Tugboats and other historic steamvessels

Below are some tugboats and other kinds of ships built for some different purposes that sail the Dutch waterways, often in private ownership. All of them started their lives as steamvessels, but because it becomes more and more difficult to operate them under modern safety-regulations, most of them are now diesel-powered. For each ship, I will give some basic information about its history.

Adelaar

Adelaar was built in 1925 at the Hubertina wharf at Haarlem, The Netherlands. She was used for the steamtug services of Rederij Maas at Rotterdam between 1925 and 1965 and after this she was used for the 's Gravenhaagse Stoomsleepdienst of The Hague untill 1973, when she was sold to private ownership. From 1977 onwards, the ship, restored to her Maas-colouring, she is owned by a family from Beverwijk, close to Amsterdam.

Animathor

Built at 'De Schelde' yard at Vlissingen, The Netherlands in 1904, the ship was originally named Thor X and served as a freightferry between the Dutch towns of Dordrecht and 's Gravendeel. Originally a steamer, in 1931 rebuilt with diesel-engines. From 1968 onwards, the ship was used to ferry tourists to the Dutch waterworks in Zeeland In 1993, the ship was now named Animathor and rebuilt as a partyship, mainly around Rotterdam.

Berezina

This tug was built in 1908 in Hoogezand in The Netherlands but for a German company. She recieved the name Johann Heinrich. In 2008, the ship was rebuilt with energy-saving features for the Fair Nature foundation. The ship is now totally self-efficient. This means she is not using fossile fuels, so she is no longer a steamship. In 2009, the ship sailed from The Netherlands to the river Berezina in Belarus to create awareness across Europe for energy-saving.

Christiaan Brunings

This ship was built in 1900 as a very luxurious ship for the directors of Rijkswaterstaat, the company that cares about the Dutch waterways. She is 29,20 meters long and ,25 meters wide. In 1968, she was bought by the Amsterdam maritime museum because there was no use for her anymore. In her active life, she had sailed with people like Queen Juliana, several secretaries and mayors.

Finland

Built in 1921, she is the last survivor of the large fleet of steamtugs once owned by the wharf of P. Smit at Rotterdam. She was used as a harbourtug at the port of Rotterdam untill 1937. After the second worldwar, she did some foodtransports across the Zuiderzee from Amsterdam to Lemmer in the province of Friesland. She is now owned by a foundation from Rotterdam, active in preserving her.

Jan de Sterke

This ship was built in 1913 and named Snel, for the company in Rotterdam taking care of the city's watersupply. She sailed under several names and not only she had services in The Netherlands, but she also served in Belgium and Germany. Since 1995, she is sailing under the banner of the Jan de Sterke Steamtug Foundation from the Dutch town of Gorichem, near Rotterdam.

Noordzee

The tug Noordzee was launched in 1922 as yardnumber 609 at the Janssen & Schmillinskiy wharf at Hamburg, Germany. She was named B&V XII and was serving the large Blohm & Voss yard untill 1948. In 1976 she was bought by a citizen from Medemblik, Holland, named C.P. Jongert. He restored the ship, renamed her Noordzee and sailings with passengers became possible. After mister Jongert died, the ship was transferred to the Steamship Noordzee Society at Medemblik, who are now sailing the ship. She now is a well-known sight at steamfestivals in The Netherlands.

Rosalie

The mouse and the elephant meet at Amsterdam. The steamtug Rosalie is in fact the oldest steamtug in Europe, built in 1873. So she almost celebrates her 140th birthday. The ship has always been in Dutch ownership, being built for the Ministry Of War, used by them untill 1924. Nowadays, she is owned by M&K Steamcharters of the town of Enkhuizen at the shores of the IJsselmeer.

Volharding I

This tug was built in 1929 at the wharf De Hoop at Neder-Hardinxveld, The Netherlands. In 1967, after a lot of different services, the ship was sold to the Maritime Museum at Rotterdam for one guilder. She is now part of the collection of the museum, that also includes the dockyard-tugs of the former RDM yards.

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