Second World War
On the evening 17 February 1940, GS U-48 (1939) sank the Finnish cargo ship Wilja in the Western Approaches at position 49.4°N, -7.18333°W. Maasdam rescued all 27 crew two hours later. She continued her transatlantic voyage to Havana, where she landed Wilja's survivors.[9][10]
On 9 May 1940 Maasdam was in Liverpool. The next day Germany invaded the Netherlands. By 26 May Maasdam was off Southend-on-Sea, joining a convoy that took her as far as the Firth of Forth off Methil. On 25 June she left the anchorage off Southend again, this time with Convoy OA 174, which dispersed at sea. Her destination was New York. She returned carrying general cargo via Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she joined eastbound Convoy HX 60. The convoy was bound for Liverpool, but Maasdam detached for Methil, where she joined Convoy FS 247 to Southend, arriving on 11 August.[11]
The record of Maasdam's next westbound transatlantic crossing is missing. She returned with Convoy HX 81, which left Halifax on 16 October 1940 and reached Liverpool on 2 November 1940.[11]
On 28 November 1940 Maasdam left Liverpool with Convoy OB 251, which dispersed at sea.[11] On 12 December she collided with the British steamship Anthea off the coast of Canada, sinking her at position 44.8°N, -46.61667°W.[12] Maasdam returned carrying grain and general cargo. She joined Convoy HX 105, which left Halifax on 25 January 1941 and reached Liverpool on 9 February.[11]
On 8 March 1941 Maasdam left Liverpool with Convoy OB 295, which dispersed at sea. On 2 April 1941 she left Hoboken, New Jersey carrying grain and general cargo. On her return voyage she joined Convoy HX 119B, which left Halifax on 6 April and reached Liverpool on 22 April.[11]
Maasdam was in Liverpool in the May Blitz, which began on 1 May 1941 and continued for seven nights. Luftwaffe bombers dropped 500 kg incendiary bombs, many of which fell around Maasdam. Her crew used shovels to push thermite incendiaries overboard, which melted the shovels. When a shovel was not to hand, one crewman used his overcoat to pick up a thermite bomb, which burned his arms and temporarily damaged his eyes.
On 12 May 1941 Maasdam left Liverpool with Convoy OB 322, which dispersed at sea.[11] At the end of May she reached New York, where she loaded wheat and war materiél, including aircraft engines,[13] and two twin-engined bomber aircraft, with their wings detached and loaded separately.
She also embarked 32 passengers, including 11 US Marines on their way to serve at the Embassy of the United States, London, 17 American Red Cross nurses on their way to work at the ARC-Harvard Hospital[14] at Salisbury in Wiltshire.[15] The marines were commanded by Major Walter I Jordan. The nurses included Ruth Breckinridge, mother-in-law of attorney John Stephens Graham and former wife of politician Henry Breckinridge, who was to be house-mother to all 60 nurses at the ARC-Harvard Hospital. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had authorised an exemption from the Neutrality Act of 1939 to allow the nurses and marines to travel on the ship of a belligerent nation.[16]
