MS Prinsendam (1972)
{{short description|Ship}}
{{other ships|MS Prinsendam{{!}}MS Prinsendam}}
| {{Infobox Ship Begin
| Infobox caption = MS Prinsendam }} {{Infobox Ship Image | Ship image = MS Prisendam sinking off Alaska with USCG HH-3F 1980.jpeg | Ship caption = MS Prinsendam on fire off Alaska, 1980 }} {{Infobox Ship Career | Hide header = | Ship country = Netherlands | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Netherlands|civil}} | Ship name = Prinsendam | Ship owner = | Ship operator = Holland America Line | Ship registry = | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = De Merwede in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Netherlands | Ship original cost = US$27 million | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 7 July 1972 | Ship completed = 1973 | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = 1973 | Ship in service = 1973 | Ship out of service = October 4, 1980 | Ship identification = {{IMO|7224734}} | Ship fate = Sank 11 October 1980 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox Ship Characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship tonnage = | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|427|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = | Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = | Ship depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = 350 passengers | Ship crew = 200 | Ship notes = }} |
MS Prinsendam, was a Holland-America Line cruise ship built at Shipyard de Merwede in the Netherlands in 1973. She was {{convert|427|ft|m|0}} long and typically carried about 350 passengers and 200 crew members.
Sinking
Prinsendam departed Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on 30 September 1980 for a long cruise that would take her along the Inside Passage of British Columbia and Southeast Alaska and then to East Asia and Southeast Asia. After calling at Ketchikan, Alaska, on 2 October and visiting Glacier Bay on 3 October, she set out into the Gulf of Alaska on the evening of 3 October bound for Japan. She was approximately {{convert|120|nmi|lk=in|0}} south of Yakutat, Alaska, at 12:40 a.m. on 4 October 1980 when a fire broke out in her engine room.[http://www.sitnews.us/Kiffer/Prisendam/101015_prisendam.html Kiffer, Dave, "A Cruise Ship Goes Down," sitnews.us, October 10, 2015 Accessed 8 July 2023] Her master, Cornelis Dirk Wabeke (13 April 1928 – 16 August 2011), declared the fire out of control one hour later and Prinsendam sent a radio call requesting immediate assistance. The United States Coast Guard at Communications Station Kodiak in Kodiak, Alaska, requested that Prinsendam send out an SOS to alert other vessels in the area, but Wabeke declined. Chief Radio Officer Jack van der Zee sent one out anyway about a half-hour later.{{cite web |url=http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/sos.jpg |title=Manuscript log of supertanker Williamsburgh |date=4 October 1980 |accessdate=19 December 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201203822/http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/sos.jpg |archivedate=1 December 2016 }}
File:Een model van de Prinsendam, Bestanddeelnr 931-8039.jpg
U.S. Coast Guard, United States Air Force Air Rescue Service, and Canadian Armed Forces Air Command CH-113 helicopters, which had greater range, rescued the passengers and crew. The rescue took place during a period of steadily deteriorating weather.
The U.S. Coast Guard cutters {{USCGC|Boutwell|WHEC-719}}, {{USCGC|Mellon|WHEC-717}}, and {{USCGC|Woodrush|WLB-407}} responded in concert with other vessels in the area, and the American tankers Sohio Intrepid and Williamsburgh assisted on scene. Williamsburgh served a vital role as a communications platform and was the first vessel to arrive on scene and take passengers on board. The Sohio Intrepid served as a platform for one of the U.S. Air Force helicopters that was unable to refuel in flight. Two U.S. Air Force pararescuemen went aboard one of Prinsendam′s lifeboats, and this boat was the last rescued after a lookout aboard Woodrush, Seaman Louis Roderick, sighted a flare from the boat and word of the sighting was relayed to the on-scene commander aboard Boutwell.
The rescue is particularly noteworthy because of the distance traveled by the rescuers, the coordination of independent organizations, and the fact that all 520 passengers and crew were rescued without loss of life or serious injury.{{cite web |title=Top Ten Coast Guard Rescues |date=Jul 31, 2007 |author= |url=https://coastguardnews.com/top-ten-coast-guard-rescues/2007/07/31/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140527182839/http://coastguardnews.com/top-ten-coast-guard-rescues/2007/07/31/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 27, 2014 |publisher=Coast Guard News |accessdate=19 December 2019 }}
Prinsendam finally capsized and sank on 11 October 1980.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA, Radio Officer, "T/T WILLIAMSBURGH", [http://www.qsl.net/n1ea/ "SOS from ms PRINSENDAM - Marine Radio History - Morse Code"], August 17, 2018.
{{Holland America Ships}}
{{1980 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|55.883|N|136.450|W|display=title|source:nlwiki}}
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Category:Maritime incidents in 1980
Category:Ships built in the Netherlands
Category:Ships of the Holland America Line