Snelleman, Cornelis Marinus.

Cornelis Marinus Snelleman was born on 2 September 1910 in Rotterdam.  His father Marinus Snelleman (04 Dec. 1884- 30 Apr. 1934) was a shoe repair man in the same city. His mothers name was Teuntje Brandwijk (22 Aug. 1880 – 06 Jan. 1938). They had married on 11 November 1909. There was one sister, Cornelia Gerardus (Born 14 August 1912) (e).

Cornelis went to the Maritime Academy in Rotterdam and was enrolled in the 3 year course, which meant that his previous education had little or no mathematics included in the curriculum.

He Joined Holland America  on 27 July 1927 as  cadet on the ss Grootendyk.  This ship was employed on the Rotterdam – North Pacific service and sailed through the Panama Canal all the way to Vancouver.  He made one voyage with the ship (Nbr. 15) and is then sent on leave on 01 January 1928. Then his company records have a criptic message. ” on 12 January 1928 in service for the VNS (Holland Britisch Indisch Lijn” as cadet. (until 25 May 1928) The Grootendijk however remained on the Vancouver service so it is unclear with which ship he sailed.

But on 25 July 1928 he was assigned to the ss Breedijk, to go to the Dutch East Indies from New York. He must have gone over by ship as the Breedijk did not sail from Rotterdam but arrived in New York on  10 August 1928 and left again on 21 August.  That assignment stopped on 9 November when he was transferred in New York from the ss Breedijk to the ss Rijndam to return home on 10 November. (voyage 201 Eastbound). He arrrived in Rotterdam on 20 November and was granted study leave 2 days later. On 17 May 1929 he obtained his 3rd Mate’s ticket and was assgined on 24 May to the ss Vechtdijk.   This ship was also engaged on the service to the Far East, going as far as Calcutta and Madras but sailed from Rotterdam.

Then we  have an anomaly in his sailing dates as the ship was handed over to a new owner on 29 June 1930 and his assignment according the  company listings ran until 2 October.  On that day he received 16 days of leave and then joined the ss Leerdam (II) on 18 October.

That ship was in lay-up in the Waalhaven so he was employed as Officer /Watchman. A job that many 4th. officers did, mostly when in between ships. This must have been the case here as well as between 03 November and 15 November he was on board the ss Kinderdyk (I) which at that moment was between voyages.  On 15 November he transferred to the ss Edam (IV) and left Rotterdam on 19 November for two voyages to the Gulf of Mexico via Spain and Portugal. Calling at Antwerp, Boulogne Sur Mer, Bilbao, La Coruna, Vigo, Havanna, Vera Cruz – Tampico – New Orleans – Havanna – Vigo – La Coruna and back in Rotterdam on 1st. of April 1931.

A week later he was dismissed as being “surplus to requirements” as more and more ships went into lay up. Marinus Snelleman, was selected due to being  in a junior position and not married. The company kept those who married and had childeren as much as possible in service, either in the same rank if very senior or by setting them back to a lower rank.  He was placed on the waiting list, hoping for better times. Although not listed in his saling records, he must have been called back again as in the family photo albums, there is a photo of him in tropical uniform dated 9 May 1931 on board the ss Breedyk, while at Surabaia in the Dutch East Indies.

4th. officer Cornelis Snelleman in tropical uniform on board the ss Breedyk on 9 May in Soerabaia, Dutch East Indies. (c)

The Breedyk sailed (voyage 46) from Rotterdam on Febr. 14  for a voyage to the Dutch East Indies via Norfolk, Jacksonville, New York and then the Suez Canal to the Dutch East Indies and docked on 19 July in New York again. Then on 24 July it commenced its next voyage to the East, only returning  to Rotterdam on December 30.  Subject to confirmation it must mean that he left the Breedyk on July 19, came home with another company ship, so was able  to marry on 25 November 1931 Anthonia “Toni” Pieternella de Graaf (then 21).

Photo of the young couple???

It is unknown, as of yet, what he did in 1932 and 1933.

On 06 October  1933 the company had space for him again and he was signed on to the ss Damsterdyk sailing the next day on a 3 month roundtrip to Vancouver.  The depression was now at its severest and the company officially dismissed him again on 02 Feb. 1934 after arrival back in Rotterdam on 13 January.  They must changed their mind quickly as 5 days later he was assigned to the ss Leerdam (II) with promotion to acting 3rd. officer. He made with the ship one roundtrip to New York and was back in Rotterdam on 16 March. The ss leerdam went into layup and Cornelis was again dismissed on on the 24th.

On 29 April 1934, the company decided it needed a 4th. officer and he was back, again as Officer / Watchman, on the ss Breedyk again,  which was laid up. But on 03 May a 4th. officer position became available on the ss Dinteldyk and he left Rottedam on  the 5th. of May for a voyage to Vancouver. Maybe due to being married now but this was the last time he was sent home without a next assignment. From now on he sailed without interruption until the 2nd world war.  In Dec. 1935 he went for 35 days to the Royal Netherlands Navy and was assigned to the Duty ship HrMs Den Helder which seemed to have been involved in sailing along the Dutch coast. There are no records of his rank or any indication that there was any other involvement with the Navy or the Military later on in his career.

