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The Holland America Line was founded in
1873 to carry European emigrants from
Holland - North America. They began
building up their fleet to compete
against the British and German lines that
were already well established on that
route. Nieuw Amsterdam
entered service for the Holland America
Line at a time when the White Star Line
was operating their 23,876-ton
Baltic and the Hamburg Amerika
Lines 24,581-ton Kaiser
Auguste Victoria held the
title of largest ship in the world.
Nieuw Amsterdam set out on
her maiden voyage from Rotterdam - New
York April 7th 1906. That voyage showed
her appearance differed from other liners
of the time as she had been fitted with
the ‘by then’ outdated
auxiliary sails. Three years later,
Nieuw Amsterdam was
returned to Harland & Wolff to have
her passenger compartments altered. That
work involved extending the bridge deck
forward to enlarge her 1st class dining
salon. The completion of these
alterations in December 1909 saw her
re-enter service with an increased volume
of 17,149 tons.
Most countries in Europe had been
drawn into the First World War by 1914.
Although the Dutch managed to stay
neutral throughout the conflict,
Nieuw Amsterdam was laid up
in Holland to avoid the risk of hitting
one of the many mines that littered the
seas or be mistakenly targeted by a
submarine. The war came to an end
November 11th 1918 and Nieuw
Amsterdam re-entered service
between Rotterdam, Brest and New York
December 12th. She continued to provide a
service on the Atlantic run until her
return from New York in October 1931.
With the Holland America Line having by
then sold Nieuw Amsterdam
to a Japanese scrapping company, she set
out for Osaka later that month.
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