The fascinating story of the grand old lady, darling of the Dutch, and the largest vessel built in Rotterdam
This book traces the distinguished career of the Holland America Line flagship Nieuw Amsterdam. One of the most popular liners on the Atlantic, she regularly visited Southampton, Hoboken-New York, Rotterdam, and latterly Fort Lauderdale and the Caribbean. The Dutch art-deco flagship was named for the Dutch settlement New Amsterdam, modern-day New York. Her pre-war life was short and with the fall of Holland in the Second World War she was requisitioned by the British Ministry of Transport under Cunard. After conversion she was a British troopship, carrying thousands of Allied troops to all corners of the world. After the war, she remained in Holland America Line service until 1974, the last ship to retain the Holland America Line's green, yellow and white funnels. Despite boiler problems in 1967, she was refitted with US Navy-surplus boilers and sailed on, cruising, until withdrawn from service in 1974.