Holland America started to brings ships back in service by 1936 and  from Acting 3rd. officer in January 1936, he went directly to Acting 2nd officer in 1937. Without even having a 2nd officer ticket. To alleviate this he was sent to school in April 1937 and passed his 2nd mates exam on 11 May 1938.

On 13 May 1937, he signed on as 2nd Officer on the flagship of the company the ss Rotterdam (IV). Here he was part of a more unusual occurence in the company’s history as the ship was sent on May 19 to England to be in attendance for the Royal Navy review at Spithead on May 20th. 150 Royal Navy ships had been gathered to honour the coronation of King George VI. The ship came back to Rotterdam on the 22nd. The ship was at anchor nearby the British Fleet and guests on board went shore side with local tenders.  This was followed by a voyage on the ss Veendam (II), but Snelleman returned home sick with a lung infection.

GAP in the sailing list, as the company changed in October 1937 to a new administration system, and those records are held by the Holland America Line pension fund which does not give access to historians.

On 27 April 1937 he received a pair of Binoculars from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Society (KNMI) for the way he had maintained  Meteorological Observations logs.

From photos we know that he was in 1938 on board the ss Dinteldyk and in February 1939 on board the ms Noordam (II)

By the start of the 2nd World War he lived at the Prins Hendriklaan 39,  Vlaardingen-Ambacht. (Near Rotterdam) Eventually there were three childeren,  Cornelis, Anthony and Marina.  The two sons also went to sea, one as Engineer and the other one as Deck Officer. The son did not stay until captains rank.(c)

The Dutch National War records started on 10 May 1940 and lists him as second officer on board the ss Pennland. This ship had come over from the Red Star Line in June1939 when Holland america bought that company. Hence there is the possibility that he was asigned to that ship from 01 June 1939, when the HAL crew was sent to Antwerp to take over the ship.

If so, he  was 2nd officer on board for the regular trans atlantic crossings from Antwerp via Boulogne Sur Mer, Southampton to New York, making 23 / 24 day roundtrips.  When the Netherlands were invaded on 10 May 1940, the ship had just departed Southampton for a crossing to New York. That voyage had started on 26 April in Antwerp so he must have been on board at least from that date onwards.

Upon arrival in New York the ship was seized by the Dutch Government on 16 May and chartered out to the British Ministry of War Transport for troop transports with the HAL crew remaining on board.  As it was totally unclear how the Dutch Government was going to handle the crew situation (Sailing for the British, involved in war activities, pay situation etc. etc.), meetings were arranged by the crews in shore side hotels in New York and 2nd. Officer Snelleman acted as one of the official delegates to represent the crew while negotiating with a deputation of the shipping owners and other shipping officials.

An agreement for a 70% wage increase was agreed, which was then promptly rejected by the Dutch Government in London. They had already arranged that the Dutch Crews would get the same pay as their British Counterparts with an extra fl 5,– (guilders) a month. The crews in the USA then refused to sail.

Before Snellemans “committee” could formulate a plan of action, the Dutch Government on the 23rd. of June arranged by Royal Decree, that the regular sailing pay regulations would be applicable (e.g. no difference between war and peace time sailings). Also that the crews were required to sail and refusals would not be accepted. The Government Shipping Committee in London would review the rules when needed. Ignoring a Royal Decree could have resulted in being arrested for muntiny and so the crews returned, grumbling, to their ships. The ms Pennland left New York the next day .

She had been ordered back back to Liverpool (via Halifax to  join a convoy (HX 54) for the crossing, to go dry dock for conversion into a troop ship. (13 July – 28 August). She then left for her first voyage on 31 August sailing from Liverpool to Freetown  on the West coast of Africa.  As the German submarines were not that prevalent yet in the lower latitudes of the North Atlantic, there was no official convoy to protect the ships.

Then the French Government in exile decided, with approval of the British, to invade the French colonies in Africa and from there  start the liberation of France. These colonies were under control of the “Vichy Government” which controlled the parts of France that had not been occupied by the Germans but this “puppet” Government had to follow the orders of the Nazi leadership.

The two sisters, the ss Pennland and ss Westernland, were appointed to carry General Charles de Gaulle with 1200 “Free French” soldiers. This was called “Operation Menace” and on 31 August the convoy left Liverpool and sailed for Freetown and Dakar. When at Dakar (26 – 29 September), General de Gaulle found out that the local French troops, army, navy, civilians,  (including some french navy ships) did not wanted to be liberated. They were quite happy with the status quo. General De Gaulle did not want French fighting against French and the ships returned to Freetown where the French troops were landed.  From there the two ships split up and the ss Pennland sailed to Barbados (29 Nov.) and then to Kingston Jamaica (02 – 06 Dec.) to collect  prisoners of war which were landed in Halifax (12 – 16 Dec.) Then the ship sailed across the North Atlantic back to the Clyde carrying regular (Canadian) troops. (Convoy TC 8). From there the ship went for drydock in Belfast over the New Year period.

