The
current "MS Ryndam" is the 3rd ship to bear that name. In 1883 - 10
years after Holland America's official founding date, the "dam" suffix
was adopted for the names of the
company's passenger liners, with most of the HAL ships being named
after cities in Holland or the dams that cross many of The Netherlands'
rivers and
allow for irrigation. The Ryndam take its name from Europe's famed
Rhine (Ryn) River, which flows to the sea in Holland.
USS
Rijndam (I):
The
first was the USS Rijndam seen below in New York's harbour circa 1901:
The USS
Rijndam was built by Harland
& Wolf Ltd., Belfast, Ireland, (the same company that built the
most infamous ship in history- Titanic 10 years later), in 1901
as a passenger and
mercantile liner for the
Nederlandsche-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Mastschappij (Holland American
Line). She served as a troop carrier during WWI from 1918 - 1919, after
which she was returned to Holland America Line. She remained in their
service until she was scrapped in 1929 in Holland.
MS
Ryndam (II):
The
2nd was the MS Ryndam (II) seen below in open water circa 1953: (This
is the
ship that Mom & Dad emigrated to Canada aboard.)
Originally
the Ryndam (II) was named Dinteldyk and was
designed and built by
Wilton-Fijenoord, Schiedam as a
freighter vessel. In 1950, Holland America Line
redesigned
and refitted her as a passenger liner. She remained in the service of
HAL until 1966 when she was transferred to their German subsidiary
called Europa-Canada Linie, and renamed "Waterman". She was then
transferred back to HAL in 1967 and renamed back to Ryndam. She
remained in their service until 1972 when she was sold to World Wide
Cruises, Panama and renamed Atlas. Subsequent names include; Pride of
Mississippi
1988; Pride of Galveston 1991; Copa Casino 1992. It is reported that
she is permanently moored at Gulfport (USA) although there have been
reports that she sank in 2003 somewhere in the far east while she was
being
towed to a scrap yard.
MS
Ryndam (III):
The
3rd and current ship bearing this name is the MS Ryndam (III) seen
below in the official HAL postcard:
Built
in 1994 by Fincantieri Shipyards, Italy and the third of the "S"
(Statendam) class ships. It was later retro-fitted in 2004 to include
the "Signature of Excellence" amentities and enhancements including:
cabin upgrades to the beds linens and towels, programming upgrades and
the addition of the Neptune
Lounge, Pinnacle Grill, Culinary Arts Centre and Explorations
Café.
Author's
Note: Photo's on this
page have been gathered from Internet sites including Holland America
Line's Website 2005.