Germany kept rising, and new German
Greyhounds appeared with the progress in technology.
In the end of the 1890ties the Golden Age of German Greyhounds began.
by Earl of Cruise
In the end of the 1890ties the Golden Age of German Greyhounds began.
by Earl of Cruise
Heinrich Wiegand, Director of NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD -
source Wikipedia
A German engineer employed by Fairfield Shipbuildingand Engineering Company, in Govan ,
Scotland, Robert Zimmermann, made for GUION LINE
a new design for their new record breaker. Stephen Barker Guion (1820–1885) has died, and the then financial
instable line, transformed into an incorporation, tried to get a new record
vessel after OREGON went back to the builder, who sold it to CUNARD. The newbuild
contract never materialized.
Shipbuilder modell of Robert Zimmermann´s GUION liner by Fairfield
This would become the Blue-Print for the next German
Greyhounds
Zimmermann went back to Germany and he
took the GUION liner plans with him to his new employer AG VULCAN in Stettin
(in English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AG_Vulcan_Stettin) as no
British line was interested in the new design.
26 years after the German union and
being an empire, a totally new vessel appeared. Bigger than its predessors.
Despite the ss GREST EASTERN the biggest moving object of her time. Germany still
a federation of now no longer independent mostly rural organized states. The new
head of state, the emporer wasn´t the classic "all mighty" ruler, he
had to follow the constitution, and there was a paliament in excistence, the
Reichstag. The Kaiser was - `Kaiser der Deutschen´, not the Kaiser of Germany.
Painting of KAISER WILHELM DER GROSEE, courtsey by
Stefan Piel, a brilliant illustrator and artist http://www.pielillustrationen.de/marine/index.html
To the British public, and the shipping
industry, this new vessel must have been a real shock. Up to the inauguration of
ss KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE, German
lines did order, with a few excemptions prior and after, vessels at British
shipbuilders.
ss KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE 1897 a design realized by
Robert Zimmermann at AG VULCAN in Stettin, based on the specifications of Max
Walter
The first German Greyhounds of the
1880ties had been "in house" developments of NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD and
HAPAG. Of the eleven Schnelldampfer, Lloyd had ordered nine at Elders /
Fairfield, while two, ss SPREE and ss HAVEL had been ordered at AG VULCAN.
HAPAG ordered their Schnelldampfer quartet at the same yards.
These facts created in Great Britain´s
public, as within the shipping industry, at totally different picture than
reallty.
In his
novel `Schnelldampfer´ Karl Aloys Schenzinger describes in a
fictional scene the feelings which in Britain ruled the public opinion.
A lady and a
gentleman argue about the new design of the KAISER with his four funnels,
arranged in pairs - two by two. He describes them as pompus, exaggerated and
typical for the German behavior. She in despite is intrigued by the design,
as it is new and is looking powerful and strong.
|
The pairing of the funnels enanbled
central coal bunkers near to the furnaces, and atop of a vast space in the
center of the vessel for rooms which had to search its equal amoung the North
Atlantic and other liners.
Crossection/cutaway of ss KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE
(source courtsey Norwegian Heritage), is displacing the central coal bunkers and
above the Main Dining Room - der Grosse Speisesaal.
Tonnage:
|
14,349 gross tons (GRT)
24,300 tons displacement
|
Length:
|
200 m
|
Beam:
|
20.056 m
|
Draught:
|
max. 8,3 m
|
Installed power:
|
33,000 ihp (25,000 kW)
|
Propulsion:
|
2 screw propellers
|
Speed:
|
22.5 kn
(41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)
|
Capacity:
|
1,506 passengers
I. Klasse: 206 + 134 bed sofas und cots
II. Klasse: 226 + 120 bed sofas und cots III. Klasse: 1074 |
Crew:
|
488
|
After ss KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE did
win the Blue Riband, it became a "fashion" or a must in the
international competition having four funnels, and with the KAISER would have
been build 14 liners in that "fashion".
