SS Prins van Oranje was the second ship of the Willem III class. It was the first ship of the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN) that completed a round trip to the Dutch East Indies.
Context
Steamships for the Suez Canal SS Prins van Oranje was the second ship of the Willem III class, which were the first ships built for the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN). The SMN was founded in May 1870 for the express purpose of establishing a steam shipping line to Java via the Suez Canal, which opened in 1869. This would require steamships of a 'new' class, the Willem III class.
Characteristics
Dimensions SS Prins van Oranje was reported to measure 320 * 39 * 30 feet. The cargo size of the ship was 2,789 tons GT. Tideman has general data about Prins van Oranje that is probably more exact: 97.53 m from bow to stern. Beam 11.96 m external. Depth of hold 9.775 m. Draught 6.7 m. .
Machinery The compound steam engines were also delivered by the shipyard. They were of the improved Wolf system of nominal 400 hp, effective 1,600 ihp. The reporter A. Huet gave a simple explanation of the compound engine: Four boilers created steam with an over-pressure of 2 atm and pushed it into a small cylinder. In this cylinder the steam expanded to create movement. The steam then went to a reservoir and emerged in a bigger cylinder, where it again expanded to create movement. The steam then went to the surface condenser to become water. The explanation continued by stating that compound engines had been made before in the Netherlands for river tugboats by Fijenoord. John Elder was credited with making it suitable for use at sea, and improving and simplifying the concept so that it really delivered the advantages that calculations promised.
The crucial aspect of the compound engine for use at sea was that using high pressure steam required the boilers to be fed with pure water. In order to achieve this, the cooling in the condenser was achieved by running the steam through metal tubes, which were kept cold by water that streamed outside of these pipes. By not mixing the steam with the cooling water, the result was that the steam became distilled water, that was fed back to the boilers. The result was a closed circuit between boilers and machine. Our reporter noted that even this surface condenser was not new, but had been invented 20–30 years earlier, and had fallen in disuse since.
On the Glasgow to Nieuwediep route SS Prins van Oranje has used about 20 tons a day at a speed of 10 Knots an hour.
Accommodation There was accommodation for 90 passengers first class, and 36 passengers second class. For both Willem III and Prins van Oranje the two major changes from the design as presented to the government were: engines of 400 nominal hp instead of 325 hp and capacity for 90 passengers first class, instead of 50 passengers first class.
In 1875 the accommodation was radically changed, cf below.
Complement The crew of Prins van Oranje consisted of 69 persons, but this was probably not counting civilian staff.
Service
Construction and transfer Prins van Oranje was built for Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN) by John Elder & Co. of Govan on the River Clyde. She was launched on Thursday 4 May 1871. On 29 June she left the shipyard in Glasgow to take in coal and make a trial run on the Clyde. On the trial run she was reported to have made 12 knots. It is traditionally the moment before ownership is transferred. On 8 July she finally left Glasgow for Nieuwediep. The voyage from Glasgow to Nieuwediep was made in 76 hours. In the evening of 11 July 1871 Prins van Oranje arrived in Texel, i.e. before Nieuwediep under Captain M.C. Braat.
First Voyage to the East Indies
The first voyage of Prins van Oranje to the Dutch East Indies consisted of a speedy voyage to Batavia, and a very bad return trip. Prins van Oranje had entered the harbor of Nieuwediep on 12 July. Her departure was determined on 25 July. Now the usual loading of packages from the warehouses of the SMN took place, and all kinds of small vessels arrived to transload their cargo. Problems with loading or otherwise cause that departure was soon delayed to 29 July. Still somewhat later it became 'end of July'. On 27 July Prins Hendrik arrived in Nieuwediep to inspect the ship.
At 5 AM on 30 July 1871 Prins van Oranje left from before Nieuwediep under Captain M.C. Braat. Prins Hendrik accompanied her for a while on HNLMS Schorpioen. On board were at least some of the passengers which had survived the disaster of Willem III. Among them Captain Pieter van der Velden Erdbrink, lieutenant 2nd class M.J.C. Lucardie and Miss Cornelia van Geuns. The cargo was very diverse, there were many industrial goods, but also wine, butter and cheese.
In the afternoon of Sunday 13 August 1871 Prins van Oranje arrived in Port Said. After passing the Suez Canal she left Suez for Batavia on 18 August. On 9 September at 8 AM she passed Anyer on Sunda Strait, and at two o'clock in the afternoon she anchored before Batavia. The trip had taken 41 days and 9 hours.
The steam vessel Tjiliwong was sent from Batavia to collect passengers. Captain Braat received a congratulatory telegram from Prins Hendrik. On 15 September the Governor-General visited Prins van Oranje. On 17 September the steam vessels Tjitarum and Tjiliwong would transport more than 600 visitors to the ship. On 21 September Prins van Oranje left Batavia for Semarang.
At 10 AM on 22 September Prins van Oranje arrived in Semarang. A number of people visited her by using the steam vessel Moria, and there was a reception with champagne. A local newspaper made a report about Prins van Oranje. It noted that the ship was a modern vessel capable of efficiently transporting cargo between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. With regard to passenger transport however, it thought that it could not compare to the ships of the Messageries Maritimes. Even its less opulent Meikong and Ava were far more comfortable and better ventilated. Even so, there were more aspects in which the French ships were better. On Sunday 1 October Prins van Oranje was open for the general public in Semarang, and on 2 October she left for Batavia.
