Their first base was the shipbuilding yard 'De Gouden Leeuw' the Meyjes brothers' father in the Kleine Kattenburgerstraat in Amsterdam.

The fleet consisted of one (borrowed) sloop, the membership fee was 5-10 guildercent per week, and the annual budget amounted to 25 guilders.

When naming their club after Willem III of the Netherlands, the boys did not realize that they needed permission from the monarch.

Quickly, this housing became too small and in 1890 the club moved to a floating boathouse in the Oosterdok (opposite the current Maritime Museum.

To end these problems, the club started to construct a building close to the Amstel, opposite the Trompenburgstraat, which was opened in 1909.

At the end of 1943, the Germans ordered the destruction of the housing of all rowing clubs on the banks of the Amstel, and in February 1944 the building on the Trompenburg was in fact demolished.

After the war, Willem III moved to the building of the 'Deutscher Turn und Rudernverein' (designed for 80 members) that it had to share with RIC.