After they were established, Jacques built another shipyard west of the one they had, at the terrain later known as that of L. Smit en Zoon.

[9] In 1824 Jan Smit contracted to build the paddle steamer Willem de Eerste for a shipping line between Rotterdam and Nijmegen.

[9] On 9 May 1825 the first Batavier was laid down by Fop Smit for an Amsterdam Hamburg line managed by the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij (NSM, later NSBM).

It would be used for service between Mainz and Strasbourg[12] On 14 November 1826 the brothers laid down for their own account the Kinderdijk, a 380 tons Kofschip.

For ocean-going sailing ships Fop Smit started a close cooperation with Willem Ruys J.D.

[33] It obviously moved to a terrain north of that of L. Smit, a situation recognizable on the black and white aerial photograph.

Brouwershaven on Schouwen-Duiveland offered the best opportunity to wait for a favorable wind to sail through the English Channel.

In April 1847 Fop Smit bought the steam yacht Stad Gorinchem for 45,000 guilders, to serve as the second ship of the tow service.

If iron was the future for inland navigation, Fop Smit had to follow suit, or loose this market.

In 1847 Fop Smit launched the schooner Industrie, the first iron sailing vessel of the Netherlands.

[42] Fop Smit survived the crisis, and even built some more iron sailing ships in the early 1860s.

However, there can be little doubt that Fop Smit's estate consisted primarily of stock and participations in a lot of businesses.

On 15 November Leendert made a partnership with his nephew Jan Smit V.[96] This probably brought a lot of capital back into the business.

After the death of Fop Smit, the business of building ships for inland navigation kind of continued as usual.

A telltale sign is that some German shipping lines ordered vessels at L. Smit with Swiss engines.

The opening of the Suez Canal in November 1869 radically changed shipping to the Dutch East Indies.

In 1872 Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland established a reliable and fast shipping line between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies.

The idea was probably sound, but the sailing ship with auxiliary power would lose to the ocean liner, which was supposed to use steam except for emergencies.

The launch of Maetsuijcker in 1890 came about thanks to the foundationo of the Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, which ordered four of her first ships at shipbuilding company De Schelde.

In 1869 the shipyards of the Smit clan asked the municipality of Nieuw-Lekkerland to improve extended primary education by adding French, English, mathematics and construction drawing.

De Schelde would bring expertise about engines for the high seas into the Smit "cluster".

For this they had a raised forecastle, a bridge, a covered stern, and bunkers large enough to store enough coal to steam for 12 days at full power.

[178] The specialization in dredging equipment like hopper barges can be traced back to at least 1877, and would prove to be a long-term success.

After the 1900 Galveston hurricane the Americans ordered the steam suction hopper barge Leviathan at L. Smit.

On 5 March 1906 L. Smit and Son shipbuilding company was visited by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Prince Hendrik.

[180] World War I shut down the international market for river- coastal and dredging vessels, and forced the Dutch shipbuilding industry to construct sea-going ships.

[194] In 1929 L. Smit launched three suction hopper barges, a bucket dredger, and a few smaller vessels.

[201] L. Smit now built a number of heavy tugboats, some more coastal motor tankers, and also more dredging equipment.

The idea was focused on the dredging market, where the partners deemed themselves too small to take on the expected post-war orders on their own.

On 18 June 1953 L. Smit launched Edgar Bonnet, the strongest tug of the world, for the Suez Canal Company.