SS Veendam (1922)

Postcard of Veendam
History
Netherlands
Name	1922: Veendam 1942: Marinestützpunkt Tollerort 1947: Veendam
Namesake	Veendam
Owner	NASM
Operator	1923: Holland America Line 1941: Hamburg America Line 1947: Holland America Line
Port of registry	Rotterdam
Route	1923: Rotterdam – Hoboken 1930: New York – Hamilton 1931: Rotterdam – Hoboken 1939: Antwerp – Hoboken 1947: Rotterdam – Hoboken
Builder	Harland & Wolff, Govan
Yard number	650
Launched	18 November 1922
Completed	29 March 1923
Maiden voyage	18 April 1923
Refit	1928, 1931, 1941, 1946
Identification	until 1933: code letters PWBG by 1934: call sign PIEP
Fate	Scrapped in 1953
General characteristics
Type	ocean liner
Tonnage	15,450 GRT, 9,202 NRT, 13,503 DWT
Displacement	25,620 tons
Length	575.0 ft (175.3 m) overall 550.2 ft (167.7 m) registered
Beam	67.3 ft (20.5 m)
Depth	41.1 ft (12.5 m)
Decks	2
Installed power	1,913 NHP, 8,000 bhp
Propulsion	4 × steam turbines single-reduction gearing 2 × screws
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h)
Capacity	cargo: 483,000 cu ft (13,700 m3) grain 452,000 cu ft (12,800 m3) bale passengers: 1923: 262 × 1st class, 436 × 2nd class, 1,200 × 3rd class 1928: 262 × 1st class, 430 × 2nd class, 480 × tourist class 1931: 263 × 1st class, 633 × tourist class, 555 × 3rd class 1947: 223 × 1st class, 363 × tourist class
Crew	1923: 328 1947: 227
Sensors and processing systems	1924: submarine signalling 1930: wireless direction finding
Notes	sister ship: Volendam

SS Veendam was a Dutch-owned transatlantic liner, launched in Scotland in 1922 and scrapped in the United States in 1953. She was part of the first generation of turbine-powered steamships in the Holland America Line (Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij, or NASM) fleet. Veendam and her sister ship Volendam were NASM's largest turbine steamships until the flagship Statendam was completed in 1929.

In the 1920s and 30s, Veendam spent most of her career on scheduled services between Rotterdam and Hoboken, New Jersey. She also operated seasonal cruises, usually from Hoboken to the Caribbean. In summer 1934 she made two cruises from Rotterdam to destinations in Europe, and early in 1938 she cruised from New Orleans to the Caribbean.

In the Second World War she evacuated refugees from Europe, until in 1940 she was captured in the German invasion of the Netherlands. In 1941 the Kriegsmarine requisitioned Veendam as an accommodation ship. Between 1943 and 1945 she was damaged in several air raids, and sank at her moorings. She was raised in 1945, refitted in 1946, and returned to NASM transatlantic and cruising service in 1947. She was withdrawn from service and scrapped in 1953.

This was the second NASM ship to be named after the town of Veendam in Groningen. The first was the White Star Liner Baltic, which NASM bought and renamed in 1888. NASM next used the name in 1972, when it bought and renamed the turbine steamship Argentina.