PREV.NAME(S): British Empire, H.M.S. Hecla.

TONN. BRT: 3,329          NRT:    2,361            DWT: 4,069

BUILT AT: Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Ireland.

BUILT IN:  1878                                                 YARD NO: 118

ENGINES: One four cylinder compound (28 x 60/54) steam engine by George Forrester & Company, Liverpool , England.

ENGINE OUTPUT: 1,500 Ihp.                            PROPS: One (fixed)

SERVICE SPD: 10.5 Knots                                 MAX.SPD: 11 Knots.

LENGTH.O.A: 122.30 Meters.                           LENGTH.PP: 118,75 Meters.

BEAM OA: 11.74 Meters.                                   DEPTH: 9.22 Meters.

DRAFT: 7.39 meters

PAX.CAP:  87 First, 70 Second and 650 Third Class.

CREW:  67                                                                 CALLsign: PRNB

SISTERSHIPS: None.

.REMARKS:  Bunker capacity 1240 tons of coal.

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HISTORY:

The ss Rotterdam (II) Seen here on one of the earliest illustrations known.

Constructed of iron with two full decks as a passengership. Could be rigged as a four masted barque.The keel was laid on 01 may 1876 and the hull launched on 7 March 1878  or 18 May 1878 (*). Delivered on delivered 10 or 24 Aug./September 1878 (*) to the British Shipowners Company of Liverpool as the British Empire (3,361 Brt.) This company built several ships with the aim of chartering them out and /or sell them to a new owner when the price was right. In the early days of steamship building this had the advantage that new shipping company’s did not have to wait for ships to be built and could also buy ships that had already shown that they were reliable. Especially where the engineering was concerned.   Holland America took advantage of this in 1886-1887 when it bought this ship and several sisters.

(*) Conflicting data in various sources, so tba.

Hence she commenced her maiden voyage sailing in charter  on 25 September sailing from Liverpool to Philadelphia for the American Line.

Then in the same year there was the announcement that,she would be requisitioned by the British Admiralty  for us as a an Armed Merchant Cruiser and renamed H.M.S. Hecla. This for transporting troops ot Aghanistan where the British Empire had issues with the Russians. There are no records that she was ever officially commissioned. Then in the same year 1878 the Royal Navy bought another ship, that was brought into service  as H.M.S Hecla, for use as a torpedo boat carrier and depot ship. She remained in service until 1926.

On 30 May 1885 she went in charter for the Guion Line of Liverpool, for service between Liverpool, Queenstown and New York  but made only one round voyage.

As far as is known, there are no photos or illustrations of the ship as ss British Empire and as H.M.S Hecla.

The ss Rotterdam (II) seen here at the New York pilot station of Sandy Hook.

According to company records the ship was bought by the NASM on 11 October 1886 for £ 25,000. However a Dutch newspaper reported on 21 September 1886 that the ship had left Liverpool on 18 September under her new name  name: ss Rotterdam (II).  During the refurbishment before the maiden voyage a dynamo was installed which could power 176 electric lights and so she became the first ship for the company with Electric Light.

Then she left for her first voyage from Rotterdam to New York on 6 November 1886 under the command of Captain Gerardus Vis. She arrived in New York on 21 November and departed again on the 27th. being back in Rotterdam on December 10.

This is a Dutch newspaper cutting,  listing all the first class passengers on board during the Maiden voyage.

On 26 Dec. 1887 the ship hits the newspapers in New York, when about 30 emigrants from Assyria (now Lebanon and Syria) were refused landing as they were into a too poor condition and without any financial means. It is unknown what their eventual fate was.

This photo is supposedly from 1887. If so, then we have in the middle Captain Vis and to his right Chief Officer (later captain and commodore)  Geert Stenger. Looking at the lapels, the gentleman at the far left of the photo is the ships doctor.

She remained on the Rotterdam service until December 1889. Voyage 28 (departure from Rotterdam on 28 December 1889 ended on 31 January 1890 in Amsterdam.

 

The ss Rotterdam (II) docked at the Wilhelminakade in Rotterdam. Large boxes are pulled on board by means of slides. and the ship cargo winches. The gangway just behind the dockworkers was for their use but also for the embarkation of the First Class passengers on sailing day, The 2nd gangway near the stern was used for the 3rd. / Emigrant class.

