The ss Maas, later ss Maasdam (I)

The first drawing of the ss Maas of 1871 when she entered service for Plate & Reuchlin. (a)

Details of the ss Maas.

BUILT AT: Henderson Coulborn & Company, Renfrew, Scotland.

BUILT IN: 1872.                                          YARD NO: 128

ENGINES: One four cylinder compound expansion steam engine by yard.

ENGINE OUTPUT: 1,300 Ihp.                      PROPS: One (fixed)

SERVICE SPD: 10,5 Knots                           MAX.SPD: around 11 knots.

LENGTH.O.A: 81.84 Meters                        LENGTH.PP: 77.72 Meters

BEAM OA: 10.69 Meters                             DEPTH: 8.69 Meters

DRAFT: 5.76 Meters

PAX.CAP: 8 First Class, 288  or 388 Third Class.

CREW: 46                                                                   CALL Sign: PJST

SISTERSHIPS: Rotterdam (I)

REMARKS:  Bunker capacity 1524 tons of coal.

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HISTORY:

Constructed of iron with two full decks. Could be rigged as a brig. The order was placed  on 11 February 1871 and the keel laid on the 15th. of May of the same year. Launched on 19 August 1872 by the wife of the first Captain of the ship. Mrs. Deddes-Schmidt. (See the biography of Captain Deddes on this website)

Delivered on 31 October 1872 to C.V. Plate Reuchlin & Co. of Rotterdam. Due to a strike at the yard the delivery of the ship was considerably delayed. Price to built £ 30,000–

Dutch Advertisement for the maiden voyage of the ship. This one appeared in the Dutch newspapers on 21 October 1872. (c)

Commenced her maiden voyage on 20 November 1872 sailing from Rotterdam via Plymouth and Halifax to New York. On 1 May or 11 may 1873 the ship becomes part of the NASM fleet. First departure for the newly formed company is on 6 June 1873 on the same route.

22 January 1875 the ship had to go in drydock in NY after sustaining considerable damage during the crossing.

The ss Maasdam (I) in bad weather as painted by Antonie Jacobson. (This New York based painter had a penchant to portray the ships in bad weather). (a)

On 10 July 1875 she was the first ship of the company to depart with a full load of cargo and coal from Rotterdam and make a direct voyage to NY after the New Waterway had been dredged to a sufficient depth. Until that  time, the ship (and neither any other comparable ship) could arrive fully loaded as both the circumstancial route to sea (ia Hellevoetsluis)  or the  shallow Nieuwe Waterweg could not accommodate a full drafted ship.

On 22 January 1877 the ship ran aground at the Bonesluis NY . The past voyage had been a hard one with a heavy storm near Newfoundland dropping the barometer to 28.12 mecury or 948 mb.

On 01 Dec. 1882 the ship brought home part the crew of the ss Edam (I) which had sunk recentely. The remainder of the cew arrived with the ss Schiedam (I).

Refurbished from 17 May 1883 onwards at the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij, Feijenoord N.V.,  of Rotterdam during which the passenger accommodation is upgraded and new boilers installed. (2,037 Brt.)

An atmospheric painting of the ss Maasdam (I) by the marine painter Captain S. Card.

On 11August 1883 the ship returned to service being renamed in Maasdam (I), this in order to standardize the company’s naming policy.

On 24 October 1884 a fire occured due to an exploding petrol burner. Fire spreads rapidly and eventually  the ship sinks in the North Atlantic as the fire cannot be controlled. (In position 49.00 N.  27.00 West). There are no casualties. All 186 occupants are saved by the ss Rhein of the North German Lloyd. The burning hulk was abandoned but remained afloat for a considerable time. Although much wood was on board the hull itself was made of iron and thus it took time for it to fill up with sea water. It was reported by the German ship the ss Oder  on the 28th. of October 1884, that it was still on fire, with the masts having collapsed but the funnel still standing. No further sightings were reported.

Captains of the ship:

Evert Jan Deddes                                       01 Mar. 1872 –  02 Mar. 1874

Everhard Martinus Chevalier             22 Mar. 1874 –   10 Nov. 1877

Pieter van der Hoeven                              10 Nov. 1877 – 26 Nov. 1878

Jan Hendrik Taat                                           27 Nov. 1878 –      15 Nov. 1879

Frederik Hendrik Bonjer                           28 Nov. 1879 –  15 Jun. 1882

Geert Bakker                                                    15 Jun. 1882 –  25 Aug. 1884

Herman Coene van der  Zee (*)               25 Aug. 1884 – 24 Oct .1884

(*): This was the first command of Captain Van der Zee and he was not supposed to be there but captain Bakker had been given extra leave.

Sources:

a. Capt. Alberts ships database & photo collection

b. Stamboek & Movemement boeken of the company has held by the Municipal archives of the City of Rotterdam.

c. Dutch Newspapers of the period. (www.delpher.nl)

Last updated: 12 November 2025