Royal Dutch Steamboat Company

The Koninklijke Nederlandse Stoomboot-Maatschappij (KNSM) (Royal Netherlands Steamship Company) was an Amsterdam-based shipping company that existed from 1856 to 1981. It was once the largest company in Amsterdam and one of the top five shipping lines in the Netherlands. The company operated mid-sized freighters that had limited passenger accommodations. At its peak in 1939, the company had 79 vessels. Of these, 48 were lost during World War II. Context (1827-1856) Economical and technical developments In 1827 the Amsterdamsche Stoomboot Maatschappij (ASM) had tried to establish a steamship line from Amsterdam to London, but the line proved economically unviable. A few decades later, the general economic circumstances had changed: In 1846, the Corn Laws had been cancelled. It was also known that the Navigation Acts would be cancelled in 1849. Furthermore, the railroad from Amsterdam had finally reached the Rhine. Also in the 1840s, some technological innovations changed the conditions for steam navigation. In the Netherlands, iron hulls were introduced for sailing ships when L. Smit en Zoon launched the iron schooner Industrie in 1847. The screw as a means of propelling ships also broke through in the 1840s. Both developments meant that an iron screw ship could transport much more cargo than a paddle steamer of the same size. Furthermore, the screw steamship was a much better sailing ship than the paddle steamer.