The Ruys Family of Shipowners

This famous Dutch fleet of passenger and cargo vessels with black funnels was known as Royal Rotterdam Lloyd in post-war years from 1947 to 1970, as Rotterdam Lloyd from 1883 to 1947, and as the management company of Willem Ruys & Zonen (Sons) from 1861. The founder Willem Ruys was born on 1st April 1809, the son of a clergyman, and during his long life of eighty years until his death on 5th august 1889 he operated a fleet of 23 sailing ships. He married Jeanette Ruys-los and they had three sons Jan Daniel Ruys (born 1835), Willem Ruys (born 1837) and Daniel Theodorus Ruys (born 1841). The founder began in business in 1828 as a shipbroker, forwarding agent and insurance broker, and in 1839 became the part owner of a barque on the 64ths principle. The main trade was to the Dutch East indies, but also to Mauritius, India, Singapore and with inducement to China, Japan, and to Australia. Willem Ruys announced his retirement on 15th March, 1867, and his three sons began the process of transforming the fleet from sailing ships into more reliable steamers after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

The first steamer was named Ariadne of 1,237 grt when she was delivered from the Sunderland yard of William Pile & Company in august 1870. She had a whalebacked weather fo’c’stle, two masts with sails on the foremast as insurance against engine breakdowns, and a twin cylinder simple steam engine. She was completed to carry iron ore from Spain to Holland and for service to the Mediterranean and to the Baltic in summer. She made one voyage to New York in July 1972, and was the first Ruys vessel to transit the Suez Canal en route to the Dutch East indies in 1873. Two larger three masted steamers of 2,534 grt were completed by Charles Mitchell & Company on the Tyne in 1875 as Groningen and Friesland. The opening of the New Waterway connecting Rotterdam to the sea in 1872 provided an impetus for all shipping companies based in Rotterdam.

The first advertisement appeared in the New Rotterdam Courant on 21st January 1875 announcing the opening of a regular steamship line from Rotterdam to Batavia on Java with four ships. These were Groningen (Capt. J. Bakker), Friesland (Capt. l. Hoffman), Torrington (Capt. R.J. Blacklin) and Hampton (Capt. L.R. McMontrey). The latter pair of vessels were on charter from the Commercial Steamship Company of London, managed by Young, Ehlers & Company and later by Lambert Brothers. The Commercial Steamship funnel colours were black with a white central band bearing a red triangle, and for this reason the company was known as the ‘Pale ale Company’ as the red triangle was also on the label of a well known beer company. The long term chartering of Commercial Steamship Company vessels continued until 1891. The twin funnelled passenger and mail steamer Bromo of 2,417 grt, with accommodation for 55 passengers in two classes, was completed by the famous de Schelde yard at Flushing in 1888, and was the first ship in the fleet to be named after an active volcano in East Java.

N.V. Rotterdamsche Lloyd was founded on 15th June 1883 with a capital of 4.033 million guilders by the merger of a number of Willem Ruys & Zonen shipping companies. The Dutch East indies trade was the main trade, with RL and Nederland line sending one ship every other week to Java, thus establishing a weekly service. There were also routes to the Mediterranean ports and to South American ports, as well as tramping. at this date, the mail contract to the Dutch East indies was held by a Dutch subsidiary of British India Line (BI) called N.I.S.M. (Netherland indies Steamship Company). This arrangement was politically unpopular in Holland, and in 1887 Rotterdam Lloyd joined with Nederland line of Amsterdam to lobby the Dutch government to ensure that future contracts were placed with them. This was achieved through the creation of Koninklijke Paketvaart Maats (KPM) to provide East indies inter island services and to work internationally with Rotterdam Lloyd and Nederland line with common directors on the boards of all three companies.

The three vessel passenger and mail class from the Flushing yard of de Schelde in 1891 had three decks, a shade deck and awnings over the poop deck for 38 First Class passengers, 24 in Second Class and a large number of troops in the holds. Ardjoeno, Salak and Gede were powered by quadruple expansion steam engines by the builder, with Gede fitted with a larger deckhouse on the poop, and she was the last RL vessel to have the First Class accommodation aft. She was sold in 1910 to Mexican and then Japanese owners, and was mined and sunk off Cape Lucate in Italy en route from Genoa to New York on 7th July 1917.

on 1st January 1899, Willem Ruys & Zonen formed the Triton Shipping Company to take over its tramp ship operations. The capital of the new company was 600,000 guilders and it had the same directors as Rotterdam Lloyd and the Ruys handling and management fees were identical. The first two tramps were Indian built in 1889 at Sunderland and Ameland built in 1895 at West Hartlepool.

