biography on this website)
The ss Pennland burning and abondoned by her Officers and Crew (a)
Auke de Jong did not stay with the Nieuw Amsterdam, the ship went into lay-up, and he was transferred on 24 June 1940 to the ss Pennland. This ship had come to Holland America in 1939 when HAL had bought the Red Star Line. The company continued the Red Star service from Antwerp and decided not to rename the ship. The ss Pennland sailed from New York to Halifax and joined there a convoy for the crossing to Liverpool for conversion into a troopship. Then she sailed via South Africa and the Suez Canal to Alexandria in Egypt.
On 01 April 1941 she was sent to Greece with 2400 British troops who were landed in Pireaus to stop the advance of the German war machine. That did not work and they had to retreat. On 23 April the ship was sent empty from Alexandria to return to Greece to collect the retreating troops. While sailing, still empty.- into Phaleron Bay the Pennland was attacked with air torpedoes, caught fire , had to be abandoned and was later sunk by a British Frigate. All officers and crew, except 4 crewmembers who had died in the explosions, were saved. (See the biography of Captain Van Gemert on this website for more details)
Auke de Jong was sent to the ss Orontes (Orient lines) with the plan to go to New York. Somewhere in Africa he transferred to the ss Evangeline, which was (in peave time) a small American coastal ferry who indeed brought him to New York.
This air photo shows the two piers in Hoboken owned by the company in a 1948 air photo. in the foreground the ss Nieuw Amsterdam, who had just returned to commercial service. (a)
Contrary to most other officers he was not sent back to sea but given a desk job in the Hoboken office in the “Control Department”. He remained there until 22 July 1944. He also remained on the active list for sailing as he made promtion in rank to 2nd. Sr. Officer and later to Chief Officer while still ashore. Then the plan was to assign him to the ms Noordam (II) which was sailing from San Franciso but this was changed to an assignment with the ss Sommelsdyk (III). She was also sailing from SFO so the long train journey across the USA still had to be made. He left New York on 07 August, arrived in SFO on the 16th of August and then had to wait for the ship which was still in the South Pacific but on its way and indeed arrived in San Francisco on 29 August.
The ss Sommeldyk (III) was a cargoship with a limited passenger accommodation. Seen here on an USCG photo on 30 March 1942, sailing outwardbound from Philadelphia to New York (a)
Records indicate that he was still on board on 28 October 1944 (when voyage 18 ended in San Francisco) but no records yet whether he sailed with the ship again on voyage 19 on 08 November. If so then he was on board when the Sommelsdijk was hit by air torpedoes while at acnhor in the Gulf of Leyte. Which means that he was attacked by air torpedo’s twice in hi career. See the biography of Captain Stuut on this website;
https://www.captainalbert.com/captains-from-the-past/stuut-theunis/
GAP
Sometime later he was transferred as Chief Officer to the ms Delftdyk where he is recorded on being on board in November 1945. He arrived back in Rotterdam on 14 November and when the ship left again on 25 November, he was given a long leave from 26 november until 24 January 1946.
GAP.
From 1946 to 1949 he sailed as a Chief Officer on various ships until he pops up on 28 October 1949 on board the ss Nieuw Amsterdam. As the company had a strict seniority system in rankings, it meant for the officers that they constantly rotated over the fleet. When one gained seniority in rank it meant an almost direct transfer to a more senior ship. The Nieuw Amsterdam was the most senior ship in the fleet so the next step for the Chief Officer was promotion to Captain.
The bridge team of the Nieuw Amsterdam. This photo was taken on 24 October 1950. Commodore Coster (in the center) with all the deck officers. To the right of Capt. Coster, Chief officer Auke de Jong, now a few months away from promotion to captain. (a)
Holland America was buying in a quick tempo surplus American Victory cargo ships from the 2nd world war so promotion was going quite fast. This resulted in being assigned as captain to the ss Amsteldyk (II) on 09 March 1951. This cargo ship was sailing on the Rotterdam to New York route with coastal calls at European and American east coast ports. He stayed with this ship until 11 January 1952.
The ss Arendsdyk somewhere in a port, most likely Vancouver. (a)
Then on 16 May 1952 he was sent as a passenger with the ss Ryndam (II) to New York to take over command of the ss Arensdyk, also one the 10 new Victory cargoships bought by the company. He joined the ship on 27 May in New York (by walking across the company pier in Hoboken) and departed with her on 30 May for a voyage to South America; going as far as Buenos Aires. He made several of these voyages with some North Atlantic crossings thrown in and was relieved on 20 May 1953 again in New York. All in all he had been away for just over a year. This was a standard company procedure, to have all the junior captains go away from home for a year by assigning them to routes that did not call at Rotterdam. Once having done that one year, assignments on ships that called more regular in Rotterdam (and thus having leave between voyages) were given.
