SS Aquileia was a Dutch-built steamship that was launched in 1913 as the ocean liner and mail ship Prins der Nederlanden for Netherland Line. She ran scheduled services between Amsterdam and the Dutch East Indies until 1930, when she was laid up.
In 1935 Lloyd Triestino bought her and renamed her Aquileia. In the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and the Spanish Civil War she was an Italian troop ship. In the Second World War she was a hospital ship for Italy and then for Germany. In 1944, German forces scuttled her as a blockship. Her wreck was raised in 1946 and scrapped in 1947.
The ship's Italian name is spelt Aquileia. However, Lloyd's Register always recorded her as Aquileja. Prins der Nederlanden has been the name of several ships. The career of this one overlaps with that of a smaller Prins der Nederlanden that was built in 1902 for Koninklijke West-Indische Maildienst (KWIM, the "Royal West India Mail Service") and scrapped in 1927.
Building
In November 1911, Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland ("Netherland Line", or SMN) ordered a pair of sister ships from different shipyards. Maatschappij voor Scheeps- en Werktuigbouw Fijenoord in Rotterdam built the first as yard number 254, launched her on 2 July 1913 as Koningin Emma, and completed her on 26 November that year. Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij built the second as yard number 123, launched her on 20 August 1913 as Prins der Nederlanden, and completed her in January 1914.
Prins der Nederlandens registered length was , her beam was and her depth was . Her tonnages were , , and . She had berths for 352 passengers: 140 in first class, 136 in second class, 34 in third class, and 42 in steerage. Her holds had capacity for of grain, or of baled cargo.
The ship had twin screws, each driven by a four-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engine built by Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel. The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 1,105 NHP or 7,000 ihp, and gave her a speed of .
Koninigin Emma and Prins der Nederlanden were very similar to SMN's Prinses Juliana completed in 1910, and sister ship completed in 1911. The two new ships were longer and had a beam greater, they had berths for more first- and second-class passengers, and their passenger superstructure was slightly larger.
Prins der Nederlanden
SMN registered Prins der Nederlanden at Amsterdam. Her code letters were PQMS. She was equipped for submarine signalling and wireless telegraphy. Her wireless call sign was PFQ. Prins der Nederlanden joined Koningin Emma, Koningin der Nederlanden and Prinses Juliana on SMN's route between Amsterdam and Batavia via Southampton, Lisbon, Tangier, Algiers, Genoa, and the Suez Canal.
On 22 September 1915 a German mine sank Koningin Emma in the North Sea. On 21 March 1918 the Entente Powers seized Prinses Juliana and Koningin der Nederlanden under angary and had them converted into troop ships. The United States Customs Service also seized KWIM's Prins der Nederlanden. SMN's Prins der Nederlanden was not seized, aothough some sources confuse the two ships. KWIM's Prins der Nederlanden was , and like most of the smaller Dutch ships seized by the USCS, she was assigned to the United States Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation. Had the USCS seized SMN's Prins der Nederlanden, she would have been assigned to the United States Navy as a troop ship.
By 1927 the ship was equipped with wireless direction finding. As built, she had three double-ended and two single-ended boilers, with a total heating surface of . They were heated by a total of 24 corrugated furnaces, with a combined had a grate area of . However, in 1927 or 1928 this was increased to three double-ended and three single-ended boilers, with a total heating surface to . Her corrugated furnaces were increased to 27, with a total grate area of . These increased raised her power to 1,257 NHP.
By January 1928, Prins der Nederlandens route between Amsterdam and Batavia was via Southampton, Algiers, Genoa, the Suez Canal, Colombo, Sabang, Belawan and Singapore. By May 1929, regular ports of call had been reduced to Amsterdam, Southampton, Algiers, and Genoa.
Between 1926 and 1930, SMN took delivery of a set of new motor ships: in 1926, in 1927–28, and Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and in 1930. This made older ships such as Prins der Nederlanden redundant, so she was laid up at Amsterdam. However, in November 1932 Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft was destroyed by fire in Amsterdam, despite the Amsterdam Fire Service's best efforts to save her. Hence from about 1933, the fire service used Prins der Nederlanden as a training ship, to learn how better to fight fires on ships.