A New Century

at the beginning of the new century, the Ruys & Zonen fleet was composed of nine passenger and mail steamers, three cargo ships and two Triton tramps. a total of 26 passenger and mail sailings were made to Batavia during the year and only six cargo ship round voyages. This situation improved at the end of the year with new tonnage, and in 1902 Rotterdam Lloyd, Nederland line and KPM formed the Java-China-Japan line (JCJL), and later the Java-Bengalen line serving Malaya, Burma and India in 1906, and the Java-Australia line in 1908. The second Willem Ruys had died on 3rd March 1901 at the age of 64 years, and he had been a powerful figure presiding over the many changes to the company over the previous 40 years.

The sister passenger and mail steamers Goentoer and Sindoro were delivered during 1900/02 from the de Schelde yard at Flushing. Ophir was the first of four passenger and mail steamers of around 4,800 grt when she was delivered in November 1904 from the de Schelde yard at Flushing. Her sisters were Kawi, Rindjani and Wilis with accommodation of a very high standard, the need now was for more passenger and mail steamers so that ships could be switched from services according to the seasonal flow of passengers and those wishing to avoid the hottest periods of the year. Ophir became the first vessel to berth at the new RL Lloydkade quay at Rotterdam on 17th October 1908, but she became a loss by fire and explosion at Gibraltar in November 1918, settling on the bottom of the harbour while her three sisters survived the war. Two further similar passenger and mail steamers were delivered from the de Schelde yard as Tabanan and Tambora from the de Schelde yard during 1908/10, making a total of ten passenger liners from this yard in ten years.

The capital of the company was increased to thirteen million guilders in 1911, and in June of that year Tabanan made a cruise to the Spithead Coronation review of King George V and took part in the line up of ships. it was the first of many cruises to be made by RL ships over the next fifty years. Daniel Theodorus Ruys died on 28th September 1913 at the age of 72 years, he was followed by the last of the three sons of the founder Willem Ruys, Jan Daniel Ruys, who died in Brussels in 1916 at the age of 81 years. The Ruys family lived in a large mansion with a blue roof designed in 1910 at Wassenaar, an affluent suburb ten kilometres north of The Hague. This house was transformed into a beautiful office building in 2008 while retaining its blue roof and unique design and character. it lies not far away from villa Eikenhorst, the home of the present King Willem-Alexander of Holland, Queen Maxima and their children.

The Ruys & Zonen fleet at the start of World War I was composed of 9 passenger and mail steamers and 22 cargo ships, of which 4 were sunk by German u-boats. Two of these lost ships, Bandoeng and the twin funnelled Jacatra, were in an unescorted convoy of seven clearly labelled Dutch grain ships in February 1917, along with Menado of Rotterdam Lloyd, Eemland and Gaasterland of Royal Holland Lloyd, and Noorderdijk and Zaandijk of Holland America line. The convoy was attacked by u21 when 28 miles west of Bishop Rock, and all except Menado were sunk either by torpedo or by explosive charges placed along the hull. Germany had ostensibly given safe passage for this mercy convoy to sail from Falmouth around the north of Scotland to Holland to meet a severe food shortage. No lives were lost but the Dutch government made massive protests to Berlin and compensation was finally agreed. The attack achieved its objectives and many Dutch ships were laid up for safety reasons for the rest of the war. Holland remained neutral but the operation of Rotterdam Lloyd ships was severely disrupted. Many ships were requisitioned by the Dutch government to transport food and essential supplies, but there were also opportunities to develop new trades e.g. the Java-New York line, and the Java-Pacific line to San Francisco. a dozen company vessels were sequestrated in March 1918 by the U.S. government for war service, and compensation was later paid to the company.