GAP
for text to follow for all the other ships and voyages.
summary of photos from the last few years still more text and sequene of events to be added.
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Being captain of a ship is not always standing on the bridge and worrying about the weather. There are lighter moments, especially when there are nice girls involved.
New York March 16, 1963. The 18 year old Barbara Bollmeijer was chosen as Beauty Queen of the N.Y press photographers. On board the ss Statendam she received flowers from Captain De Jong to mark the occasion. (Courtesy: Leeuwarder Courant 16 March 1963 page 3)
———–
Captain Auke de Jong given the courtesy title of Commodore of the Holland America Line
The new Commodore hoists (with the expert help of a quatermaster) the new commodore flag on 25 May 1965 in Rotterdam. (Photo courtesy from a comtemporary newspaper)
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On 27 April 1967 he received from Loco Burgomaster J.J V.D Lee of the Rotterdam the title of Officer in the Order Oranje Nassau. See photo below:
The Chief Steward (to the right) Mr. van Hilten became ” Knight in the order of Orange Nassau.
The Adjunct Chief Steward (to the left) Mr. de Waard, received the “Honory Medal of the Order of Orange Nassau.
Note for foreign readers: in the Dutch honor system an Officer is higher in the ranking then a knight (ridder) as an officer can “command/order” a knight what to do but not the other way arround. So it is different from the British system where a knight (KBE)) is higher than a commander (CBE).
Commodore Auke de Jong, receives the Order of Officer of Oranje Nassau. (Foto courtesy Schaart & Buyse)
Commodore Auke de Jong retired on 23 April 1968 from the ss Rotterdam. The only item he was allowed to take with him from the ship was his own Commodore flag, anything else went over to the new Sr. Captain of the Fleet. E.G. Heymans, who thusfar had relieved him between sailing periods. When he was asked what het best moment was of his career, he said that it had been the morning of arrival (23 April) when he sailed passed Hoek of Holland and his childeren were standing on the pier with a banner that said ” Welkom Auke”.
Last photo of the Captain on his bridge. 23 April 1963. “Finished with Engines”. (a)
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Captain Auke de Jong receives the commodore flag from HAL Director Viscount (JHR) Reuchlin on 23 April1968 in the Ritz Carlton on board the ss Rotterdam. (a)
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23 April 1968 Farewell party in the Ritz Carlton on board the ss Rotterdam. From left to right Capt. Heymans, Mr. Nico van der Vorm Chairman of the HAL, Captain Auke de Jong, Mrs. Auke de Jong (I assume), Director TBA, Director tBA.
On 11 October 1968, thus after his retirement, he received the gold medal of the Royal Netherlands meteorological Institute (KNMI) for services in regards collecting and submitting weather observations.
GAP. What did he do after retirement.
Passed away on 17 Feb 1982 at the age of 73 years old.
Still need to list all the WWII medals – see photos on retirement day.
Sailing schedules (b)
Date: Function: Ship: Wages and/or remarks.