The untrue word is spread, in all minds
imprinted, that passengers regarded the number of funnels for strength, speed
and security. So why passengers still boarded liners with less than four funnels?
That would make them, not only from todays point of view, a dump mass, and
neglect their intelligence. The fourth funnel of the OLYMPIC class vessels was
for ventilation reasons in first place, and only in second for the optical
balance of the exterior appearance.
After the inauguration of the four twin
screw liners, ss AUGUSTA VICTORIA, ss NORMANNIA, ss COLUMBIA and ss FÜRST
BISMARCK, of HAPAG the LLYOD lost over the years the competition. They lacked
the speed of the HAPAG sisters and grew old and worn.
To get again the express service with
weekly departures, LLOYD director HeinrichWiegand and the chief engineer Max Walter developed, again "in
house", a new type of passenger vessel. The shipbuilders AG VULCAN and F.SCHICHAU, MASCHINEN- und LOKOMOTIVFABRIK, SCHIFFSWERFT und EISENGIESSEREI GmbH
in Stettin gave, based on Walter´s specifications, diversing
offers for the pair of express liners. Schichau tried a new technical approach
in the design of ss KAISER FRIEDRICH.
ss KAISER FRIEDRICH build by
Schichau - source Wikipedia
Tonnage:
|
12,480 GRT
|
Length:
|
183 metres
|
Beam:
|
19.4 metres
|
Draught:
|
max. 8,54 m
|
Installed power:
|
Five cylinder reciprocating steam engines (with
cylinder diameter of 109.22 cm, 162.56 cm, 233.68 cm, 2 x
236.22 cm), with quadruple expansion
|
Propulsion:
|
Twin three-bladed bronze propellers,with a diameter
of 6.19 meters
|
Speed:
|
19, later 20 knots
|
Capacity:
|
1,350 Passengers
400 First Class
250 Second Class
700 Third Class
|
Crew:
|
420
|
Notes:
|
Captain Ludwig A. Störmer
Captain François Benoît Rolland
|
KAISER FRIEDRICH never met the contracted speed, to be a real running mate to KAISER
WILHLEM DER GROSSE, and was given back to the builders. This became an
international commented law suit between SCHICHAU and the LLOYD. She was laid
up in Hamburg, after a charter to HAPAG and 1912 finally sold to COMPAGNIE de NAVIGATION
SUD-ATLANTIQUE.
In desperate
need of a suitable running mate for the KAISER, who in the meantime got his
nickname `Rolling Billy´, the LLOYD invested massively in his ss SPREE to get
one.
ss KAISERIN MARIA THERESIA1899, ex ss SPREE - own collection
Tonnage:
|
7,840 GRT (after rebuilding out of ss SPREE
1899)
|
Length:
|
160 m
|
Beam:
|
15.8 m
|
Propulsion:
|
2 × triple expansion engine
2 screws, dual shaft
3 funnels, two masts
|
Speed:
|
20 kn (23 mph) (after 1899)
|
Capacity:
|
826 passengers
244 First Class
122 Second Class
460 Third Class
|
She lived short with the LLOYD, as the
KAISERIN was sold in 1904 to Russia to become the auxiliary cruiser URAL.
With pride Heinrich Wiegand invited
Albert Ballin, his counterpart in Hamburg, for a crossing on board the ss KAISER
WILHELM DER GROSSE, which resulted in HAPAG´s decision to build a competitor to
the KAISER, despite Albert Ballin´s vote in the board meeting against, because
of the maintenance costs of such a Greyhound.
ss DEUTSCHLAND of HAPAG, HAPAG´s answer to his
Hanseatic rival NORDDEUTSCHER LLYOD - own collection
In 1900 the HAPAG `Schnelldampfer´ ss
DEUTSCHLAND went to sea and gained the trophy for the fastest crossing from the
LLYOD. She was an improved near sister to the KAISER and has been build at the
same yard - AG VULCAN in Stettin.
