The Spaarndam was originally designed as a cargo ship. However, the plans were changed. When the construction of the ships began, Europe was still suffering from the consequences of the First World War , while an economic upswing was expected for North America. The number of Europeans willing to emigrate rose steadily. The design of the Spaardam and her three sister ships was changed so that they could enter the emigrant business. Part of the superstructure was increased to get more cabin space, and the intermediate deck was designed in such a way that space for almost 1000 passengers could be created.
The ship
The keel-laying of the ship took place in 1919 at the New Waterway Shipbuilding Co. in Schiedam in the Netherlands . It was launched on January 11, 1922. It was handed over to the Holland America Line in July 1922. It was driven by three steam turbines from J. Brown & Co. acting on a propeller shaft. The ship reached a maximum speed of 14 knots. It was originally provided with two chimneys, whereby one chimney was only a dummy and was removed during later renovations.
Last trip
The Spaarndam left the port of New Orleans on November 27, 1939 under the command of Captain FH Dobbinga for Europe. The port of destination was Rotterdam with a planned stopover in London . Shortly before reaching the Thames estuary, the ship ran at position 51 ° 33 ' N , 1 ° 24' E two nautical miles northeast of the lightship Tongue on a sea mine laid by German torpedo boats on the night of November 12th to 13th, 1939 . The ship was badly damaged and could be steered by the crew onto a sandbank of the Knock Deeps . It burned out there. In the mine explosion five, according to some sources six crew members were killed.
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