Holland America Line pop quiz

[VMax1700]

another vote for Commodore!

[john2003]

To answer the second question, Hotel.

 

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I'm thinking Fleet Captain. 

 

Roy

 

2 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Commodore? 

 

 

Close Roy, but the title fleet captain is still around. The current HAL fleet captain whose main responsibility is quality assurance throughout the fleet working for corporate marine is Captain Jeroen Baaijens. 

 

Winner Cat! The title of commodore was given in the olden North Atlantic crossing days of HAL liners to the senior captain in the fleet. He would usually be given command of the largest ship in the fleet, if not the flagship itself.

 

The last HAL commodore was Captain Auke de Jong (see pic) and when he retired on April 22, 1968, the commodore title was done away with. I was told that the commodore even had the right to fly his own flag but have been unable to find a representation of those colors 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

43 minutes ago, john2003 said:

To answer the second question, Hotel.

 

 

Winner! In 1968, the Purser and Chief Steward Departments on HAL were combined into the Hotel Department with a Hotel Manager in charge. With the new department came the also new titles/positions of Food & Beverage Manager, Maitre d' Hotel and Chief housekeeper - Pic is of HAL former hotel director Dirk Zeller (far left) in the good old days of the captain's handshake. Who remebers those grand events? 😉 

Edited March 24, 2022 by Copper10-8

[USN59-79]

Interesting how similar cruise line customs are to those of the U.S. Navy.  In the Navy, the rank between a Captain and an Admiral is Commodore.  The next promotion would be to Rear Admiral, a two-star Admiral.  Other services such as Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps promote a Colonel directly to Brigadier General, a one star general.

[chengkp75]

13 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Interesting how similar cruise line customs are to those of the U.S. Navy.  In the Navy, the rank between a Captain and an Admiral is Commodore.  The next promotion would be to Rear Admiral, a two-star Admiral.  Other services such as Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps promote a Colonel directly to Brigadier General, a one star general.

The Navy has not used the rank of Commodore since 1985, when it was replaced by the one star rank of "Rear Admiral (Lower Half).  There are differences in cruise line ranks, as most lines have a rank of 3-1/2 stripes, which the Navy does not, that would fit between Commander and Captain.  These are typically Staff Chief Engineer, Chief Electrical Engineer, Food & Beverage Manager, at least at NCL.

[john2003]

4 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

in the good old days of the captain's handshake. Who remebers those grand events? 😉 

I certainly do. Also being introduced to the captain by name. Of course, smaller ships.

[USN59-79]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

The Navy has not used the rank of Commodore since 1985, when it was replaced by the one star rank of "Rear Admiral (Lower Half).  There are differences in cruise line ranks, as most lines have a rank of 3-1/2 stripes, which the Navy does not, that would fit between Commander and Captain.  These are typically Staff Chief Engineer, Chief Electrical Engineer, Food & Beverage Manager, at least at NCL.

You are right.  I guess when I retired in 1979 I didn't keep up with the changes.

[Alphen]

14 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

The Navy has not used the rank of Commodore since 1985, when it was replaced by the one star rank of "Rear Admiral (Lower Half).  There are differences in cruise line ranks, as most lines have a rank of 3-1/2 stripes, which the Navy does not, that would fit between Commander and Captain.  These are typically Staff Chief Engineer, Chief Electrical Engineer, Food & Beverage Manager, at least at NCL.

Since Holland America was original a Dutch cruise company, officer ranks are based on the Dutch ranks. In the Dutch navy, there still is a rank called "Commandeur", which translates as Commodore, as the first rank above that of Captain, which is the normal rank of the commanding officer of a Holland America ship.

 

Ranks of the Flag Officers of the Dutch navy are in order of importance in Dutch and in English; 

• Kapitein ter Zee - Captain
• Commandeur - Commodore
• Schout bij Nacht - Rear Admiral
• Vice Admiraal - Vice Admiral
• Luitenant Admiraal - Admiral

There used to be one higher rank, the rank of Admiraal (Admiral in English), but this was only for the King of the Netherlands. When the current King came to the throne, he decided to step down from his military ranks, so the Luitenant Admiraal is the highest rank in the Dutch Navy.