The Pennland left Belfast on 04 January 1941 for a trooping voyage (Convoy WS 5B)  from Gourock, Scotland to Freetown. From here the convoy continued to  Suez (via Durban) were around 10 March the troops were disembarked. Now followed a short drydock at Alexandria for repairs and on 01 April 1941 the ship embarked  2400 British Troops to take to Pireaus, Greece, to stem the advance of the German Forces. Between 10 and 13 April it made another such a voyage and was then kept in Alexandria from 16 to 23 April as things were not going well in Greece for the British Forces. On the 23rd of April the ship was ordered to sail empty back to Greece to embark  the British troops who were driven out of Greece by the rapidly advancing Germans.

On the 25th. of April 1941 the ss Pennland was attacked by German airplanes and was hit by seven bombs during several air attacks. One bomb exploded inside the engine room, killed four crew and ripped open the hull. This caused the ship to  start taking on water. All officers and crew disembarked via the lifeboats and the ship is sunk by cannon fire of the HMS Griffin to avoid it from falling into enemy hands. HMS Griffin also took al officers and crew on board.

While the ship was under attack and the bomb in the engine room exploded, Snelleman went into the ship and managed to save two wounded seamen trapped below decks. For this act of heroism he received the Dutch Cross of Merit from the Dutch Government and from the British Government the DSC. (Distinguished Service Cross)

The Pennland lifeboats being gathered together. 2nd Officer Snelleman was in command of one of these lifeboats, seen in the photo. (Photo courtesy: Estate of Captain A.M van Gemert who was 3rd officer on board the ss Pennland and in command of one of the other lifeboats)

The HMS Griffin landed all the crew in Crete and then they had to walk to the first port, where they embarked on the passengership the ss Duchess of Atholl (17 May) who took them to Suez (16 June – 17 June), where the crew was split up to join various transports.  There is an anecdote by him from this period.

As all the crew had left the ship in a great hurry, none of them had any extra clothes or money with them and the clothes that they were wearing were stained and often torn. No clothing was given while on transport to  Egypt.  There arrangements were made via the Dutch Consul that money would be forwarded from London but that could take up to 5 days. Snelleman went to a local tailor and said, I need a new uniform but I can not pay yet. The tailor looked at him and said, we will work through the night and your uniform will be ready the next morning. In the mean time , here is 50 (Egyptian) pounds so go and get something to eat. The uniform was ready the next day and 5 days later the money came in and Snelleman could pay the helpful tailor.

The ss Empress of Australia (II). She had been built as the ss Tirpitz for the Germans and was seized after the First World War and allocated to the Canadian Pacific Line. Apart from troop voyages, she was also involved in a sort of liner service carrying various war personell from one area to the other. This photo shows the ship in Valetta Harbor, Malta, during WWII.  (c)

Snelleman boarded the passengership ss Empress of Australia on 17 June for the  Journey back to London where he arrived on 07 August 1941 and was given leave until 03 September 1941. He stayed in a local hotel. (Note ED: The Empress of Australia did not sail directly to London but worked its way through various troop assignments before heading back to England)

He then joined the ms Delftdyk which had arrived in Liverpool in June and was temporary laid up there for repairs. She eventually transferred to Newcastle (Upon Tyne) and Snelleman joined her on 3 September with the ship leaving the next day for a voyage via Methil and Oban, to Freetown in Africa. (Convoy OS 208)

 

He  sent each month an allotment home of Dfl. 160,– (plus premium of Dfl. 1.35 a day). The money was not going directly to the Netherlands as the occupation did not allow this. It was offset against the pay outs of the “Zeemanspot” The Dutch illegal payment system ran by Captain Abraham Filippo of the ss Veendam (II), whose ship got stuck in port when the invasion started. (See the Captain Filippo biography for more information)

While the ms Delftdyk was docked in New York between July and August 1942, he received, on 27 July 1942 ,the Dutch “Cross of Merit with clasp”  at the New York Office in September 1943. However the official presentation came on 03 April 1946 when he was presented to Queen Wilhelmina at her palace in The Hague.

For the remainder of the year the ms Delftdyk was mainly making convoy voyages between North America and England. Then on 04 Jan. 1943 he was given a long leave until 28 March in New York.  On that day he left with the ss Edam (IV) for regular convoy duty from Halifax to Liverpool or Glasgow and back.

Then on 15 September 1943 he was assigned to the ss Fort Orange. For this he travelled to Portland (Maine, USA) to join the ship. This ship was owned by the Dutch Government and given in management to the Holland America Line.   He remained with this ship for one voyage (Portland, Boston – Halifax – Liverpool – Manchester) and disembarked there on November 2. Then he was given study leave  for his First Mate’s / Master License at the nautical school in London. He passed his exam on 03 April 1944.

The company must have been waiting for this as  on 15 April he was promoted to Chief Officer and was sent to the ss Philips Wouwerman, another ship of the Dutch Government that was given in management to the Holland America Line.