Inter-War Years

The Ruys family partners in control of the company in 1920 were the third Willem Ruys, the second Daniel Theodorus Ruys, Bernardus Eduard Ruys and Willem Ruys B.zn, son of Bernardus Eduard Ruys. Bernardus Eduard Ruys had been born on 6th March 1869 as a grandson of the founder, and married Wilhelmina Petronella van Hoboken on 14th September 1893, and they had three sons Willem (born 1894), Jacobus (born 1896) and Daniel Theodorus (born 1898). He was the Managing director of both Rotterdam Lloyd and managers Ruys & Zonen, and a director of the KPM and JCJL shipping companies and of the Flushing shipbuilding yard of de Schelde, as well as a Commander of the order of Oranje-Nassau.

The Royal Netherlands Mail service between Rotterdam and Java and Sumatra now called at Southampton, Lisbon, Tangier, Gibraltar, Marseille, Port Said, Suez Canal, Aden and Colombo. The Rotterdam Lloyd fleet in 1920 was now composed of 9 passenger and mail steamers and 36 cargo ships with a further 8 ships building. in addition, 6 tramps were registered under the Triton and Rotterdam Shipping Companies with a further 3 tramps building. The passenger and mail steamers were as follows:-

Goentoer and sister Sindoro of around 5,600 grt and completed at Flushing in 1900 and 1902 with accommodation for 188 passengers in four classes.

Tabanan and sister Tambora of around 5,500 grt and completed at Flushing in 1908 and 1910 with accommodation for 198 passengers in four classes.

Kawi and sisters Rindjani and Wilis of around 4,800 grt and completed at Flushing during 1905/07 with accommodation for 178 passengers in four classes.

Insulinde of 9,615 grt completed at Flushing in March 1914 with accommodation for 307 passengers in four classes. She had reopened the mail service to Java via the Suez Canal on 17th January 1919 and was given extra temporary accommodation as demand for passengers soared.

The twin funnelled Patria of 9,891 grt completed at Flushing in august 1919 with accommodation for 334 passengers in four classes. She had her dummy funnel removed in 1928 and fitted on the new cargo ship Kota Pinang delivered at Amsterdam in May 1930.

The ‘funnel-less’ motorship Kedoe of 6,560 dwt was completed by the Burmeister & Wain yard at Copenhagen in November 1921 in order that the company could gain experience of motorships. She was twin screw and powered by twin six cylinder four stroke crosshead design B & W oil engines and cooled by oil to give a service speed of twelve knots.

The turbine powered tramp Turbinia of 5,450 dwt, completed in 1915 by the Rotterdam dry dock yard, arrived on 8th September 1923 at her builders yard for conversion into a motor vessel with a four cylinder two stroke Sulzer diesel engine installed. This was to test the reliability of this type of propulsion before a decision was taken to order these engines for the new passenger liner Indrapoera of 10,825 grt on order from the de Schelde yard at Flushing for delivery in 1925. The trials and service results were very successful, and further motorships were ordered or converted from steamers throughout the inter-war years.

Five new large passenger and mail liners and one purchased vessel were introduced to the Java service of RL during the inter-war years. The purchased vessel was Tjerimai of 7,690 grt launched as Marie Woermann in 1916 and laid up for the duration of the war and completed in august 1920 at Hamburg and ceded as a war prize to the British. She entered RL service on 25th March 1922 with accommodation for 140 First Class passengers, 80 in Second Class, and 40 in Third Class. The forward part of her Bridge deck was glassed in to give extra protection from the weather for her passengers and it was also extended aft. She had a crew of 180 but was a poor seaboat and not as popular or successful as her consorts on the Dutch East indies service. She was consequently laid up in 1930 and sold in June 1933 to Misr line of Alexandria and renamed El Nil for the Hadj pilgrim trade.

The twin funnelled liner Slamat of 11,406 grt completed in April 1924 was a very famous Dutch liner with a later famous war record. She had dimensions of length 482.5 feet, moulded beam of 62 feet and depth of 35.2 feet, and was a twin screw liner powered by twin Parsons geared steam turbines of 8,000 shp to give a service speed of 15 knots. She again was a product of the Flushing yard of de Schelde and had good accommodation for 150 First Class passengers, 180 Second Class passengers and 70 in Third Class. She sailed from Rotterdam on 19th April 1924 for Java, her construction at Flushing had been in part to stave off unemployment at the de Schelde yard. She was dry docked at the Wilton Fijenoord yard at Schiedam in June 1931 to have 27 feet of her bow replaced by a Maierform bow. The turbines were overhauled and new propellers and rudders installed. She re-entered RL service on 7th October 1931 and was a very popular liner.

