SS
Deutschland
|
History
|
German Empire
|
Name
|
- 1900?1910:
Deutschland
- 1910?1920:
Viktoria Luise
- 1920?1925:
Hansa
|
Owner
| Hamburg America Line
|
Port of registry
| Hamburg,
Germany
|
Route
| Transatlantic
|
Ordered
| 1899
|
Builder
| AG Vulcan
,
Stettin
|
Cost
| 12.500.000 Mark
|
Yard number
| 244
|
Laid down
| 1899
|
Launched
| 10 January 1900
|
Completed
| June 1900
|
Acquired
| 25 June 1900
|
Maiden voyage
| 5 July 1900
|
In service
| 1900
|
Out of service
| 1925
|
Fate
| Sold for scrap in France 1925
|
General characteristics
[1]
|
Type
| Ocean liner
|
Tonnage
| 16,502
GRT
, 5,196
NRT
(1900)
16,703
GRT
, 8,127
NRT
(1910, as
Viktoria Luise
)
|
Displacement
| 23,200 metric tons (22,800 long tons; 25,600 short tons)
|
Length
| 207.2 m (679 ft 9 in)
o/a
|
Beam
| 20.52 m (67 ft 4 in)
|
Draft
| 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
|
Decks
| 6
|
Installed power
| 34.000 ihp (25.354 kW)
|
Propulsion
| 2 × 4-bladed propellers
|
Speed
| 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
|
Capacity
| 1.283 passengers in three classes
|
Complement
|
- in World War I
- 22 officers, 448 enlisted
|
Armament
| |
SS
Deutschland
was a
passenger liner
built in Stettin and launched on 10 January 1900 for the
Hamburg America Line (HAPAG)
of Germany. She was officially the second ocean liner to have four funnels on the transatlantic route, the first being
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
of 1897.
The
Deutschland
took away the
Blue Riband
from the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
on her maiden voyage and held the west-bound record for over seven years, until
Cunard
took it back to Britain with the
RMS
Lusitania
in 1907. Despite holding the record she suffered from persistent vibrations,
[2]
especially in the stern area which gave her the nickname "The Cocktail Shaker"
[3]
and made her unpopular with 1st class passengers.
Although her vibration problems were finally fixed around 1907,
[4]
it was already too late, as she has lost the speed record to Cunard, and the direct competition had grander, larger and safer ships, so in 1910 she was pulled from the transatlantic route and refitted into the world's second fully dedicated
cruise liner
.
[4]
As
Victoria Luise
she was enormously popular with the travelling public, and as she was about to start her third around-the-world cruise
World War I
broke out and she was requisitioned as an
auxiliary cruiser
.
However, because of her conversion into a cruise ship, her engines were throttled to a maximum speed of 17
knots
(31 km/h; 20 mph).
[3]
And after a fire that broke out during her conversion into a cruiser, it was decided to abandon the preparations, and she was left standing at her pier till the end of World War I.
[3]
After the war, she was in such a bad state that the Allies were not interested in seizing her as war reparations.
[4]
In 1920, HAPAG decided to convert her into an immigrant ship and she was once again put on the Atlantic under a new name:
Hansa
. By 1921, as the United States introduced new immigration laws, she steadily became unprofitable, and was ultimately sold for
scrap
in 1925.
Construction
[
edit
]
After the introduction of
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
by the
Norddeutscher Lloyd
and its enormous success with the travelling public, in 1899 the HAPAG board of directors has voted for once again building a greyhound for the transatlantic route despite the clear protests from the general director
Albert Ballin
,
[4]
who argued that
"the race for speed is futile, the line should focus on constructing big, safe and comfortable ocean liners"
.
[4]
As the Shipyard of choice, the line approached the
Stettiner Vulcan Werft
, the same yard that constructed their direct competition, the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
. With the newly approaching 20th century, HAPAG decided that
Deutschland
should be a culmination of all newest technologies, styles and trends.