crossection/cutaway ss DEUTSCHLAND - own collection
Tonnage:
|
16.502 gross tons (GRT)
|
Length:
|
208,5 m
|
Beam:
|
20.4 m
|
Draught:
|
max. 8 m
|
Installed power:
|
37,800 ihp (27,802 kW)
|
Propulsion:
|
2 6 cylinder Quadruple Expansion Compound - counterrotating
2 screw propellers
|
Speed:
|
23.15 kn
(43 km/h)
|
Capacity:
|
1,100 passengers
429 I. Klasse
226 II.Klasse 284 III.Klasse |
Crew:
|
557
|
The ss DEUTSCHALND had less passengers
on board than her rival the KAISER, as well more crew, especially for the
service. This was Ballin´s turn to the luxury.
In March 1902, she played a role in the DEUTSCHLAND incident. When she
was carrying Prince Henry, the brother of
the Kaiser back to Europe from a highly publicized visit to the United
States, the ship was prevented from using her Slaby-d'Arco system of
wireless telegraphy as the Marconi
radio stations refused its radio traffic through their nets and blocked the
rival system. Prince Henry - who tried to send wireless messages to both the
U.S. and Germany -was outraged. During a later conference, the Marconi
company was forced to give access to their stations to other companies. This
incident turned out to be one of the important moments in the early history
of wireless transmission.
source: Wikipedia
|
The ss DEUTSCHALND had another problem,
which was, and is common to all fast going vessels at sea - she vibrated
immensely. Therefore she was nicknamed `the cocktail shaker´. These vibrations
caused a havarie on April 22nd 1902. Her stern broke and she lost her rudder.
Only with her screws she could navigate back to Hamburg. A masterpiece of
seamanship of her officers on the bridge, the chief engineer and the men at the
mashines.
In 1910, after the loss of the world´s first
purpose built cruise vessel the ss KRONPRINCESSIN VICTORIA LUISE in 1906 in
Jamaika, ss DEUTSCHLAND was withdrawn from service. She was massively rebuild
and emerged from her builders as the cruise vessel ss VICTORIA LUISE.
ss VICTORIA LUISE 1911, ex DEUTSCHLAND 1900 of HAPAG,
her white cruise painted wasn´t that successful, it did not last too long and
used to be "coal-dust-coated" - own collection (detail of a postcard)
While Hamburg was struggeling with its
Blue Riband holder ss DEUTSCHLAND, Bremen was ordering a new vessel for his
Schnelldampfer Dienst (express service). In 1901 the world has seen the ss
KRONPRINZ WILHELM, another near sister to the KAISER of 1897. And this vessel
too caught the Blue Riband, and therefore all the praize back to NORDDEUTSCHE
LLOYD.
ss KRONPRINZ WILHELM 1901 - own collection
Tonnage:
|
14,908 gross register tons (GRT)
24,900 tons Displacement)
|
Length:
|
202,17 m
|
Beam:
|
20 m
|
Draught:
|
max. 8,5 m
|
Installed power:
|
36,000 ihp
|
Propulsion:
|
2x 4 cylinder Quadruple Expansion Compound
2 screw propellers
|
Speed:
|
23.9 kn
(44 km/h)
|
Capacity:
|
1,318 passengers
301 I. Klasse
300 II.Klasse 717 III.Klasse |
Crew:
|
526
|
As ss KRONPRINZ WILHELM, yard Nr. 249 at
March 30th 1901 was launched at AG VULCAN
in Stettin, she
was the most modern passenger liner of her time. The KRONPRINZ impressed by his
art-of-state lines, which had been dominated by the four funnels, arranged in
pairs (2 by 2). The steamer had as one of the first liners a contemporary
telephon system on board. The bridge could reach all stations on board. Too
installed has been a wireless station.
