A LENS ON VANCOUVER'S PAST

EX-GERMAN SHIPS

M.S. DUIVENDYK [transiting Burrard Inlet]
November 14, 1950

CVA 447-4327.2
 

When the Second World War began in September 1939, German-flagged ships such as the VANCOUVER sought refuge in neutral Dutch ports, i.e. Willemstad, Curacao.
 

The Dutch interned the ships and crews with the intent of holding the German ships until the end of the war. After the Netherlands was invaded in May 1940, the ships were seized and the Netherlands government put them to use. 
 

Post war, the Netherlands government turned the ex-German ships over to Dutch shipping lines as reparations for Dutch-flagged ships lost during the war. Rechristened DUIVENDYK by the Holland-America Line, the combi-liner sailed on the North Pacific Coast service until 1959.