Jonkers, Johan Anton.

 

Johan Anton Jonkers was born on  19 March 1920 at Djember on the island of East Java in the Dutch East Indies. It is assumed that his parents were stationed there on behalf of a Dutch company or the Dutch Government.

He must have come back to the Netherlands sometime before 1940 so he could attend a Maritime School (most likely in Rotterdam) during the war years; as he commenced his cadet ship in 1946. For this purpose he received his seamans book on 27 June 1945. It is unknown which company he sailed for. (As I  only have the front page of his seamans book) He lived on 27 June 1945 at Grintweg 135, Rotterdam.

On 02 August 1946 he joined Holland America Line and was assigned as 4th. Officer to the ss Sommelsdyk (III) on 12 September 1946.  He remained with the ship, which was employed first on the long voyags to the Far East and later to the Gulf of Mexico until 1947.

Upon return he married Miss Hetwiegers van Polfvliet on 20 December 1947 in Rotterdam. They settled down in January 1948 at Stadhoudersplein 20B in  Rotterdam. A sad moment must have been (records of Rotterdam city Hall) when their son Johannes Nicolaas passed away, one month old, on 04 November 1949.

(ED: so far I have not been able to find out if there were any further children)

As Holland America purchased a large number of ships after the war (During the war the HAL fleet had been reduced by about 50% in size due to war casualties) promotion was quite fast as all these new ships had to be manned.  Hence AntonJonkers made captain on 31 May 1960 and was given commmand of the ss Aardyk. This was a Victory ship of which Holland America had purchased 10 in the period 1946 – 1950.

Captain Jonkers sailed on this ship from 31 May 1960 to 03 October 1960 on the service between Rotterdam and the Gulf of Mexico ports. Then he transferred to the ms Kinderdyk (II).

By the end of 1961 he made the newspapers as on 17 December 1961, while in command of the ss Kinderdyk, he saved 2 young fishermen  outside the Mexican port of Tampico in the Gulf of Mexico. Just after departure a heavy local squall developed and the small fishing boat developed a leak. Captain Jonkers manuvered his ship alongside and lowered a sailor with a line. They managed to hoist the fishing boat with the 2 occupants out of the water and put all on board. The fishermen were later landed in the next port Brownsville and returned to their home country with their boat. There was a boy of 10 years old among the passengers on board, who spoke Spanish and thus those rescued could be interviewed and their story figured out. All about bad weather and hacing no lifejackets, fishing in a manky fishing boat with no repair material on board.

02 Aug. 1971     Captain                               25 years in service

TBA

ED: Note to the reader:  I still have many gaps in the history of Captain Jonkers as the personnel records from 1937 onwards are held by the HAL pension fund and are not open to researchers.

So anybody who reads this and can help me with extra information and photos, please do so and email me at CaptAlbert1@aol.com.

Who was the man behind the photo and what did he do between  1949 and 1960. When did he retire and when did he pass away ?. Anecdotes are also VERY welcome.

Sailing dates: (a) & (b)

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

11 Jul. 1946         Cadet                                  Unknown

02 Aug. 1946                                                      Joined Company

12 Sep. 1946       4^th. Officer     Sommelsdyk        Until 10 Apr. 1947

11 Apr. 1947       3^rd. Officer      Sommelsdyk        Until 07 Dec. 1947

19 Jan. 1948       3^rd. Officer       Veendam                Until 25 Feb. 1948

05 Mar. 1948      3^rd. Officer        Veendam               Until 07 Apr. 1948

12 Apr. 1948       3^rd. officer          Veendam               Until 18 May. 1948

19 May. 1948     3^rd. officer           Veendam               Until 22 Jun. 1948

24 Jun. 1948       3^rd. officer            Veendam               Until 20 Jul. 1948

23 Jul. 1948         3^rd. officer            Veendam               Until 17 Aug. 1948

19 Aug. 1948      3^rd. Officer             Veendam               Until 21 Sep. 1948

27 Sep. 1948       Act. 2^nd Officer    Alblasserdyk       Until 08 Dec. 1948

21 Dec. 1948      Act. 2^nd Officer     Alblasserdyk      Until 26 Feb. 1949

03 Mar. 1948      Act. 2^nd Officer      Alblasserdyk        Until 24 Apr. 1949

03 May 1949       Act. 2^nd Officer      Alblasserdyk        Until 29 Jun. 1949

06 Jul. 1949         Act. 2^nd Officer      Alblasserdyk        Until 17 Jul. 1949

GAP

27 Mar. 1950  To school for first mates license and passed on 30 May 1950.

GAP

17 Jul. 1954         Chief Officer          Axeldijk            At Baltimore

GAP

27 Oct. 1957       Chief Officer          Groote Beer        Until 31 Dec. 1957

01 Jan. 1958       Chief Officer            Groote Beer         Until 08 Jan. 1958

03 Apr. 1958       Chief Officer            Groote Beer         Until 19 Apr. 1958

30 May. 1958     Chief Officer             Maasdam              Until 19 July 1958

27 Aug.  1958     Chief officer              Groote Beer       Until  27 Aug. 1959

13 Sep. 1958       Chief Officer             Westerdam       Until 06 Oct. 1958

(The above was a fill in for one voyage

GAP

24 Feb.  1960      Chief Officer             Groote Beer

31 May. 1960     Captain                          Promoted

31 May. 1960     Captain                          Aardyk                   Until 02 Oct. 1960

10 Dec. 1960      Captain                           Kinderdyk           Until 01 Jul. 1962

03 Aug. 1962       Captain                          Sloterdyk           Until 18 Dec. 1963

GAP

22 Apr. 1964     Captain                             Soestdyk            Until 01 May 1964 (Coastal voyage to releive Captain Bouwman)

03 Jul. 1964      Captain                              Kerkedyk               Until TBA

1964                     Captain                               Sloterdyk

1967                     Captain                                Korendyk

1967                     Captain                                 Kamperdyk

1967                      Captain                                Kinderdyk

1968                    Captain                                 Grotedyk

1968                    Captain                                Poeldyk

1968                     Captain                                Prinses Margriet (tbc)

1969                    Captain                                 Kinderdyk

20 Jan. 1970        Captain                              Kloosterdyk                                   Until 26 Mar. 1970 then hand over of ship to new owner

1970                    Captain                                 Poeldyk

1971                     Captain                                 Poeldyk

02 Aug. 1971     Captain                               25 years in service

GAP

11 Jan. 1972     Captain                                 Gorredyk       Until 17 May. 1972

17 Jul.1972       Captain                                 Gorredyk       Until  08 Feb. 1973

08 Nov. 1973   Captain                                 Gorredyk        Until 19 Jan. 1974 Then coastla voyage off.

24 Jan. 1974   Captain                                   Gorredyk       Until 25 Mar. 1974  (Ship is sold to Greece and handed over in Rotterdam and then taken back in charter but without a Dutch Crew)

In 1974 Holland America sold its cargo divsion to Brostrom of Sweden and most of the “cargo captains” went with the ship. It is assumed that Captain Jonkers also went over to the new company Incotrans as there is now further trace of him with Holland America.

Sources:

(a) Mrs. & Mr. Hetty and Jeroen Bos.

(b) Capt. Albert Archives & Photos

Last Updated: 16 September 2025