The Berliner Tageblatt published at
Februar 16th 1902:
|
||
„Bei der bevorstehenden Amerikareise ... werden die
Augen der technischen Welt auf einen unscheinbaren Apparat an Bord des
„Kronprinz Wilhelm“ gerichtet sein, welcher vor der Öffentlichkeit seine
Feuerprobe zu bestehen haben wird. Es wird nämlich eine Marconische
Telegraphenstation mitgeführt werden, deren Aufgabe darin bestehen wird, die
Verbindung des auf hoher See befindlichen Schiffes mit dem Lande aufrecht zu
erhalten."
|
||
In September 1902, captained by August
Richter, Kronprinz Wilhelm won the BlueRiband for the fastest crossing yet from Cherbourg to New York in a time of
5 days, 11 hours, 57 minutes (131h57min), with an average speed of 23.09 kn
(42.76 km/h; 26.57 mph).
The German competitors dominated the North Atlantic trade with thre
high quality liners, which held or hold at a time the Blue Riband. And a forth
was in building. They did attract the international travelling public, because
of speed and the service which was offered. A further fact of attraction has
been the quality of passenger cabins, and suites, as well as the opulent public
rooms.
Had the British people and the public opinion been rattled by ss KAISER
WILHELM DER GROSSE, the ss DEUTSCHLAND and then a short time after the ss
KRONPRINZ WILHELM shocked.
"Hadn´t
they been only a rural country?"
"Sisn´t
they need importing our technology?"
"Aren´t
they not still rural organized?"
"How
could they do such things?"
"They
are even just a state!"
|
Great Britain marchants and
industrialists invented the "Made in Germany" trade mark to prevent
German products becomming a success or a competitor. But it lashed back - "Made
in Germany" was the best invention made on the isles for the country named
Germany. It became THE sign for quality and worth the money goods.
While HAPAG turned away from the speed
competition as WHITE STAR has done, the LLOYD still stick to his Schnelldapfer
concept and design. HAPAG´s ss DEUTSCHLAND was a single one amoung the growing
fleet of veesls.
In Stettin and Bremen the engineer Schütte
approached the officials with his design drafts for a five funnel vessel as the
next high speed liner for NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD. Till then only the GREAT EASTERN
had a set of five funnels similar arranged.
Projected Schnelldampfer by engineer Schütte designed,
drawing by Frits G.E. Moll - copy courtsey from `Die Geschichte der deutschen
Passagierschiffahrt, Bd.II, Arnold Kludas
Tonnage:
|
20,700 GRT projected
|
Length:
|
209,8 m
|
Beam:
|
27 m
|
Draught:
|
max. 8 m
|
Installed power:
|
39,000 ihp
|
Propulsion:
|
4 Quadruple Expansion Compound
2 screw propellers
|
Speed:
|
25.5 kn
|
Capacity:
|
1,950 passengers projected
750 I. Klasse
300 II.Klasse 900 III.Klasse |
The Schütte design varied in some
aspects from the previous AG VULCAN buildings. At first the five funnels, then
the cruiser stern and the width. If this design ever would have been
constructed is not sure, as no further sources existing.
Director Wiegand and his board decided
against the Schütte design, and choose an improved version of the first two
near sisters.
And in 1903 the ss KAISER WILHELM II had
its inauguration. The forth four funneld liner and high speed vessel. Great
Britains pride must have finally been shackeld.
ss KAISER WILHELM II entering its pier in New York
habor - own collection
Tonnage:
|
19,350 gross register tons (GRT)
|
Length:
|
215,34 m
|
Beam:
|
22,5 m
|
Draught:
|
max. 8 m
|
Installed power:
|
44,500 ihp (29,420 kW)
|
Propulsion:
|
4 Quadruple Expansion Compound
2 screw propellers
|
Speed:
|
23.58 kn
(44 km/h)
|
Capacity:
|
1,535 passengers
468 I. Klasse
268 II.Klasse 799 III.Klasse |
Crew:
|
650
|
The Quadruple steam engine of ss KAISER
WILHELM II was the most powerfull mashine installed into a vessel of her time.