Indrapoera of 10,825 grt was completed in January 1926 by the same Flushing yard of similar dimensions to Slamat. She had accommodation for 140 First Class passengers, 182 Second Class passengers and 68 in Third Class, and was the first motor liner for the Java mail run. She was twin screw and fitted with twin six cylinder two stroke Sulzer diesel engines of 7,000 bhp to give a service speed of 15.5 knots. She sailed from Rotterdam on 10th February 1926 on her maiden voyage and arrived in Java two days ahead of schedule. She had space in her holds for 318,000 cubic feet of cargo and carried 1,240 tonnes of fuel oil bunkers. She was withdrawn in September 1931 and re-engined by the Flushing yard with more powerful Sulzer diesels of 9,000 bhp to increase her service speed to 17 knots, and she was also lengthened. She was badly damaged by fire in port at Rotterdam on 27th November 1933 and her superstructure was repaired by the Wilton Fijenoord yard at Schiedam and a new bow was fitted.

Sibajak of 12,040 grt was completed at Flushing in December 1927 and made her maiden voyage from Rotterdam to Java on 8th February 1928. She had dimensions of overall length 530 feet, moulded beam of 62.7 feet, and depth of 35.2 feet and draft of 28 feet. She had accommodation for 212 First Class passengers, 174 Second Class passengers, and 68 in Third Class with a crew of 209. She was twin screw powered by twin eight cylinder two stroke Sulzer diesels of 10,400 bhp to give a service speed of 17 knots. She missed one round voyage in 1929 due to a damaged crankshaft, and during her annual refit in 1935 her passenger accommodation was refurbished. She had space in her holds for 296,000 cubic feet of cargo and she carried 1,700 tonnes of fuel oil bunkers. She had two tall masts and both derricks and electric cranes for cargo handling.

The sister liners Baloeran and Dempo of 1930/31 were good looking vessels with broad motorship funnels and cruiser spoon sterns. They had accommodation for 262 passengers in First Class, 266 in Second Class, 70 in Third Class and 68 in steerage with a crew of 335. They were ordered for the increased demand for passenger and express cargo space on the Java mail run. The hull of Baloeran was built by the Fijenoord yard at Schiedam because the locks at Flushing to the de Schelde yard, which were in the process of being enlarged, were still too narrow to take her full width. The dimensions of both sisters were length of 551 feet, moulded beam of 70.4 feet, depth of 41.6 feet and draft of 28.5 feet. They were twin screw liners powered by twin ten cylinder two stroke Sulzer diesel engines of 14,000 bhp to give a maximum speed of 18.5 knots. Baloeran made her maiden voyage from Rotterdam to Java on 15th April 1930, and was followed by Dempo on her maiden voyage in March 1931. They had space in their holds for 361,000 cubic feet of cargo, and carried 2,410 tonnes of fuel oil bunkers. Their public rooms were finished to a very high standard of decor and consequently they proved to be very popular on the Java express service. Baloeran collided with the cargo ship Silverbeech on her Silver Java Pacific line service while leaving Sourabaya on 17th March 1931. The damage was repaired there provisionally and she then made a record twenty four day, twenty hour passage back to Rotterdam for complete repair. Dempo suffered a fire at Rotterdam on 6th July 1932 which delayed her departure for a week.

The RL cargo fleet was boosted by eight new motor ships of 9,750 dwt during 1927/31 from the de Schelde yard at Flushing. They were named Kota Inten, Kota Radja, Kota Gede, Kota Baroe, Kota Pinang, Kota Nopan, Kota Agoeng and Kota Tjandi, some with accommodation for twenty passengers. Several steam cargo ships were converted into motorships in the early 1930s and were given Maierform bows e.g. Siantar, Modjokerto and Kertosono. The fleet in 1933 consisted of 38 liners and cargo ships, together with five tramps registered under the Triton and Rotterdam tramp ship companies. Most of the cargo ships sailed out in ballast to Java to load return cargoes, as the depression reached its nadir. RL received 185,000 guilders in loans to cover crew costs and bunkers, and increased its trade from Java to both the Pacific and Eastern seaboards of the U.S.A. The liners went cruising to Lisbon and the Mediterranean, and to the Norwegian fjords and the North Cape in summer.

