SS De Batavier, launched in 1827 was an early steamship which served on the Rotterdam to London line of the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij (NSM).

[6] The English novelist Anna Eliza Bray wrote: The Batavier was originally built for a brig, not for a steamer; consequently it was but a make-shift, when converted from a vessel intended to go by sails only into one that was to be boiled through the water by an engine, for which it had not regular accommodation.

There was, therefore, no deck for the passengers, excepting a confined spot, so called, on the roof of the cabin, to which you were obliged to ascend by a flight of steps.

Already during construction, NSM started to negotiate with the Dutch, French and Russian governments about selling the Batavier.

[10] Shortly before, the Batavier towed the ocean liner Atlas, reputedly twice her size, from Fijenoord to Hellevoetsluis.

According to the initial schedule, she would sail from Rotterdam on each Sunday, and back from London on Saturday, perhaps influenced by the prevailing winds.

On 20 April Batavier made an impression by departing Rotterdam during a fierce northwest storm, and still arriving on the Thames 25 hours later, despite the very strong contrary winds.

In February the Batavier was quarantined on the Meuse after she brought the news about the 1826–1837 cholera pandemic in London.

In mid June 1832 one of the engineers died on board at the quarantine place before the island Tiengemeten, but this was not caused by the disease.

The Batavier continued in government service, bringing negotiators to London, as well as the Dutch ratification 21 May preliminary treaty with England and France which lifted the blockade.

[23] After collecting General Chassé from his prison in Dunkirk, the Batavier was handed back to the NSM in late June 1833.

So, the usual route of the Batavier from Rotterdam was: Nieuwe Maas, Botlek, Brielse Meer, open sea.

A now less obvious reason that often made Hellevoetsluis the start and endpoint for the Batavier was that at the time, the Dutch rivers froze up almost every winter, and also for very prolonged periods.

An inadvertent example of why the Batavier was so popular was given by the same Anna Eliza Bray who claimed that she was a converted brig.

[29] In about 1840 William Jesse was as complimentary: Of the many steamers, ships, and tubs I had rolled in, this vessel struck me as being decidedly the most uncomfortable.

She was dirty, and redolent of stinks; schnappes, bad tobacco, and bilge-water, being the prevailing odours..., but amongst her numerous deficiencies, she had one good qualification, the principal one, she was safe.

The plan was that they would go to Spain on board the Spanish steamship Tridente, but she was caught up in a storm while going from London to Vlissingen, and was forced to enter the roadstead of Texel.

[33] Meanwhile, the couple remained incognito, but on 28 March it became public, that both had arrived in Rotterdam a few days ago, and that they had chartered the Batavier to bring them to Spain.

When the captain of the Batavier noted that the towage damaged the machinery, because the floats of the paddle wheels had not been taken off, he had her cast her off about 15 miles from North Foreland.

The owners of the Batavier argued that there had not been any danger, and that during the greater part of the voyage she had actually sailed faster than the tug could steam.

In combination with other circumstances, like the time of the year, and the weather, the judge concluded that the Batavier had not been in danger, and that the sole reason to engage the tug was in guarding the credit of the service.

[52] At first glance, Mrs. Sherwood seems to give a very confusing account, because she has the Batavier attached to a wooden pier at a beach.

[53] However, when the Batavier arrived from London in the morning of the 11th, she first had to go in quarantine near Tiengemeten, about 15 km east of Hellevoetsluis.

[51] Obviously the NSM had let the steamboat Prins Frederik continue her downstream trip from Nijmegen to pick up the 6 am passengers from Rotterdam to Hellevoetsluis, which also explains that on 12 June Sir Walter Scott passed Rotterdam in order to embark on the Batavier.

It gave all kinds of supposedly reliable travel information about travel in the area, like distances, objects of interest, and prices, e.g. that passage from London to Rotterdam on the Batavier in the chief cabin cost 3 GBP,[55] and on the ships of the General Steam Company 2 GBP 2 Shilling.

The Batavier then arrived on the Dutch coast, but had to steam to Hellevoetsluis, because there was not enough water in the Brielse Maas before Brielle.

[60] In 1854 the Dutchman Samuel van den Bergh made a trip to England on board the Batavier, and wrote enthusiastically about her.

Van den Bergh stayed on deck until the Batavier reached Brielle, where she would wait for the tide.

After a rich dinner with champagne, Van den Bergh and his companions seated themselves on the chests of the paddle-wheels until nightfall.

In passing Van den Bergh marveled about the Royal Arsenal of Woolwich and the wet docks, before arriving at the quay of St Katherine's Wharf, close to the Tower of London.