He remained with this ship for the remainder of the war, seeing mainly convoy service between ports in North America and the United Kingdom.  On 23 June 1945 he arrived back in the Netherlands for the first time after the war. But before he is granted a long leave he has to make one more voyage with the ship to Quebec and Montreal  and is then back in Rotterdam on 23 July.

Sometime near the end of the war he also received the Dutch “Bronze Lion” medal. This is the highest Dutch order (established 30 March 1944) for: “Deeds of extreme bravery and leadership (in battle) favouring the Netherlands”. Sofar (2025) it has only been issued 1214 times. Apart from given to the Military it can also be issued to non-military persons as long as the act for bravery was in support  of the country.

(Note: I am still tracing the citation for the Bronze Lion as his name is not on the (incomplete) Dutch Register)

GAP in the records until June 1946.

All officers & crew who had been away for 5 to 6 years, those who wanted it, were given a long leave and thus we do not know yet, when he returned to sea.

But on 25 June 1946 he was assigned to the ss Edam (IV) for one voyage to the Gulf of Mexico ports until 29 August.  This was followed by a crossing with the ss Sommelsdyk (II) between 12 September and 24 September from Rotterdam to New York.

From there he travelled to San Francisco by train, as part of a larger group of Officers and Crew to collect  a new  ship for the company, the ss Amsteldyk (II). This ship had been built by the US Government as the ss Panama Victory as one of a series of over 560 Victory class ships during the 2nd world war. She had been bought by the Dutch Government as part of a policy to make ships available to get the Dutch Merchant Marine and the Dutch economy back on its feet as quickly as possible. The ss Amsteldyk was taken over on 14 November and was the first of a series of 10 Victory ships (the A class) that the company would eventually buy.

The ship arrived in Rotterdam on 31 December 1947 and then sailed again on 17 January to New York followed by a long voyage to Singapore and the Dutch East Indies / Indonesia and then returned to Rotterdam via a loop voyage  to New York, ports in the Gulf of Mexico and Antwerp. On July 8th., he was relieved after ending this 6 month long voyage.

On 02 August he sailed with the ss Edam (IV) from Rotterdam but left the ship upon arrival in Philadelphia on the 14th. He must have travelled from Philadelphia to New York because he joined there the ss Arnedyk. This was another Victory Class ship that had been bought by the  Holland America and had been laid up in New York awaiting a buyer since 02 July 1947.  The company purchased her on 18 July and then sent a crew out to collect her. She departed New York on 06 September and sailed via Phildelphia back to Rotterdam (Arr. 23 Sep.) Chief Officer Snelleman remained with her until 27 July 1948, making voyages to New York and to the Gulf of Mexico.

The followed one voyage (nbr 70) on board the ms Delftdyk making a 3 month roundtrip from Rotterdam to Vancouver and back through the Panama Canal. This was followed by one voyage on the ss Axeldyk (yet another Victory ship bought by the company in 1947) for one voyage to Havanna and the Gulf of Mexico. By now seniority status kicked, not in the least as many senior chief officers had been promoted to captain due to the influx of A-class ships and Snelleman is assigned to the passengerships.

On 25 March 1949 he departed for a 9 weeks voyage to the new country of Indonesia to collect Dutch citizens who were evacuated back to the Netherlands now Indonesia was independant and the relations with the old mother country were not very good. He was back in the Netherlands on 01 June, remained with the ships for two emigrant voyages from Rottedam to Quebec.  On 28 September the ship made another repatriation voyage to Tandjong Priok (port of Batavia / Djakarta) to bring back another 1500 Dutch peoples to the Netherlands. The ship was  back in Rotterdam on 29 November and then followed by 2 months vacation.

Then followed two voyages with the ms Westerdam (I) (Rotterdam – New York) and another period of 5.5 months on the ss Volendam. The ship was now back on the Rotterdam – Halifax – New York service and landed each westbound crossing larger number of Dutch emigrants at Halifax. ( 1260 of them on 13 April). On the return the ship carried regular passengers / tourists and students who were going to see Europe. Holland America had special budget arrangements for these students and their large numbers (sometimes up to 500 during one crossing) brought in a tidy income for the company.

This was followed by a short coastal voyage on the ss Almdyk, sailing from Rotterdam to Bremen, Amsterdam and back to Rotterdam (27 Nov. 1950 – 05 Dec. 1950). These European coastal voyages became a standard for the company after the 2nd world War. It gave H.R the opportunity to give the officers and crew who made the longer voyages a week or so off in between. The ships were then manned by those at home on a longer leave or those in between ships due to going to school, marriage or other family circumstances.

Then on 18 December 1950 promotion to Captain followed. In accordance with the company’s seniority system, Cornelis Snelleman now being the youngest captain, was placed on the oldest  or smallest cargoship in the fleet. In this case the ss Blijdendyk (II) on which he had sailed when she was still called ss Fort orange.  This ship was employed on the North Atlantic outport service. The “outports” were the ports on the US Eastern Seaboard outside New York, so the voyage went from Rotterdam to New York and then to Philadelphia, Chester, Baltimore, Norfolk, Newport News, back to New York, and then via Antwerp to Rotterdam.  He made 3 voyages on this ship and then transferred directly to the ss Blommersdyk. He was transferred as a new “youngest captain” had been appointed, Captain Jan Albelskamp, who took over.  The Blommersdyk was the oldest ship in the fleet  (apart from the passenger ship ss Edam) but own built in 1922 and that made a difference in the pecking order.

