SS Goentoer

SS Goentoer was a Dutch passenger and mail ship that was built for Rotterdamsche Lloyd in 1902 and scrapped in 1925. Her regular route was between Rotterdam and the Dutch East Indies. She was a UK troop ship from 1918 to 1919, after being seized under angary in Singapore.

Building
Between 1899 and 1902 Koninklijke Maatschappij 'De Schelde'. Scheepswerf en Machinefabriek in Vlissingen built a pair of mail steamers for Willem Ruys & Zonen's Rotterdamsche Lloyd company. Yard number 90 was laid down in February 1899, and launched in February 1902 as Sindoro, and completed in March 1902. Her sister ship was laid down on 26 February 1901 as yard number 94, launched on 11 January 1902 as Goentoer, and completed on 15 April 1902. The ships were named after two volcanoes on Java: Mount Sindoro and Mount Guntur.

Goentoer's registered length was 425.9 ft, her beam was 50.0 ft and her depth was 31.0 ft. Her tonnages were, , and. She had berths for 147 passengers: 81 in first class, 42 in second class and 24 in third class. Her holds had capacity for 195000 cuft of baled cargo.

The ship had twin screws, each driven by a four-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engine. The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 567 NHP or 4,300 ihp, and gave her a speed of 14 kn.

Career
Rotterdamsche Lloyd registered Goentoer at Rotterdam. Her code letters were NTSL. She joined Sindoro on the company's scheduled service between Rotterdam and Java via Sumatra.

By 1910 Goentoer was equipped for submarine signalling and Marconi wireless telegraphy. By 1913 her call sign was MRQ, but by 1914 it had been changed to PFA.

On 13 January 1916 a mine sank the Dutch cargo ship Maasvaven in the North Sea, killing one of her crew. Goentoer, the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland ferry Prinses Juliana, and another Dutch ship rescued survivors.

In 1918 the Entente Powers gave the Dutch government an ultimatum to place of its merchant ships at their disposal by 18 March. On 20 March, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the seizure under angary of 89 Dutch ships in US ports. The UK authorities also seized Dutch merchant ships in British Empire ports. Goentoer was seized in Singapore and vested in the UK Shipping Controller, who had her converted into a troop ship, and appointed the British India Steam Navigation Company to manage her. She was registered in London. Her UK official number was 140135 and her code letters were TWMQ. On 9 October 1919 the UK returned Goentoer to her owners.

In 1922 Sindoro was sold to the Portuguese Companhia Nacional de Navegação, who renamed her Pedro Gomes. Rotterdamsche Lloyd then took delivery of two new ocean liners: the turbine steamship SS Slamat in April 1924, and motor ship Indrapoera in January 1926. In September 1925 the company sold Goentoer for scrap for 150,000 guilders. The buyer was CHC Sunderman of Zwijndrecht in South Holland.