[chengkp75]

19 minutes ago, Alphen said:

Since Holland America was original a Dutch cruise company, officer ranks are based on the Dutch ranks. In the Dutch navy, there still is a rank called "Commandeur", which translates as Commodore, as the first rank above that of Captain, which is the normal rank of the commanding officer of a Holland America ship.

And, most Navies in the world have the rank of Commodore, but I was responding to USN59-79 regarding the US Navy.

[Copper10-8]

Which (passenger) ship name has been the most used by HAL? And, for the bonus key chain extra points and an honorable mention if you can also name the most used for a HAL cargo ship, but that's the mother of all HAL trivia 😉 

[MAVIP]

Rotterdam?

[john2003]

Rotterdam and Dinteldijk 

[Sir PMP]

2 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Which (passenger) ship name has been the most used by HAL? And, for the bonus key chain extra points and an honorable mention if you can also name the most used for a HAL cargo ship, but that's the mother of all HAL trivia 😉 

SS Nieuw Amsterdam.

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, MAVIP said:

Rotterdam?

 

1 hour ago, john2003 said:

Rotterdam and Dinteldijk 

 

 

Winners!  The current Rotterdam, the third Pinnacle-class ship, and which joined HAL last year in July, is the seventh "Rotterdam" in HAL's history. She was originally to be named Ryndam however that name was changed to Rotterdam after Rotterdam VI left the fleet (unfortunately) for Fred Olsen cruise line. Rotterdam VII is to be named by HRH Princess Margriet of the Netherlands in a ceremony scheduled for May 30, 2022 in the city of Rotterdam. 

 

The first Rotterdam came in at 1,694 gross registered tons and was a single-engine steamship. Built by Henderson Coulborn & Company in Renfrew, Scotland, Rotterdam I was built for HAL’s predecessor; C.V. Plate, Reuchlin & Company and, after delivery on June 6, 1872, was deployed on the transatlantic service between Rotterdam and New York. On September 26, 1883 and now operating for the Nederlandsch Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij (NASM), she ran aground on the Zeehondenbank off Schouwen in the Dutch Province of Zeeland. The ship was subsequently abandoned and broke in two parts on October 12 of that year.

The second Rotterdam was launched as ‘British Empire’ for British Shipowners Ltd. in 1878 from the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Island. She was a 3,329 gross registered ton single screw steam-powered vessel with accommodation for 87 First Class, 72 Second Class and 650 Third Class passengers.  She was purchased by HAL in October 1886 and placed on the Rotterdam to New York (1886-1890) and Amsterdam to New York (1890-1892) service. In 1894 she was renamed Edam, and in 1899 sold for scrap and broken up at Genoa, Italy.

 

Rotterdam III was launched on February 18, 1897 after having been built at Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Island for Holland America Line. She was a 8,186 gross registered ton twin-screw steam ship, and also worked the Rotterdam to New York service until sold to Copenhagen, Denmark-based Skandinavien Amerika Linen in 1906 and renamed C.F. Tietgen. She became Dwinsk for Russian East Asiatic Steamship Company in in 1913. In 1917 she was taken over as a troop transport by British Shipping Controller and placed under Cunard Steam Ship Company Management. On June 18, 1918 she was torpedoed by the German Navy submarine U-151 and subsequently sank 400 miles north-east of Bermuda.

 

The fourth Rotterdam was also built by Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Island for Holland America Line and delivered on March 3, 1908. She was a 24,149 gross registered ton twin-screw steam ship and the Netherlands’ largest ship from 1908 until 1938. Rotterdam IV was HAL’s first truly deluxe ocean liner and famed for her ornate First Class interiors as well as for her First Class glass-enclosed promenade deck, a HAL innovation designed to shield guests against the North Atlantic wind and spray. She operated for HAL from 1908 until 1939 when she was sold for scrap and broken up at Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht on the island of IJsselmonde in the western Netherlands in 1940

 

Rotterdam V was built by the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 1959 as the largest ocean liner ever built in the Netherlands. She would become the flagship of Holland America Line for 38 years! She was a 37,783 gross registered twin screw steam turbine vessel which gave her a top speed of 21.5 knots when she joined the company on August 20, 1959. Her initial voyage was from Rotterdam, via Le Havre, France and Southampton, England, to New York. In 1961 she sailed her first world cruise; she would complete a total 29 grand world voyages. On September 8, 1997, she was sold to Premier Cruise Line who renamed her ‘Rembrandt’.  In September 2000, Rembrandt was laid up in Freeport, the Bahamas, after Premier went belly up. On August 8, 2008, after a series of dry-docks, she returned to her city of birth, Rotterdam, and on February 15, 2010 was opened to the public as a combination hotel/museum in Rotterdam's Waalhaven.