Incrdible masses had be moved in that gigantic engine - a permanent up-and-down
moving, which was hammering in the "bowels" of that Greyhound. And
for the constant moving of all the cylinders had to be fired 700t of coal in
the furnaesses.
With this fourth German Greyhound
especially CUNARD got nervous. Their premier vessels LUCANIA and CAMPANIA have
been put out of "place". And the international travel populace
travelled "German". Despite the rising nationalism, even British
travellers loved the German Greyhounds, because of their speed, their offered service
and their interiors. Against national odds, the US travellers nearly swamped
the liners of the LLOYD and HAPAG.
In the later 19th and early 20th century, Germany´s fleet of passenger liners had grown at such a rapid rate thet the German liners greatly eclipsed those of their British rivals, much to the embarassement of Britain´s CUNARD LINE. Desperate to reclaim the tarnished national pride, CUNARD officials convinced the British government to provide a generous loan package, and CUNARD was able to embark upon an ambitious shipbuilding program. The first two ships built in the resulting government subsidy program were the CARONIA and CARMANIA of 1905.
At the time of launch, CARONIA and CARMANIA were the largest liners in the Cunard fleet. More
importantly, the twin ships had the unique distinction of being used to
compare the standard quadruple-expansion propulsion system against the
new-fangled Parsons steam turbine system, with CARMANIA being fitted with the new turbine system. CARONIA was the first to be
launched by
Lady Blythswood - wife of a former aide to Queen Victoria - February 21, 1905
and her maiden voyage on the Liverpool to New York run occurred December 2,
1905. Company officials were pleased with the duo’s admirable performance,
and the press was none to generous in bestowing the title “Grand Dames of the
Atlantic” on the sister ships. Furthermore, CARMANIA´s steam turbine engines so impressed
Company officials that it was decided that the new system would be employed
on the upcoming LUSITANIA and
MAURETANIA.
|
CARMANIA was in 1905 not the first turbine driven
liner, but for CUNARD it was. ss KING EDWARD was launched in 1901 with turbines
as propulsion. Her inauguration drew international spectators in masses. The ss
QUEEN in 1903 and the VICTORIAN in 1904 followed. And in July and November rms
LUSITANIA and rms MAURETANIA would be inaugurated.
LUSITANIA and MAURETANIA were commissioned by CUNARD,
responding to increasing competition from rival transatlantic passenger
companies, particularly the German NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD and HAPAG. They had larger, faster, more modern,
more luxurious ships than Cunard and were better placed, starting from German
ports, to capture the lucrative trade in emigrants leaving Europe for North
America. In 1897 the NDL liner KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE captured the Blue Riband from Cunard's CAMPANIA, before the prize
was taken in 1900 by the HAPAG ship DEUTSCHLAND.
NDL soon wrested the prize back in 1903 with the new KAISER WILHELM II and KRONPRINZ WILHELM. CUNARD saw their business steadily declining as a result
of the so-called "Kaiser-class ocean liners".
The American millionaire businessman J. P. Morgan had decided to invest in transatlantic shipping by creating a new
company International Mercantile Marine
(IMM), and in 1901 purchased the British freight shipper FREDERICK LEYLAND & Co. and a
controlling interest in the British passenger WHITE STAR LINE and folded them into IMM. In 1902, IMM, NDL, and HAPAG entered
into a "Community of Interest" to fix prices and divide among them
the transatlantic trade. The partners also acquired a 51% stake in the Dutch HOLLAND AMERIKA LINE. IMM made offers to
purchase Cunard which, along with the French CGT, were now their principal
rivals. Cunard declined the offer, but lacked the financial resources to
respond with new ships. CUNARD chairman Lord Inverclyde thus
approached the British government for assistance. Faced with the impending
collapse of the British liner fleet and the consequent loss of national
prestige, as well as the reserve of shipping for war purposes which it
represented, they agreed to help. By an agreement signed in June 1903, CUNARD
was given a loan of £2.6 million to finance two ships, repayable over 20
years at a favourable interest rate of 2.75%. The ships would receive an
annual operating subsidy of £75,000 each plus a mail contract worth £68,000.
