She was the second ship of the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN) and was lost after barely two years of service.

The SMN was founded in May 1870 for the express purpose of establishing a steam shipping line to Java via the Suez Canal, which opened in 1869.

Even so, somebody gave an account of a stylish and luxurious saloon 1st class of 10 meters square with broad comfortable canapés, mahogany tables and a buffet.

[3] The crew of Prins Hendrik consisted of 69 persons,[1] but this was probably not counting civilian staff.

Prins Hendrik was built for Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN) by John Elder & Co. of Govan on the River Clyde.

On 18 November 1871 Prins Hendrik steamed to the Texel roadstead to prepare her departure.

A visitor noted that the ship was very clean, and did not suffer from the stench of mixed paint, oil and tar, which made the stay on steamships in the East Indies so suffocating, and caused so much sea sickness and nausea.

In the early morning of February 1 a dozen boats and tambangans (a local vessel) had assembled.

On board the officers and Louis de Wilde, agent of SMN, welcomed the Resident, the Regent and family, the Lieutenant of the Chinese and his wife and the other guests.

By 11 o'clock AM the guests left the ship while Prins Hendrik fired 11 shots to salute the authorities.

On 9 February 1872 Prins Hendrik arrived back in Batavia towing the sailing ship Kosmopoliet III.

She was noted by the British warship Serapis, which towed her for the last 360 miles to Aden,[10] where they arrived 13 March.

Captain Hendriks blamed the loss of the propeller blades on hitting a wreck floating below the surface.

In a letter of 23 March he noted that right after feeling the shocks from the breaking blades, the water was sounded and found to be over 30 fathoms (180 feet) deep.

On 22 April Prins Hendrik anchored at Douarnenez in Brittany to bunker coal after consuming too much due to severe storm.

Later somebody sent a letter claiming that all kinds of wood had been used to keep the machines going when during a storm, the chief engineer discovered that the ship was out of coal.

On 25 June Prins Hendrik arrived in Aden for small repairs to the machine.

On 23 December 1872 Prins Hendrik anchored at Galle to make some small repairs to the engine.

The fourth voyage of Prins Hendrik to the East Indies was planned for mid-May 1873, but was delayed to 14 June.

Here she heard and was asked to assist SS Tromp, which was in trouble in the Red Sea and had been beached in the Gulf of Suez.

[28] Next (4 August) came some words about the soldiers in Aden, and why the extra soldiers did not fit on Prins Hendrik[29] On 4 September 1873 SS Prins Hendrik captain E. Oort began her final voyage from Batavia.

[30] In the afternoon of 21 September Prins Hendrik arrived in Aden, and after bunkering, she would continue the same night.

[31] On 26 September 1873 at half past noon Prins Hendrik passed Daedalus Reef at about 7.5 km distance to the W.S.W.

Some minutes later the carpenter and fourth officer reported a meter of water in the hold near the bow.

At ten o'clock six boats were lowered with passengers and crew, and ordered to make for El Qoseir (Kosseir).

Here they were housed by the governor and population till the Egyptian steam vessel Hedjaz brought them to Suez, where they arrived on 9 October.

All that was saved from Prins Hendrik was: Seven boats, 12 rifles, a sextant, a chronometer, a silver watch, binoculars, the Certificate of registry, the log, and the muster roles.

[32] Prins Hendrik seems to have been fully insured, so the direct financial loss for the SMN was limited.

A preliminary investigation of the witness did not put the slightest blame on Captain E. Oort, neither for fault nor for negligence.

He understood that a captain who had been so unlucky in such a short time-frame (losing two capital ships in two years), would not be favorite for passengers.