With this ship he made one voyage on the same route as above but the ports now also included Boston, Baltimore, Albany and Tilbury in England.  He was back in Rotterdam on 30 July and was then given leave until 15 September when he joined the ss Abbedyk.  This ship was employed on the Gulf of Mexico service with port calls at Havanna, Vera Cruz, Tampico, New Orleans, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Le Havre, Antwerp and Rotterdam.  Sometimes Coatzcoalcos and Mobile were also included. After 5 roundtrips and a coastal voyage he was relieved on 17 September in Antwerp.  Within the A class fleet, there was less of a picking order as they were all similar and  none of them carried more than 12 passengers and most of them none at all.

Assignments to the Abbedyk and Arnedyk followed and then there was the transfer from the Arnedyk in New York on 24 October to join the ss Schiedyk (II).

Captain Snelleman took command the next day. The ss Schiedyk was sailing on the New York – Far East service (The Britisch Indisch Lijn as the company called it in Dutch). In the days before airplanes, a regular leave rotation was difficult to arrange and hence the company had decided that all crew, officers and also captains “going up the ranks” would be a year away from home. Hence he was relieved on 28 August 1953 in New York and then went home the next day assigned as Staff Captain on the ss Maasdam, arriving in Rotterdam on  07 September 1953.

The ss Schiedijk long voyages from New York included sailing through the Suez Canal as far as Djakarta. Then there was island “hopping” for cargo around the Indonesian islands and then returned via the same route it had followed outbound from New York. A voyage lasted more than 5 months, with a coastal voyage to the Gulf of Mexico, in between, split up between the two longer ones.

After almost a month vacation he stepped on board the ss Averdyk on 12 October 1953.  Togeher with the ss Aardyk it made 4 to 6 weeks roundtrips on the North Atlantic with mostly 4 or 5 days in between in Rotterdam when the captain could go home for a few days.

Then on 18 May  1955 he was assigned to the ss Arnedyk again but now the ship made a voyage to Vancouver via the Panama Canal on the North Pacific service. Normally D class ships sailed on this route, as they had passenger capacity but the  British Glenn Line which participated in this service had a shortage of ships so HAL moved a cargo ship in to fill the gap.  The one round voyage made, lasted  4 months, with the ship stopping at all the major ports on the West coast. Discharging cargo while going Northbound to Vancouver and picking up cargo again while going southbound.

This was followed by a fill in voyage on the ms Westerdam, where he ahd sailed on before as Staff Captain, making a roundtrip from Rotterdam to New York. Snelleman was not sneior enough to be the regular captain of such a ship but when the regular captain went on leave, then a junior captain was allowed to step in. This happened between 14 September and 10 October 1955 when Captain Rens Brands went on leave.  This was followed by a 2 month voyage on the ss Alblasserdyk  to the Gulf of Mexico, which this time including an exciting visit to Port “Sulpher”. (There was then nothing there apart from a dock for loading sulpher produced by the Freeport Sulpher company. Only lateron did a small village develop near the factory)

On 27 Jan. 1956 he embarked  as Staff Captain on the ss Ryndam (II) sailing to New York (arrival 08 February) to take command of the ss Axeldyk the next day. This ship was sailing for the Holland Inter America service to the East coast ports of South America. a joint venture with the Rotterdam  “Van Nievelt Goudriaan Company” which specialized in maintaining a Dutch service to South America.   and did not call at Rotterdam;  until 6 months later (19 September 1956) when Snelleman brought her back to Rotterdam.

Then in December 1956 another fill in voyage occured, now on the ms Noordam when the ship was in between two Sr. Masters.  A bit more seniority for Captain Snelleman himself came with the assignment to the Diemerdyk and Dinteldyk (II) in the year 1957.  These two ships were the largest and newest ships the company had sailing on the North Pacific service to Vancouver and could carry 61 passengers. This accommodation was mainly filled with business men who wanted to travel with their goods, stored in the holds and then visit business associates at the same time, In the summer time the ships were quite popular with families living on the west coast who used the ships for a short cruise up and down the coast, as long as this cruise started or ended in a non American port. (Due to the American passenger act of 1886, non US flag ships were not allowed to transport passengers on domestic trips so a foreing stop had to be included)

In March 1957 Holland America had brought into service the ms Kloosterdyk a brand new cargo ship. Part of a class of 4.  Snelleman made one round voyage with the ship (voyage 3 beween 26 September and 06 November, going to the East coast of the USA but also calling at Halifax).

Then it was back to the North Pacific  and between 25 November 1957and 06 May 1959, he was in command of the ms Dongedyk and made 6 voyages on her, with one coastal voyage on leave in June 1958). This was a bit of a different ship as it had entered service in 1929. Then called the ms Delftdyk but by 1950 she was in such a bad condition that she was completely rebuilt and also received new motor engines. She was then renamed in ms Dongedyk.