The Triton tramp shipping company was liquidated on 31st March 1934 due to the continued dismal freight rates of the depression, but as freight rates improved from 1935 onwards five new cargo ships entered service between 1936 and 1939 as Marken, Weltevreden, Brastagi, Japara and Bantam of up to 11,700 dwt. The fleet on the outbreak of war on 3rd September 1939 numbered 32 ships with 5 passenger and mail liners and 27 cargo ships.

World War II

Willem Ruys (1894-1942) was a patriot of great bravery and the great grandson of the founder. He joined the RL Board of directors in 1931 and became Managing director in September 1940. He refused to acknowledge or co-operate with the Germans, personally ejecting some German officers from the members’ lounge of the Royal Maas Yacht Club in Rotterdam, of which he was President. He was arrested and imprisoned from December 1940 to May 1941 and again from October 1941 to January 1942, and was then sent in July 1942 to an internment camp at Beekvliet. after a failed attempt to blow up a railway bridge at Binnenrotte in Rotterdam on 7th august 1942 by patriots, those responsible were given an ultimatum of seven days to surrender. This was ignored and Willem Ruys and four other prominent Dutch citizens were taken to a forest near the town of Goirle and shot.

The Queen of Holland and the Dutch government escaped to London in May 1940 after the fall of their country to Germany. The Netherlands Shipping and Trade Commission was formed in London to co-ordinate the 90% of Dutch shipping that remained in Dutch hands, with a. Ruys directing the Ruys company affairs in London. The RL statutory base was moved to Java, but after the fall of Singapore and then of Java on 27th February 1942 the RL statutory base was moved to New York. other members of the Ruys family fought on the allied side during the war, with Bernardus Eduard Ruys, the son of Willem Ruys B.zn shot down in his fighter plane by the Germans, and L.P. Ruys was also active in London in the work of the Netherlands Shipping and Trade Commission.

RL lost three passenger liners and sixteen cargo ships and their crews of 277 men during the war. This appalling loss of good ships and men is now described in some detail:-

Baloeran and Kota Pinang were captured at Rotterdam on 13th May 1940 during massive German air attacks. Baloeran was used as a hospital ship after conversion at the Wilton Fijenoord yard but was mined and beached to north of Ijmuiden on 6th September 1943, the wreck being bombed and gutted by British planes. Kota Pinang was used as a reconnaissance and supply ship until sunk by the British cruiser Kenya 750 miles west of Cape Ortegal in the Azores on 3rd October 1941.

Kertosono was captured off Cape Verde islands on 1st July 1940 by raider Thor, the former Santa Cruz of Oldenburg Portuguese line. She was on a voyage from New Orleans to Curacao, was converted into a u-boat depot and armaments supply ship and bombed and sunk at Nantes by allied aircraft on 23rd September 1943.

Buitenzorg was stranded near gray island, Sound of Mull on 14th January 1941 while on a voyage from New York to Dundee via Oban. She hit a rock that ripped open her bottom, then slipped off into deep water and sank, crew saved.

Tapanoeli was torpedoed and sunk off the Cape Verde islands on 17th March 1941 while on a voyage from Java to Glasgow with general cargo, crew of 75 saved.

Slamat under Capt. Tjalling Luidinga was bombed and sunk off Apulia on 27th April 1941 during the evacuation of troops to Alexandria. She arrived at Apulia to embark her troops but was bombed by Ju88 aircraft in the morning, set on fire and abandoned as the blaze got out of control. The crew and 600 troops were taken off by the British destroyers diamond and Wryneck, which were both then sunk by German bombers. Slamat had been sunk by torpedo from the destroyers, but the total of men that survived was only 50 out of 600 troops, 190 crew of Slamat and 250 naval crew of the destroyers. This was the most horrendous loss of Dutch and British men in the history of the Dutch Merchant Navy, an act that is commemorated by services attended by survivors and their families, as well as the Ruys family of shipowners.

Sitoebondo was torpedoed and sunk on 30th July 1941 180 miles south of the Azores while on a voyage from London and Oban to Table Bay and Calcutta with general cargo, 17 crew and 2 passengers lost.

Kota Radja was bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft at Sourabaya on 24th February 1942. She had loaded 2,500 tonnes of rubber at Singapore for a voyage to the U.S. West Coast but the Japanese advance caught up with her.

Bengalen was scuttled at Sourabaya on 2nd March 1942 to avoid sinking by Japanese aircraft, her officers wished to sail but the native crew refused.

