It was the first ship of the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN) that completed a round trip to the Dutch East Indies.

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.

The reporter A. Huet gave a simple explanation of the compound engine: Four boilers created steam with an over-pressure of 2 atm and pushed it into a small cylinder.

The explanation continued by stating that compound engines had been made before in the Netherlands for river tugboats by Fijenoord.

John Elder was credited with making it suitable for use at sea, and improving and simplifying the concept so that it really delivered the advantages that calculations promised.

The crucial aspect of the compound engine for use at sea was that using high pressure steam required the boilers to be fed with pure water.

Our reporter noted that even this surface condenser was not new, but had been invented 20–30 years earlier, and had fallen in disuse since.

[3] On the Glasgow to Nieuwediep route SS Prins van Oranje has used about 20 tons a day at a speed of 10 Knots an hour.

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

Now the usual loading of packages from the warehouses of the SMN took place, and all kinds of small vessels arrived to transload their cargo.

It noted that the ship was a modern vessel capable of efficiently transporting cargo between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies.

Some of the cargo of Prins van Oranje was transferred to the English Brig Thomas and John, so the necessary repairs could be made.

[21] By 8 December 1871 a telegram had been received which noted that the repair to the movement of the 'steam slide' would be done, and that some cargo from the stern of the ship had been moved to lighters, so the two propeller blades, which had been damaged in the Suez Canal, could be replaced.

Prins van Oranje then entered Onrust Dock of 3,000 tons[27] to fix her propeller blades, including the one that had still been attached after Galle.

At the moment of the inspection Boeke and others still thought that the Suez Canal played an essential role in the problem, because other companies had also gotten into trouble there.

In the night of 17–18 May one of the propeller blades broke off near 6.59 N 68.52 E. Prins van Oranje continued at a careful pace, some passengers noting increased vibrations.

After some negotiations Riga took Prins van Oranje into tow to Aden, where both arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon of 29 May.

By then there had been so much delay that sister ship SS Conrad, which had left for the East Indies after Prins van Oranje had overtaken her.

It was also remarkable that the SMN seemed to be the only shipping line which had so much trouble with breaking propeller blades, even while she used the same material that other companies used.

He continued with fierce reproaches on the technical management of the SMN, which should have taken measures way earlier, instead of blaming the trouble on accidentally hitting the ground or unknown wrecks.

A special part of her cargo consisted of a machine gun, 1,000 barrels of gunpowder, 250,000 beaumont rifle cartridges, and a detachment of 125 troops.

[32] After visiting Surabaya Prins van Oranje captain Fabricius returned to Batavia, and left from there on 22 May.

This number of first class passengers was significantly less than the 90 carried previously, but ventilation might have been the prime reason to move them one deck up.

[34] On New Year's Day 1900 Prins van Oranje broke her propeller shaft while steaming west of Sumatra at 1°8′0″N 90°23′0″E / 1.13333°N 90.38333°E / 1.13333; 90.38333 The current was at first S.W.

Therefore Prins van Oranje drifted as far south as 0°13' S and as far west as 90° E. On 4 January 2 officer H. Smitt proposed to send a well equipped boat to Padang to get help.

to a position on the line Pulau Bodjo (one of the Batu Islands) - Point de Galle (Sri Lanka) in order to meet ships.

In turn the crew of Prinses Sophie noted Prins van Oranje on 0°5" N 91°35" E, 132 Geographical miles from Padang.

[35] Captain Soomer of Prinses Sophie had been in Padang on 12 January when the SMN sent a telegram ordering him to search for Prins van Oranje.

He made a plan to sail in the direction, and then to follow the streams that could have caught Prins van Oranje.

A few days later ship broker W. de Lorme van Rossem sold her to a Genovese company for 7,750 GBP (93,000 guilders).