The Dongedyk was followed between June 1959 and October 1959 by period on the Diemedyk again and then seniority had risen so far that the North Atlantic passengerships came permanently in the picture.

 

First with a permanent assignment on the ms Noordam between 06 December 1959  and December 1961.  A roundtrip from Rotterdam to New York lasted around 21 days (depending on the weather) and the ship spent 5 days in New York and 5 days in Rotterdam for turnover, so the schedule for the 125 passengers on board could still be kept, even if the ship arrived late. Snelleman  made 21 roundtrips on this ship, (and was relieved 3 times for one voyage by a more junior captain).

In November 1960, when the ms Noordam was in dry dock he went to school for a Radar Navigator exam ( and passed on 11 November). Radar had arrived on the HAL ships during the 2nd world war and had progressively become more modern and usefull. This should have resulted in much safer navigation as one now could see through the fog and much further ahead. But it had also resulted in “radar assisted” collisions due to it being used wrong. So eventually, a worldwide rule was accepted and  all deck officers and captains had to go back to maritime school to follow a 5 day course to properly learn to  handle the information displayed on the radar sceen.  (A famous case where it went wrong was the collision between the passengerships ss Andrea Doria and the ms Stockholm who collided in the fog on the North Atlantic in  July 1956)

 

The on 22 August 1961 he was assigned to the ss Nieuw Amsterdam (II). He had now been at sea for 34 years. This ship, together with the ss Statendam (IV) and the flagship ss Rotterdam (V) where the top ships of the fleet and even if the regular master went on leave, his fill in would quite senior as well. This was not because the company did not trust the younger captains, exceptions to the rules regularly occured, but it was the seniority system the company had decided upon as far back as 1910.

The ss Nieuw Amsterdam (II) had been built in 1938 and had been the company’s flagship until the arrival of the ss Rotterdam (V) in 1958. She sailed opposite the ss Rotterdam on trans atlantic voyages  and made cruises during the North Atlantic off season between January and May.  Captain Snelleman would remain with this ship until his retirement in 1968.

His first interesting occurence with the ship was between 30 September 1961 and 14 January 1962. The Nieuw Amsterdam went into dry dock to be converted to a 2 class ship by eliminating the 3rd class, whose cabins could not always be sold,  even not as cheap Tourist class. Apart from a major cabin upgrade, also the public rooms were remodeled, also to make the ship more cruise friendly. He took the ship for its trial trip on 13 January on the North Sea and then sailed on 18 January 1962 to New York to make cruises from New York to the Caraibbean and Bermuda.  By 07 May, the North Atlantic crossings started again lasting until the  mid October when it was back to cruising.

Then on 27 July 1962 (voyage 243) His Royal Highness Prins Benhard of the Nethelands (queens Consort) popped up to sail with the ship from Bergen back to Rotterdam. He had attended a conference for the European (EEG) Community for tourism  in Bergen and found that it was much more fun to sail back than to fly back. Once on board  he decided to shake the hands of all the 600 cruise guests making the  cruise.

One of the interesting anecdotes of the captain is, and which made it into the newspapers, was that he sometimes saw himself as  a”very expensive barkeeper” when having to attend parties in the ship or inviting guests up to his cabin. (b)

On 31 oct 1964 he received the silver medal of the Royal Dutch

Meteorological Society  (KNMI) from HRH Prinses Margriet of The Netherlands for keeping metrological records.

In May 1965 he is mentioned in the newspapers when he gave a lecture for  a travel agency  and the Dutch Department store chain V&D in Maastricht. Apart from his lecture, a company movie “Course to America” was shown.

On 27 July 1967 he offically celebrated his 40 years with the company while he was at home as the  ss Nieuw Amsterdam was in the shipyard to receive new boilers between 16 July and 06 December. There was a party and during this party a journalist asked what he was doing during his vacations. To the suprise of many it turned out that he went to a caravan stationed in the town of  Kootwijk on the Veluwe. (Center of the Netherlands, where a large National Park is located). It was not exactly the glamour some people had expected from the master of the one but biggest passengership of the country and the HAL.

The last entry in the company records for his sailing career was 01 May 1968, when he arrived with the ship in Rotterdam. It must be assumed that he opted for an early retirement as his mandatory date would have been 2 September 1970 when he would have reached the age of 60 years.

Cornelis Snelleman continued to visit  his caravan  each summer (and maybe also in the winter) and passed away on  18 November 1980 at the age of 70.

Note: This extensive biography was partly only possible due to the large amount of material that the near family (c) made available, Captain Snelleman documented his voyages very well and photos with text were preserved in many photo albums.