On 4 October 1871 Prins van Oranje arrived back in Batavia. For the return voyage she left Batavia on 15 October. She had primarily been loaded in Semarang. While there 3,000 piculs sugar and 14,500 piculs coffee had been loaded for the Netherlands Trading Society. For other traders from Semarang she carried: 4,200 piculs coffee, 4,570 kg of indigo, 5.5 piculs nutmeg, 1.75 piculs cinnamon, 0.75 piculs mace, 12 piculs gutta-percha. In Batavia 1,923 piculs of tin, 73,269 pounds of tea, 785 kg indigo, 870 pounds vanilla, 23 piculs of coffee and some other goods were added. There were 29 passengers and 79 soldiers on board.
On 9 November Prins van Oranje arrived in Suez. During the passing of the Suez Canal the troubles began. On the 13th she was in Port Said with one or more broken propeller blades. One expected that this would cause her to remain in Port Said for a few days. On Friday 17 November she indeed left Port Said. On 2 December she arrived in Gibraltar with engine problems, others said screw blade problems. Some of the cargo of Prins van Oranje was transferred to the English Brig Thomas and John, so the necessary repairs could be made. By 8 December 1871 a telegram had been received which noted that the repair to the movement of the 'steam slide' would be done, and that some cargo from the stern of the ship had been moved to lighters, so the two propeller blades, which had been damaged in the Suez Canal, could be replaced. The photograph above might depict this event. The passengers continued to the Netherlands on another ship. On 23 December Prins van Oranje left Gibraltar, and on 30 December 1871 she finally arrived back in Texel.
Prins van Oranje had completed the first direct round trip to the East Indies for the SMN. However, the trouble with the engine and propeller on the home bound voyage, meant that there was little reason for rejoicing. The net result of the first voyage was a loss of 9,104 guilders. It was one of the reasons that an extraordinary meeting of shareholders was convened on 25 March 1872. The bleak picture resulted from some matters of integrity, the burning of Willem III, the loss made on the first trip of Prins van Oranje, the bad start of the second trip of that ship, and the propeller blade problems of Prins Hendrik. It all caused quite a row in the meeting and outside of it.
Second voyage The second voyage of Prins van Oranje to the Dutch East Indies was even worse than the first. The propeller blades broke on the trip towards Batavia, and even twice on the home-bound voyage. On 4 February 1872 Prins van Oranje left on her second trip. On 18 February she arrived in Port Said. On 21 February she left Suez. Prins van Oranje then somehow again broke her propeller blades. Captain Braat noted that the accident took place on 3 degrees north, 63 degrees east. In quick succession he lost three of the four propeller blades, and then changed course on 4 March. On 12 March Prins van Oranje was in Galle, Sri Lanka to get new propeller blades. By 19 March the propeller had been repaired, and some cargo was re-loaded into the ship. In the early morning of 24 March Prins van Oranje left Galle for Batavia.
On 1 April 1872 Prins van Oranje arrived in Batavia. In Batavia she unloaded a very diverse cargo; clothes, books, utensils, liquor etc. Cargo destined for Semarang was transloaded to SS Koning Willem III. Prins van Oranje then entered Onrust Dock of 3,000 tons to fix her propeller blades, including the one that had still been attached after Galle. Engineer D. Boeke of the naval base at Onrust Island later gave some observations. He noted that the connection of the propeller blades to the axis was found to be solid and well-designed. The blades had broken off at about one-third of their length from the axis, so the defect was in the form, the size, or the materials used. At the moment of the inspection Boeke and others still thought that the Suez Canal played an essential role in the problem, because other companies had also gotten into trouble there.
Prins van Oranje continued to Surabaya on 16 April. She arrived there on 18 April. On the way back from Surabaya halted a few hours to pick passengers in Semarang. On 30 April she was back in Batavia.
On 8 May Prins van Oranje left Batavia again with about 300 people on board. In the night of 17–18 May one of the propeller blades broke off near 6.59 N 68.52 E. Prins van Oranje continued at a careful pace, some passengers noting increased vibrations. On 22 May she had reached 1.57 N 57.10 E, when at 2 o'clock in the afternoon another screw blade was lost. Because this was opposite the first one that was lost, the vibrations actually diminished. In the night of 24–25 May the third blade was lost with a sound that woke most of the passengers. By then Prins van Oranje was at 5.40 N 54.13 E, about 740 km from Cape Guardafui in Somalia. The chance of discovery by passing ships was by then much better. In order to re-assure the passengers they were reminded that on the way to Galle the last blade had lasted for 8 days. Now a southwestern wind came up which greatly aided the screw. On 26 May Cape Guardafui came in sight, and soon the ship was in the Gulf of Aden. In the morning of 28 May Prins van Oranje was 200 kilometers from Aden. In the evening of 28 May all passengers were assembled on deck after dinner. Suddenly the last propeller blade then broke with an enormous noise.