 

Rotterdam VI  was built in 1997 by Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A., Marghera (Venice), Italy for Holland America Line as the lead ship of the four vessel 'R' class (Volendam, Zaandam, and Amsterdam are/were her sisters.) She and Amsterdam were the co-flagships of the fleet and were designed for extended cruising including 'around the world' voyages. Rotterdam sailed the ‘World Cruise’ or “Grand World Voyage” every year from 1997 through 2001, before her sister Amsterdam (and for three years, Prinsendam) took over. Rotterdam VI was the fastest ship in the “R” class, being able to sail at 25 knots, a speed which enabled her to spend more time in her ports of call. She had a twin-funnel, side-by-side arrangement  and was able to carry 1,320 passengers (compared to 1,266 on the “S” class ships), double occupancy, or 1,702 passengers with all berths filled. At 61, 369 gross registered tons Rotterdam was slightly larger than the “S” class ships; in addition, her hull was longer (781 feet versus 719 feet) and wider (105.8 feet versus 101 feet) than her four "S"-class predecessors.

 

In July 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic which had halted world-wide cruise ship operations, it was announced that Holland America Line had sold Rotterdam VI to Fred Olsen Cruise Lines for delivery in September 2020 and that she would be renamed MS Borealis by her new owners. The ship visited her summer home port of Rotterdam, as well as her predecessor in the Holland America Line fleet, museum/hotel ship Rotterdam V, for the last time on August 10 and 11, 2020, after which she was handed over to Fred Olsen.

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, john2003 said:

...........................Dinteldijk 

 

Pretty darn close and admirable 😉 there have been two Dinteldijk's

 

However, there have been three Eemdijk's and three Sommelsdijk's  

[Sir PMP]

But what about the SS Nieuw Amsterdam's mileage as a troop movement ship..?

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, Sir PMP said:

But what about the SS Nieuw Amsterdam's mileage as a troop movement ship..?

 

 

Say what? The question, Meneer uit Den Haag, had to do with what the most used name of a HAL ship was. Not being the sharpest pencil in the box, I have a feeling that

 

 

as Sheriff Buford T. Justice from Texarkana, Montague County, Texas would frequently utter 

[Sir PMP]

2 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

Say what? The question, Meneer uit Den Haag, had to do with what the most used name of a HAL ship was. Not being the sharpest pencil in the box, I have a feeling that

 

 

as Sheriff Buford T. Justice from Texarkana, Montague County, Texas would frequently utter 

 

[john2003]

5 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Pretty darn close and admirable 😉 there have been two Dinteldijk's

 

However, there have been three Eemdijk's and three Sommelsdijk's  

I think I included the 2007 vessel which of course isn't HAL but shares the name. I shall have to try harder!!

 

I got interested on the cargo history after the MV Schiedyk started leaking oil in Nootla Sound, up the coast from us.

[Copper10-8]

Here's todays; what are these hard working Maasdam sailors, positioned on their rented cherry picker in Bridgetown, Barbados, painting on the ship's port side bow?

 

[Alphen]

Just now, Copper10-8 said:

Here's todays; what are these hard working Maasdam sailors, positioned on their rented cherry picker in Bridgetown, Barbados, painting on the ship's port side bow?

 

Location of the Bow Thrusters.

 

[Copper10-8]

4 minutes ago, Alphen said:

Location of the Bow Thrusters.

 

 

And the one near the head of the sailor dressed in blues? 🙂 

[chengkp75]

2 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

And the one near the head of the sailor dressed in blues? 🙂 

I thought those were where the "X-men" came from.  😁  And that one is something rude.  😜

[Alphen]

8 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

And the one near the head of the sailor dressed in blues? 🙂 

Bulbous Bow, but the actual painting is on the sign of the Bow Thrusters 😉

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Alphen