12 Sep. 1927 Cadet Officer Spaarndam 52,–
04 Dec. 1927 Ashore 52,–
13 Dec. 1927 Cadet Officer Rijndam 52,–
29 Dec. 1927 Cadet Officer Vechtdijk 52,– At New York (for Dutch East Indies service)
04 Jul. 1928 Ashore 52,–
27 Aug. 1928 Cadet Officer Edam 52,–
19 Nov. 1928 Ashore for study for 3rd mates license
01 May. 1929 Rejected for 3 months.
26 Jul. 1929 Passed as exam for 3rd mate
27 Jul. 1929 4th. Officer ashore 100,–
Promoted to 4th. Officer but ill
09 Sep. 1929 4th. Officer Sommelsdijk 100,–
01 Jan. 1930 4th.Officer Sommelsdijk 115,–
17 May. 1930 4th. Officer Koudekerk 115,–
22 May. 1930 Temporary ashore 115,–
01 Jun. 1930 4th. Officer Bilderdijk 115,–
12 Jun. 1930 Temporary ashore 115,–
24 jun. 1930 4th. Officer Burgerdijk 115,–
03 Jul. 1930 4th. Officer Spaarndam 115,–
11 Jan. 1931 Temporary ashore 115,–
15 Feb. 1931 Dismissed from company due to overcapacity. Wage paid out to Half march.
22 Jan. 1932 4th. Officer Rotterdam without wages. Can complete needed sailing days.
03 Apr. 1932 Dismissed. Received sailing attest for 716 days,
09 May. 1933 Passed for 2nd mates license
18 Dec. 1933 4th. Officer Boschdijk 105,– -5% temporary contract
22 Dec. 1933 Act. 3rd. Officer Boschdijk 135,– to New York scheduled as 4th. Officer for the ss Statendam.
28 Dec. 1933 Wage decreased to 121,50 see circ 929 dated 27-6-3
09 Jan. 1934 4th. Officer Statendam 94.50 At New York
01 Oct. 1934 Wage decrease 92,–
30 Mar. 1935 4th. Officer Binnendijk 92,–
20 Apr. 1935 Act. 3rd Officer Damsterdijk 118,–
19 Mar. 1936 Act. 3rd. Offcier Boschdijk 118,–
02 Apr. 1936 Wage increase 121.75
02 Nov. 1936 Act. 2nd Officer V eendam 166,–.
14 Nov. 1936 Temporary ashore 166,– regular leave
21 Nov. 1936 Act. 2nd Officer Veendam 166,–
24 Dec. 1936 Act. 2nd Officer Bilderdijk 166,–
01 Jan. 1937 Act. 2nd Officer Beemsterdijk 166,-
14 Jan. 1937 Temporary ashore 166,– regular leave
24 Jan. 1937 Act. 2nd Officer Veendam 166,–
04 Apr. 1937 Act. 2nd Officer Edam 166,–
24 Aug. 1937 Temporary ashore 166,– regular leave
01 Sep. 1937 Studying for 1st mates license.
Wage to be 185,– upon return.
GAP.
21 Sep. 1939 2nd Officer Nieuw Amsterdam
10 May.1940 2nd Officer Nieuw Amsterdam 198,–
24 Jun. 1940 2nd Officer Pennland (at New York)
Ss Pennland torpedoed
06 Jul. 1940 2nd officer o/b ss Orontes in Capetown to go to USA.
08 Aug. 1940 2nd officer arr NY on board ss Evangeline.
On arrival New York assigned to the Office in Hoboken until 03 Aug. 1944 working at the “Control Department”
Assigned to ms Noordam (II) but ends up as Chief Officer on
02 Dec. 1940 2nd. Officer Sr. Promoted while in New York Office
1943 Nov. 17 2nd Officer Sr. In Midtown hospital until 02 Dec. 1943
15 Apr. 1944 Chief Officer Promoted while in New York Office
22 Jul. 1944 Chief Officer Relieved from duties in Operations Dept. at Hoboken.
07Aug. 1944 Chief Officer by train to San Francisco to join
Sommelsdijk 274,– (+ 15%) at NY
28 Oct.1944 Chief Officer Sommelsdijk
Sometime later he was transferred to the ms Delftdijk until November 1945
26 Nov. 1945 Chief Officer on leave 279,– until 24 Jan. 1946
GAP.
28 Jun. 1946 Chief Officer GAP.
GAP
28 Oct.1949 Chief Officer Nieuw Amsterdam
08 Apr. 1950 Chief Officer Nieuw Amsterdam voy 127 – 128
GAP
09 Mar 1951 Captain Amsteldyk until 13 January 1952
16 May. 1952 Captain Arendsdijk joined ss Ryndam as passenger. Arrivedat New York 26 May 52
27 May 1952 Captain Arendsdyk until 20 May 1953
08 Apr. 1953 Captain Appingedyk until 15 August 1954
15 Aug. 1954 Captain Sloterdyk until 15 Sep. 1954
04 Nov. 1954 Captain Averdyk until 24 Dec. 1954
13 Jan. 1955 Captain Alblasserdyk until 10 Jul. 1955
04 Sep. 1955 Captain Eemdyk until 17 nov. 1955
13 Dec. 1955 Captain Almdyk until 19 Jul. 1956
07 Aug. 1956 Captain Almdyk until 19 Mar. 1958
24 Apr. 1957 Captain Dinteldyk until 02 Jul. 1959
24 Aug. 1959 Captain Ryndam until 11 Jun. 1962
23 Jun. 1962 Captain Statendam until 17 aug. 1963
15 Nov. 1963 Captain Nieuw Amsterdam until 30 Apr. 1964
GAP
17 Nov, 1964 Captain Rotterdam until 23 May. 1965
24 May 1965 Captain Appointed Commodore.
25 May 1965 Captain Rotterdam until 15 Aug. 1965
15 Aug. 1965 – 18 nov. 1965 Scheduled leave
18 Nov. 1965 Captain Rotterdam until 05 Dec. 1966
05 Dec. 1965 -04 Jan. 1967 Scheduled leave
05 Jan. 1967 Captain Rotterdam until 05 Jul. 1967
06 jul. 1967 – 03 Jan. 1968 Scheduled leave & GAP
GAP.
03 Jan. 1968 Captain Rotterdam until 23 April. 1968
Sources:
(a) Archive and Photo Collection Captain Albert Schoonderbeek
(b) Stamboek and mouvement boeken of the HAL archives as held by the Municple archives of the City of Rotterdam
(c)
February 13, 2016 at 3:36 pm
A rather funny coincidence was that I as the son of captain JW.van der Noordt ended up in the same classroom with his grandson called Auke de Jong as well.