She then made 24 roundtrips from Amsterdam before returning to the Rotterdam to New York service.

From the Rotterdam (II) a curious artefact survived. A first class wash basin. (Collection of the late Clive Hellinga). Above the washbasin was a brass container which the Steward filled with water. The used water was drained into a container under the washbasin and then later removed.  This was quite luxurious for the 1880s’s.

Between 01 January 1895 and 02 June 1895 she was refurbished at the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij at Rotterdam. This included the installation of a new engine, a four cylinder triple expansion steam engine which gave the ship a service speed of 12 knots. The accommodation was changed to 70 First, 70 Second and 800 Third Class by reducing the cargo space.

The ss Rotterdam (II) at anchor in Kiel, with a tender platfrom alongside to enable guests to go ashore.

She did not return to the North Atlantic but was assigned on the 2nd, of June to make an “excursion”, the first company cruise, to the opening to the Kieler Kanal. (Officially the Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal and later Nord – Ost see Kanal). For this auspicous occasion the company send over the Sr. captain of the company Commodore Frederik Bonjer.

She left Rotterdam on the 15th. of June and called at Copnehagen  (17/18 June) and then at Kiel between 19 and the 22nd.  The ss Rotterdam (II) was the first foreign merchant vessel to transverse the canal on 21 June. And she was chosen as the Kingdom of the Netherlands was a neutral State and thus there would be no diplomatic incident with the greater powers in the world of “who would go first”. On board were 180 guests and the ship was back in Rotterdam on 25 June. The company had hoped that 400 people would  signed on but the Netherlands were not yet ready for cruising and thus it was not until 1910 that HAL made the next cruise. (and even that was a foreing charter)

After her cruise, she made 2 more roundtrips to New York from Rotterdam and after the last one she ended up in Amsterdam again (14 November 1895). The ship was renamed in Edam (III). A name change necessary due to the arrival of a new Rotterdam (nbr. III) . Passenger accommodation became 87 First, 70 Second, and 650 Third Class. Call sign: NMTD. The ship sailed then on the Amsterdam to New York service.

She had her last arrival in Amsterdam on 07 January 1899 and then transferred back to Rotterdam. From there she commenced her next voyage on 19 January 1899.  From there she made three more voyages to New York and was then laid up in Rotterdam afer return on 28 June 1899.

The ship was sold for scrap on 12 July 1899 to the firm of Micheli & Wassmuth of Genoa Italy for £ 9,600, There are no company records that indicate that it was a HAL crew that sailed her to Genoa.

Captains:

ss Rotterdam (II)

Gerardus Vis                         xx Sep.  1886 –  15 Jan. 1888

(It is surmised, based on a newspaper article, which gave the ship sailing under the name ss Rotterdam, that Captain Vis and a crew went Liverpool to collect the ship.)

Aldert Potjer                         27 Jan. 1888 – 13 Apr. 1888

Geert Bakker                        13 Apr. 1888 – 23 aug. 1888

Herman van der Zee          24 Aug. 1888 – 20 Nov. 1891

Adriaan Roggeveen      (*)  11 Nov. 1891 –   16 Nov. 1894

(*) Capt. Roggeveen joined in New York and took over somewhere between New York and arrival Rotterdam.

Frederik Bonjer                        02 Jun. 1895 – 07 Jul. 1895.

ss Edam (III)

Adriaan Roggeveen             18 Dec. 1895 – 30 Sept, 1896

Bote Gosse Bruinsma         11 Oct. 1896 – 13 Oct. 1898

Adriaan Roggeveen              19 Oct. 1898 – 23 Nov. 1898

Jan Schottee de Vries          01 Dec. 1898 – 28 Jun. 1898

Sources:

  1. HAL Stamboeken and Mouvement boeken from the HAL archive as kept by the Municiple archives of the City of Rotterdam.
  2. Photos from the Capt. Albert collection.
  3. Voyage information from the Capt. Albert voyage database.
  4. Contemporary newspapers.

Last updated: 05 July 2026