In return the ships would be built to Admiralty
specifications so that they could be used as auxiliary cruisers in wartime.
source:
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania
|
The use of express steamers as auxiliary cruisers
in war was a common place in the days of the imperialism. As the German
Schnelldampfer had been intended to be war ships in case of war, so have been
the rms LUSITANIA and rms MAURETANIA.
But prior to the inauguration of the rms LUSITANIA,
the LLOYD send his last Schnelldampfer at sea. The ss KRONPRINZESSIN CECILIE
was he peak of the AG VULCAN build series of sisters and near sisters which
domiated the North Atlantic trade for a decade.
ss KRONPRINCESSIN CECILIE - own collection
Tonnage:
|
19,360 gross register tons (GRT)
|
Length:
|
215,34 m
|
Beam:
|
22,2 m
|
Draught:
|
max. 8 m
|
Installed power:
|
45,500 ihp
|
Propulsion:
|
4 Quadruple Expansion Compound
2 screw propellers
|
Speed:
|
23.6 kn
(44 km/h)
|
Capacity:
|
1,566 passengers
508 I. Klasse
260 II.Klasse 798 III.Klasse |
Crew:
|
679
|
The ss KRONPRINZESSIN CECILIE had the
biggest ever in a passenger vessel installed steam compound engine. But this
incredible force in her hull was in vain to gain the Blue Riband from her
sister the ss KAISER WILHELM II, as she was outdated by the new CUNRARD
steamers rms LUSITANIA and rms MAURETANIA by their more powerful and more
efficient turbine steam engines.
No one can blame director Wiegand, the
LLOYD engineers and those of AG VULCAN for the decision, as the turbine
technology wasn´t really mellow for the "high pressure use" in a
North Atlantic express steamer in the early years of the first decade in 1900.
The passengers of ss KRONPRINZESSIN
CECILIE found themselves not only on a fast liner but too on a most
luxurious. The travellers had been supported by
a crew of 679 that included 229 stewards and stewardesses and 42 cooks,
pantrymen, barbers, hairdressers and other passenger service people. the vessel
provided a service to his passengers that has never be seen on the Atlantic
before. Similar to the predessors she drew the luxury to a new level. Her
interior design was in the new style of Wiener Session and Jugendstil, a first for the LLOYD on his
Schnelldampfer quartet, as up to then the style was a pompus recalling
Historicism. More luxurious suites have been installed than on any other of her
sisters and near sisiters. In comparison with a US$ 2,500 first class suite
ticket, the immigrant could sail on ss
KRONPRINZESSIN CECILIE for a mere US$ 25.
This high level was not easy to match. And she hold this trophy of luxury till
her commercial end in 1914 in BarHarbor, Maine where she, under the command of Captain Charles Polack, did
seek refugee.
When ss KRONPRINZESSIN CECILIE received the
wireless message of the outbreak of war, she carried 1,216 passengers,
including some British reservist, she was carrying too $10,679,000 in gold and
$3,000,000 in silver. The ss
KRONPRINZESSIN CECILIE, bound for Bremen, was nearing Liverpool
when directed to head back to the closest port in the neutral United States to
avoid capture by the British Navy and French cruisers. Captain Polack had her normally all-buff funnels
painted with black tops so as to resemble the liner OLYMPIC or another ship of the
British WHITE STAR LINE as a form of disguise.
The former three class Greyhound ss
KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE had been transfered, a few years before, into a Third
Class only vessel. That arrangement, as the KAISER got outdated and worn,
pushed the Third Class passengers into absolutely new hights, as the KAISER was
not rebuild.
With the successful inauguration of the
steam turbine in record breaking North Atlantic Greyhounds the decade of German
supremacy seemed to have ended. Great Britain has gained back in his thinking
right to at the helm, or being back the throne, as the most powerful nation,
and empire, and ruler of the waves. A short, to short victory and vicious for
Great Britain.
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