Modjokerto was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-54 to south of Tjilatjap while fleeing to Fremantle, she was then sunk by gunfire from the Japanese cruiser Chikuma, all crew captured and all executed by firing squad.

Siantar was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine i-1 on 2nd March 1942 800 miles to south of Tjilatjap while fleeing to Fremantle, 21 crew lost out of 61 with survivors taken to Australia.

Soekaboemi was torpedoed and sunk in the North Atlantic on 28th December 1942 while on a voyage from Glasgow to Bahia and Bombay with general cargo, 1 lost.

Djambi was lost while manoeuvring to avoid a torpedo, she sank on 13th March 1943 in collision with Silverbeech off Freetown in a large forty ship convoy from Liverpool. The crew were picked up but Silverbeech was herself torpedoed and sunk two weeks later with heavy loss of life.

Blitar was torpedoed and sunk in the North Atlantic on 5th April 1943 while on a voyage from Buenos Aires and New York to Liverpool with general cargo, cowhides, fertiliser and foodstuffs, 26 crew lost.

Kota Tjandi was torpedoed and sunk off Freetown on 30th April 1943 in convoy TS37 while on a voyage from Haifa and Cape Town to Takoradi, Freetown and the U.K. with general cargo, rubber, potash and tea, 6 crew lost.

Dempo was torpedoed and sunk on 17th March 1944 off North Africa while trooping from Naples to Oran, all crew and service personnel saved.

Garoet was torpedoed and sunk on 19th June 1944 in the Indian ocean while on a voyage from Bombay and Mormugao to Durban with groundnuts, 79 crew and nine gunners lost.

Palembang struck a submerged object when leaving Alexandria on 6th November 1944, sank the next day, all crew saved. in addition, eight ships were managed for the war effort, and all were lost including Stjerneborg of C.K. Hansen of Denmark.

Post-War Years

The Ruys family ordered the hull of their new liner Willem Ruys to be named after the member of the family executed by the Germans during the war, and which had lain incomplete on her slipway during the war at the Flushing yard of de Schelde. She was launched on 1st July 1946 and delivered on 21st November 1947, and on this occasion Queen Wilhelmina of Holland announced that the company had been granted the honour of ‘Royal’ to its title, becoming Royal Rotterdam Lloyd (Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd) or RRL for short. a yellow crown was added to the top white square of the RRL houseflag, a chequer board of eight red and white squares, with the central square being blue with ‘RL’ in white.

Bernardus Eduard Ruys died on 16th September 1949 aged 80 years, he was a grandson of the founder Willem Ruys and had served 47 years as an RL director. The Ruys family partners in post-war years were Theodorus A.W. Ruys, Bernardus Eduard Ruys, Luuk P. Ruys, Luuk a. Ruys and J. D. Ruys, son of Willem Ruys B.zn. The younger Bernardus Eduard Ruys served as Chairman of the Holland Committee of Lloyd’s Register of Shipping until after the formation of the Nedlloyd group.

The new twin funnelled passenger liner Willem Ruys had an overall length of 631 feet, moulded beam of 82.3 feet, and depth of 29.25 feet, and was powered by eight two stroke eight cylinder Sulzer diesels of a total power output of 38,000 bhp and achieved a maximum speed on trials of 24.62 knots. She had accommodation for 869 passengers in four classes and a crew of 471 with the lower position of her twelve lifeboats an innovation at her time of design. She was given two tall masts and a combination of electric cranes and derricks for cargo handling.

The cargo fleet was rebuilt with sixteen wartime types from both American and British yards:-

Four C3 types renamed Limburg, Overijsel, Zeeland, Utrecht

Three ‘Liberty’ types, Zeeman, Tomini, Tomori

Three ‘Victory’ types, Salatiga, Samarinda, Sarangan

One ‘Ocean’ type, Ternate

One ‘Standard Fast Cargo-Liner’, Modjokerto

Two converted escort carriers, Drente, Friesland

Two ‘Victory’ troopship conversions, Waterman, Zuiderkruis and used with sister Groote Beer (Holland America line, managers) on trooping service to East indies. They were rebuilt in 1951 by the Nederland dock yard as emigrant ships for 900 passengers to Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.

