In about 1890, a discussion about the invention of the compound steam engine made that Fijenoord brought up the blueprints of Hercules.

[9] The overview that had Boom as construction site for Hercules, also shows that the steamboat Agrippina had been launched for the „Preußisch-Rheinische Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft“ (PRDG) in Cologne (later Köln-Düsseldorfer) in March 1827, and that it was of the same size, i.e. 300 ton.

[1] Furthermore, NSM had designed both, but would herself build the machines for Hercules, while Taylor & Martineau built those for Agrippina.

[9] The Dutch Professor Harry Lintsen (1949+) made a reconstruction of how the compound steam could be invented in the then backwards Netherlands.

[14] On 26 June 1829 Roentgen gave a general order to hasten the work on Hercules as much as possible, so that she could be launched again.

[11] A second launch seems strange, but Fijenoord indeed had a patent slip, which had e.g. pulled the German steamboat Concordia out of the water for repairs in 1827.

When Hercules was put into service, her compound engine was not yet ready, and she had to use the high pressure cylinders only.

[12] On 17 August 1829 Hercules left Rotterdam for Düsseldorf towing Agrippina, which had been turned into a dumb barge which also had luxury passenger accommodation.

[16] The combination now seems like a stopgap solution, but it in effect made it legal to use a high-pressure steam engine for passenger transport.

From about mid October 1829 Hercules and the other NSM tugboat, De Stad Keulen were both planned to serve between Antwerp and Cologne.

[21] By April 1830 both tugboats were said to transport up to 10,000 hundredweight in a single trip, carrying cargo in their own hold as well as in barges.

The Dutch government then hired multiple steamboats to maintain connections to Antwerp, and to block the Scheldt.

[26] On 17 May 1831 Hercules arrived at Fort Lillo, towing 9 barges of food for the fortresses and the citadel.

[27] In August 1831 a French army stopped the Ten days' campaign of the Dutch government against the Belgian rebels.

In January 1833 the steamboats Curaçao, Beurs van Amsterdam and Hercules towed Eurydice, and the corvettes Medusa and Komeet down the Scheldt.

[29] On 13 April 1833 Hercules towed the ship of the line De Zeeuw from Vlissingen to Walsoorden.

[33] In 1833 the service was only profitable for NSM because Hercules had a newly invented engine that saved one-third of the normally required fuel.

The contract for the government steam tug service on the Waal finally ended on 1 January 1858.

[39] On 17 March 1835 Hercules was seen before Düsseldorf towing four heavily loaded barges aligned in two pairs behind each other.

[42] The heavier train confirms that the compound engines of Hercules were not yet finished when she was on the Rhine before the Belgian revolution.

In December 1843 Hercules towed the East Indies ship Gertrude from Hellevoetsluis into sea.

In 1853 Hercules was involved in lifting the steamer Gironde captain M.J. Frantzen from Bordeaux, which had become stuck before Vlaardingen.

[46] In April 1853 she assisted the French steamer Hambourg captain Choix from Le Havre, which had become stuck in the Oude Maas.