Sailing list: (a,b)

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

27 Jul. 1927     Cadet Officer              Grootendijk        52,–

01 Jan. 1928    Cadet Officer              Ashore                  52,–

12 Jan. 1928    in service for the VNS (HBIL) as cadet officer

25 May. 1928  Cadet Officer              Breedijk                 52,–    Dutch Indies

09 Nov. 1928  Cadet Officer              Rijndam                  52,–    at New York

22 Nov. 1928  ashore to study

17 May. 1929  Passed exam for 3^rd Officer

18 May. 1929  4^th. Officer                   Ashore                     100,–

24 May. 1929  4^th. Officer                   Vechtdijk                100,–

01 Jan.   1930  Wage increase                                                 115,–

02 Oct.  1930  Temporary ashore                                          115,–

18 Oct. 1930   4^th. Officer                  Leerdam                    115,–

03 Nov. 1930  4^th. Officer                  Kinderdijk                115,–

15 Nov. 1930  4^th. Officer                   Edam                          115,–

08 Apr. 1931   Dismissed due to being surplus to requirements

xx.xxx 1931      4th. Officer                  Breedyk                   xxx,–

06 Oct. 1933   4^th. Officer                  Damsterdijk           105,– minus 5% temp. contract

28 Dec. 1933   Wage decrease                                               105,–                           see Circ. 929 dated 27 -6-1933

02 Feb. 1934   Dismissed due being surplus to requirements

07 Feb. 1934   Act. 3^rd Officer          Leerdam                   121.50              Temp contract

24 Mar. 1934  Temporary ashore                                           without wages

Dismissed due to the lay up of the Leerdam

29 Apr. 1934   4^th. Officer                  Breedijk                     94.50

03 May. 1934  4^th. Officer                  Dinteldijk                 94.50

25 Aug. 1934  Act. 3^rd. Officer         Dinteldijk                121,50

01 Oct. 1934   Wage decrease                                                118,–

03 Apr. 1934   Temporary ashore at 70%                          188,–  ill, pleurisy.

03 Jul. 1935    Tempoary ashore                                            without wages

18 May.1935   Act.3rd. Officer        Burgerdijk               xxx,—

08 Jul. 1935    Act. 3^rd Officer           Edam                          118,–

10 Jul. 1935    Wage increase to                                             121. 75

12 Jul. 1935    Act. 3^rd. Officer         Maasdam                 121,75

23 Dec. 1935   In military service for 35 days. HM wachtschip Den Helder. Sea service.

24 Jan. 1936    Act. 3^rd Officer         Rotterdam              121,75

10 Feb. 1936   Act. 3^rd Officer         Burgerdijk               121.75

12 Aug. 1936  Wage increase to                                            125.50

29 Nov. 1936   Act. 3^rd Officer        Spaarndam              125,50

07 Dec. 1936  Act. 3^rd. Officer        Volendam                 125,50

16 Dec. 1936   Act. 3^rd. Officer       Blommersdijk         125,50

07 Jan. 1937    Act. 3^rd Officer         Breedijk                     125,50

15 Jan. 1937    Temporary ashore                                          125,50

16 Jan. 1937    Act. 3^rd Officer        Spaarndam                125,50

24 Jan. 1937    Temporary ashore                                           125,50

01 Feb. 1937   Act. 3^rd Officer        Boschdijk                     125,50

10 Feb. 1937   Temporary ashore                                            125,50

14 Feb. 1937   Act. 2^nd Officer       Bilderdijk                      166,–  2^nd officer for one voyage.

04 Apr. 1937   Set back to 3^rd officer and temporary ashore for study for 2^nd Mates license.

11 May. 1937  Passed exam for 2^nd mate

13 May. 1937  2^nd Officer                 Rotterdam                    166,–

18 Sep. 1937   2^nd Officer                 Veendam                        166,–  at New York back to home sick.

29 Sep. 1937   Temporary ashore with a lung infection,

01 Oct. 1937   According to new regulation                       185,–

End of public company records as the company went to a new administration system and these records are held by the Holland America Pension Fund who does not allow access for research.

GAP:  (we only have a sea mans book from 1944 onwards)

xx.xxx.1938     2nd. Officer             Dinteldijk                        xxx

24 Jan. 1938   2nd Officer               Noordam (II)                stillon board by 13 Feb. 1939

16 Jun. 1939   2^nd.Officer                Volendam                       203,42   until 28 Jan 1940

09 Feb. 1940   2^nd. Officer               Volendam                       203.42

xx Apr. 1940     2nd. officer              Pennland

War records starts:

10 May.1940      2nd Officer            Pennland                         212.50

Saile from Antwerp, arrived in New York, then to Kingston Jamaica arrived 02 Dec. 1940.

25 Apr.1941        2nd Ofiicer            Pennland                         212.50            Ship sinks that day and returns to London.     (arrival 07 aug. 1941

07 aug.1941         2nd Officer         On leave                            212.50

03 Sep.1941     2nd. Officer             Delftdyk                           212.50

04 Sep.1942     2nd. Officer             Delftdyk                          212.50          Arrived  at NY.  Departed 09 June 1942

01 Jan. 1943    2nd. Officer             Delftdyk                          212.50        Arrived at New York

25 Mar. 1943   2nd. Officer             Edam                                 274.–

11 April 1943  2nd. Officer             Edam                                 274,–        Arrived at New York. Departed on 31 May 1943.