These cargo ships were urgently needed to ship replacement equipment to the shattered Dutch East indies, and it was unfortunate that one ship owned by RL was lost at this difficult time in 1947. This was Brastagi of 9,246 grt completed in 1937 by the famous de Schelde yard at Flushing, and which had survived an attack by the German raider Komet in august 1941. She stranded on Caldera island in Mozambique on 30th October 1947 while on a voyage from Seattle to Lourenco Marques and Calcutta, catching fire during salvage work and was a total loss.

The new Republic of Indonesia was declared on 27th December 1949 and Dutch shipping to the East indies was allowed to continue unmolested, except for the KPM inter-island ships, until a ban on all Dutch ships in the former Dutch East indies was extended on 13th April 1960 from trading to or from Indonesia. Willem Ruys had in fact made her last voyage to the East indies in December 1957, and then made two Transatlantic voyages to Montreal as part of a charter to Europe-Canada line. She was modernised by two thousand shipyard workers at the Wilton Fijenoord yard at Schiedam and transferred to a Round the World service with fellow Dutch liners Oranje and Johan van Oldenbarnevelt from Nederland line. Willem Ruys sailed on her second maiden voyage on this service on 7th March 1959 from Rotterdam to Southampton, Suez, Colombo, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Pitcairn Island, Panama, Port Everglades, Bermuda, Southampton and Rotterdam. The Round the World service had a 63 or 64 day rotation, however, the service was not profitable and was combined with cruising, with Willem Ruys undertaking Mediterranean cruises until sold to Lauro Line in 1964 and then rebuilt as Achille Lauro.

The RRL fleet in 1960 had been rebuilt to forty ships with new cargo-liners from Dutch yards named Garoet, Slamat, Mataram, Langkoeas, Blitar, Ampenan, Wonosari, Wonogiri, Wonorato, Wonosobo, Bengalen, Maas Loyd, Merwe Lloyd, Marne Lloyd, Musi Lloyd, Mississippi Lloyd, Mersey Lloyd, Madison Lloyd, Main Lloyd, Schelde Lloyd, Schie Lloyd and Seine Lloyd. They now traded on worldwide routes, and from April 1963 on Nedlloyd Lines routes, formed by RRL and Nederland Line, with the big merged fleet taking over all of the former services of both companies. Close co-operation with Royal Interocean Lines in 1968, and diversification into tramping, bulk carriers and tankers was the new policy. The ‘Triton’ name was reused for the Triton Shipping Company in 1957 with the ‘Liberty’ type Tomini transferred and given the traditional Triton name of Texel. The tankers Ameland and Vlieland of 18,000 dwt, the bulk carriers Schouwen, Putten, Voorne and Goeree of 19,700 dwt and Walcheren of 37,140 dwt, and tanker Doelwijk of 53,180 dwt were completed between 1955 and 1970. This octet was seen as the way forward in diversification, and Maasbree, a VLCC of 271,666 dwt built in Japan in 1973 as Sinde, was purchased later in 1973.

RRL Finale

A Dutch Government study on the competitiveness, future outlook and financial profitability of Dutch shipping in 1969 by Jan J. Oyevaar recommended the merger of RRL, Nederland Line and United Netherlands Navigation Company (VNS). This resulted in the formation of Nedlloyd on 15th June 1970 with a total fleet of 184 vessels of 2.031 million dwt. Twenty five RRL cargo-liners were subsumed into the giant Nedlloyd Group, and eight RRL tankers and bulkers were transferred to the new Holland Bulk Transport N.V., formed in 1951 as N.V. Amsterdam Reederij, and this new company took over the ‘Triton’ fleet. On the last day of 1970, some 84 ships of the combined Nedlloyd Lines were trading with a further nine ships under construction. By 1973, the Nedlloyd Lines fleet had only 62 cargo-liners left in service, and the remaining bulk carriers and tankers of Holland Bulk Transport N.V. were transferred in 1977 to Nedlloyd Bulk N.V. The great name of Royal Rotterdam Lloyd was no more, and its black funnels and red and white chequerboard houseflag disappeared from the seven seas.

The 150 year history of shipbroking and shipowning of the Ruys family had come to an end. There is an excellent RRL Museum at Oudehorne near Groningen in Friesland in Northern Holland. The coat of arms of the Ruys family features a blue rose, a helmet of a knight, with a blue plume of feathers at the top, as well as other decoration, and is a fitting emblem for the long history of one of the great Dutch shipbroking and shipowning families.