The s.s. Waterman
This was the ship which transported the de Bruyn and the van der Horst families to America in the Spring of 1955.
The s.s. Waterman was one of the three better known Victory style ships used as Dutch immigrant ships in the 1940s and 1950s. The other two ships were the Groote Beer and the Zuiderkruis. These three ships were named after stars and constellations and were identical in their design and layout.
The ship was built in 1944 in Portland, Oregon and named the La Grande Victory. The Dutch government bought the ship in 1947 for use as a troop transport ship and renamed it the s.s. Waterman. In 1952 it was converted into a migrant ship. The ship was 9126 ton, 456 ft (139m) long, 62 ft (19m) wide, with a speed of 17mph (15kn) and a capacity of 806 passengers.
In 1963 the ship was sold to Greek shipping interests and renamed Margarita. The ship was scrapped in 1970 at Hiroshima.
On Friday, April 1st, Hendrikus and Sybregje de Bruyn and their four children, Anne, Antoinette, Elias, and Henri, departed Rotterdam for America arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey on April 12th. From New York they took a train to Rochester, New York, their new home. Pictures of the trip from Groenekan, Holland to Rochester, New York are available here.
On Monday April 25th, the van der Horsts and Dobbengas departed Rotterdam.
The passenger lists for both voyages are available by selecting the named link below, and an enlarged view of the passenger list cover is available by selecting the small cover.
April 25, 1955 Passenger List