14 Jun. 1943    2nd. Officer             Edam                                274.–             Signed off due to sickness

15 Sep. 1943    2nd. Officer             Fort Orange                 274.–        Travelled to Portland (Maine) to join the ship.

01 Oct. 1943    2nd Officer              Fort Orange                 274,–         Departed from Boston.

04 Nov. 1943   2nd. Officer                                                           274,–           Signed off at Manchester for study purposes.

03 Apr.1944    Passed exam for First Mate in London.

15 Apr. 1944    Promoted to Chief Officer.

02 May 1944   Chief Officer  Philips Wouwerman          274,–            Upon arrival London of the ship.

10 Sep.1944    Chief Officer  Philips Wouwerman          274,–            Arrival London.

15 Nov. 1944  Chief Officer  Philips Wouwerman          274,–            Departed New York

09 Dec. 1944  Chief Officer  Philips Wouwerman          274,–        Departed New York

04 May.1945   Chief Officer   Philips Wouwerman         274,–                   At New York

26 May. 1945  Chief Officer   Philips Wouwerman          279,–

13 Jun. 1945   Chief Officer  Philips Wouwerman   Departed Rdam.

23 Jun. 1945  Chief Officer   Philips Wouwerman    Arrival Rotterdam on 23 July.

GAP

25 Jun. 1946   Chief Officer              Edam   Until 29 Aug. arrival at Rdam

12 Sep. 1946   Chief Officer              Sommelsdyk   Until 24 Sep. NY

13 Nov. 1946  Chief Officer              Amsteldyk     Until 01 Jan. 1947

17 Jan. 1947   Chief Officer              Amsteldyk     Until 08 Jul. 1947

01 Aug. 1947  Chief Officer              Edam              Until 14 Aug. 1947 at Philadelphia, by train to San Francisco to collect the Arnedyk.

05 Sep. 1947  Chief Officer               Arnedyk          Until 27 Jul. 1948

16 Aug. 1948 Chief Officer               Delftdyk          Until 03 Dec. 1948

18 Jan. 1949  Chief Officer               Axeldyk             Until 13 Mar. 1948

24 Mar.1949  Chief Officer               Volendam         Until 29 Nov. 1949

19 Jan. 1950  Chief officer                Westerdam     Until 13 Mar. 1950

03 Apr. 1950  Chief Officer             Volendam           Until 29 Sep. 1950

27 Nov. 1950  Chief Officer            Almdyk                 Until 05 Dec. 1950

22 Dec. 1950  Captain                       Blijdendyk           Until 26 May 1951

07 Jun.1951  Captain                       Blommersdyk      Until 30 July 1951

15 Sep. 1951  Captain                        Abbedyk                 Until 17 Sep. 1952

13 Oct. 1952  Captain                        Arnedyk        Until 24 Oct. 1952 at NY

25 Oct. 1952  Captain                       Schiedyk        Until 28 Aug. 1953 at Ny

29 Aug. 1953  Staff Capt.               Maasdam                  Until 07 Sep. 1953

12 Oct. 1953  Captain                         Averdyk                   Until 29 Apr. 1954

28 May. 1954  Captain                         Aardyk                    Until  02 Apr. 1955

18 May. 1955  Captain                         Arnedyk              Until 12 Sep. 1955 at London

14 Sep. 1955  Captain                         Westerdam       Until 10 Oct. 1955   (Fill in voyage)

06 Nov. 1955  Captain                         Alblasserdyk   Until 05 Jan. 1956

27 Jan. 1956)  Staff Captain             Ryndam              Until 08 Feb. 1956 at NY

09 Feb. 1956  Captain                         Axeldyk                    Until 19 Sep. 1956

12 Dec.1956  Captain                         Noordam              Until 07 Jan. 1957  (Fill in voyage)

13 Jan. 1957  Captain                         Diemerdyk             Until 02 May 1957

18 jun. 1957   Captain                         Dinteldyk                Until 08 Sep. 1957

26 Sep. 1957  Captain                         Kloosterdyk           Until 06 Nov. 1957

25 Nov. 1957 Captain                         Dongedyk                Until 06 May. 1959

15 Jun. 1959  Captain                         Diemerdyk               Until 08 Oct. 1959

06 Dec. 1959  Captain                         Noordam                  Until 14 Aug. 1961

(with 3 voyages off in this period)

11 Nov. 1960  Passed exam as Radar Navigator.

22 Aug.1961   Captain                        Nieuw Amsterdam     Until Retirement

24 Jan. 1970   40 years with company.

Must have retired shortly after as he reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 on September 02, 1970.

Sources;

a. Stamboeken & Movement boeken from the HAL archives  as held by the Municipal Archives of the City of Rotterdam.

b. Captain Alberts Database and Photo archive.

c. Mr. Peter Zeer ,Mrs. Mieke Snelleman, Marina Zeer-Snelleman (Family information)  The author  is very grateful and indebted to the family for given permission to use all the material that was still in their possession.

d. Wie was Wie, genealogy website.

e. Laurens van der Laan. HAL Historicus per Excellence.

Biography last Updated: 11 Feb. 2026