SS Nieuw Amsterdam ocean liner (Minic Ships 706)
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SS Nieuw Amsterdam ocean liner (Minic Ships 706).jpg) M 706 (i)
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Arch Two , Area 18 1960s |
A painted diecast metal 1:1200 waterline ship model of the 1937 S.S. Nieuw Amsterdam ocean liner, Tri-ang Minic Ships model number M 706.
The model has two distinctive yellow plastic funnels (with black-edged white bands) and yellow plastic masts.
1960 catalogue description:
M 706 S.S. NIEUW AMSTERDAM – 36,700 tons, 758 feet long, 88 feet beam, 2 screws, 21 knots. From 1938 until 1959 was the largest Dutch ship and flagship of the Holland-America Line, North Atlantic service. Length 7 9⁄16 inches (19.2 cm)
The original ship
Built in Rotterdam for the Holland-America Line, the luxurious Nieuw Amsterdam was effectively a national flagship, and a symbol of national pride for Holland in much the same way that the Normandie was for France. The ship was renamed "New Amsterdam" during construction as a reference to the old name for New York, emphasising the historical links between Holland and the USA.
Although the ships was emphatically designed not to have a dual military purpose (and was referred to as "the ship of peace"), it was requisitioned during WW2 as a troop carrier, and then after extremely extensive repairs and refitting work, converted back into a luxury cruise ship afterwards.
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