American Sidewheeler De Ruyter to the Rescue, by Jean Baptiste Henri Durand-Brager. The transatlantic American steam passenger ship De Ruyter, rushing to the assistance of the beleaguered British sailing ship, loch Earn. The De Ruyter a side-wheeler of the Engels line, with its distinctive funnel, was running from New York to Antwerp. The Belgium destination is marked by the pennant on the foremast. The loch Earn had collided with the French steamer Ville du Havre on 22 November 1873. Only a few people were rescued from the French steamer, and most of the survivors picked up by loch earn were transferred to the American ship Tremountain a day later. This painting, directly commissioned by the American ambassador to Belgium, Joseph Russell Jones, as a formal commemoration, marks the heroism of the moment against the primal power of the open ocean, and marks the beginnings of an American-Belgian passenger ship company.