We both had the same name as our grand father and father.
I think we are all very honoured by the fact that such a blog excists…keeping our past alive.
Best regards : Jan W. van der Noordt
February 13, 2016 at 4:59 pm
Thank you for reading my blog.
I sailed with your father between 1981 and 1986 many a time and have fond memories from those days. “Pipe van Noordt” always managed to create a happy atmosphere on the bridge. I hope to publish his Biography some time later this year in the blog. At least as much as I know. I would appreciate it, if you could then have a look at it, and maybe even have some additions. I try to include the whole sailing career of each captain but for that I need a copy of his seaman’s book among other things. Do you know if that still exists??
Best regards
Capt. Albert
August 18, 2020 at 8:29 am
Mijn ouders hebben een overtocht gemaakt met de SS. Rotterdam met Auke de Jong. Er is een familie link , tussen Auke de Jong en Ph. Steijnis
Het was bij terugreis van USA (mijn zus was geëmigreerd naar de USA ), dat ik tot mijn verbazing mijn ouders op de brug van de ss. Rotterdam te zien staan. Het moet ergens in 1962 geweest zijn. Ik mocht net op een brommer rijden.
June 23, 2026 at 9:18 pm
Beste Jan Steijnis,
Mag ik vragen wat de familie link is?
Met vriendelijke groet,
Names de familie de Jong
December 9, 2020 at 6:00 pm
My father used to work on SS Rotterdam, Gerrit den Adel. Auke de Jong was the captain and today I still work with his son Hans.
December 10, 2020 at 6:46 pm
Thank you for your comment,
would you be so kind to ask son Hans, if he would be willing to help with his fathers biography as I do not know very much yet about him, apart of his sailing career, Hence so bio information yet.
Captalbert1.@aol.com.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
August 16, 2022 at 2:13 pm
Last week, my brother found an article on Auke De Jong tucked away in our Grandmother’s (Adele De Jong) bible. So far we have been unable to make the family connection. Any information you may have would be of great interest to us.
August 19, 2022 at 9:22 am
Good morning,
Thank you for your comment. I would need a bit more information that just two names, as there are many “De Jongs” in the Netherlands. If you could send me a scan of the article to CaptAlbert1@aol.com and a little bit more about the family context, then I will try to do my best.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
January 20, 2022 at 6:34 pm
iets grappigs: op het ms Noordam waarmee in nov 1956 we naar de VS emigreerden, was de kapitein ene Auke de Jong – dat ontdek ik net vandaag (20 jan 2022).
In juli 1967 was hij gek genoeg ook kapitein (‘commodore’) op het ss Rotterdam, waar ik aangemonsterd was als ‘jongen civiele dienst’ voor een retourtje New York…
De Holl Am Lijn had toen zo’n 15 schepen, dus geen honderden, maar toch… als ik dat toen geweten had…
Normaal ontmoet je in die lage functie zo’n man helemaal nooit, maar ik werd uitgezocht om te bedienen bij een cocktail party die hij helemaal bovenin ergens hield (ik huisde ergens op dek -5, daar kwam hij echt nooit). Ik weet nog dat ik uiterst beleefd was en erg onder de indruk en dat hij nogal ontspannen deed. Tsja…
Ik voer samen met een oude schoolvriend uit Hilversum, Chris Evers. We kregen nogal veel tips van vijf dollar – dat was toen 25 gulden. We kochten op het schip een stuk of twintig flessen sterke drank belastingvrij, en deden die in een vuilnisbak, natuurlijk met wat vuilnis er bovenop. Toen het schip goed en wel in R’dam afgemeerd lag en wij eindelijk vrij, gingen we nog in uniform zogenaamd ‘de vuilnisbak even wegbrengen’ dwz over de kade heen – zo’n tien meter naar de loods erlangs. Lukte allemaal prima.
January 21, 2022 at 8:52 pm
Meneer de Graaff
mijn hartelijke dank voor de anecdote. Als Auke de Jong inderdaad de kapitein was op de Noordam, dan wilde ik vragen of uw daar enig paperwerk van heeft met zijn naam erop. Volgens de rederij gegevens was de kapitein tijdens (reis 177 Vertrek Rotterdam 17 November, aankomst New York 26 November) Pieter H.de Jonge die in 1959 met pensioen ging. Kapitein Auke de Jong maakte op dat moment een kust reis met de Eemdijk. Nu is het best mogelijk dat Auke niet met de Eemdijk mee ging maar inviel op de Noordam maar de rederij gegevens zeggen anders, vandaar mijn verzoek of U nog een papieren herinnering heeft van de emigratie (Mischien een passagiers lijst?)
Mijn dank en mvg
Capt. Albert