[3]
She was the third biggest ship on the world,
[3]
after the
Great Eastern
, and the
RMS
Oceanic
. She was outfitted with all the newest marine technologies that were available on the market, she had an early system of automatic
watertight doors
that could be closed off from the bridge at any time, an advanced steam recycling system,
pneumatic tube
messaging system, and a powerful pair of, double stroke, quadruple expansion steam engines with extra cylinders above the intermediate cylinders.
[4]
Which gave her a maximum
horsepower
of 34,000 (Although on one voyage it was reported that 37,800 were reached.).
[4]
Deutschland
'
s construction number was 244 and the
keel
was
laid down
around the end of 1899. During the entire time of the construction newspapers were boasting about the construction of the ship and reporting on all the newest methods of construction being used.
[3]
The ship was
launched
on the 10 January 1900 by the
Kaiser's family
themselves. The fitting out process finished on the 25 June 1900.
The ship in Germany would originally be addressed with the
“Schnelldampfer”
,
“Doppelschraubenschnelldampfer”
or with the more prestigious previx,
“Reichspostdamper”
.
[4]
Interior
[
edit
]
Comfort wise,
Deutschland
had a whole new interior style be developed for it, as up to this point HAPAG was copying the styles of the
NDL
ships, the
"Jugend Stil"
or a more simplistic version of
Art Nouveau
was chosen,
[3]
as it was an emerging popular style in Western Europe at that time which was being associated with modernity.
Deutschland
'
s first-class accommodation which was in the center of the ship, spread out on five decks could accommodate up to 693 first class passengers in utmost comfort, the central piece of the ship was its enormous
skylight
spanning four decks, it provided natural light to the music room, grand staircase and the dining salon. The newspapers of that time were calling it: "the worlds most beautiful skylight".
[4]
On the boat-deck, in the center of the ship was the first class entrance, with a couple of staterooms, a printers office for onboard newspaper (A technology that also the Deutschland introduced to ocean liners for the first time
[4]
) and a nursery. Although around 1902/3 it was rebuilt into the 'Vienna cafe' with light colors and golden details, the waiters were dressed in slightly "oriental uniforms" to further "exotify" the cafe.
[3]
The reason for the replacement of the nursery is unknown, but it might be possible that around that time HAPAG decided to let the children dine with their parents in the main dining saloon, a practice that was rather uncommon at that time in the
elite
circles.
[4]
At the stern of the ship besides a couple of staterooms, was the 'Grill room', a small restaurant similar to the later
a la carte
restaurant found on
White Star Line
's
Olympic
-class
liners. It was run by an independent restaurant staff from brought from
Berlin
, the style of the restaurant is supposed to remind the diner of an authentic German mountain "
Gasthaus
". The woodwork was out of
mahogany
and in the center of the room except for the skylight and a bar was big green ceramic tiled oven,
[4]
that was used to grill/prepare the dishes in front of the customers table.
On A deck was the music room/lounge kept in white colors with a golden wallpaper,
[3]
smoking room with a big central skylight, a painting showing
Hamburg
harbor and a statue on either side representing trade and the market. The whole room was kept in a light blue color scheme.
B deck consisted mainly of 1st class staterooms, four suites every in a different style, a barber shop and purses office.
[5]
C deck had the first class dining saloon, made out of mahogany with red Japanese wallpaper on the walls and a light beige carpeting.
[5]
2nd class accommodations were in styles an exact replica of the ones found in first class but a lot smaller, that dining room could accommodate all 302 2nd class passengers in one sitting, unlike the 1st class dining saloon that needed two sittings.
[4]
3rd class was found at the bow of the ship, it did not differ a lot from
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
.
Career
[
edit
]
Deutschland
left
Bremerhaven
on 5 July 1900, commanded by Captain Adolf Albers with a stop at
Cherbourg
and
Plymouth
bound for
New York
. She crossed by
Sandy Hook
in 5 days, 11 hours and 5 min. with an average 23.51 knots (43.54 km/h; 27.05 mph).
[4]
She won the Blue Riband from
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
, the fanfare both in Germany and the US was big,
Kaiser Wilhelm II
himself sent a telegram to HAPAG with the words "Bravo Deutschland!"
[4]
congratulating her on breaking the record.
On the way back they broke the eastbound record averaging 23.38 knots (43.30 km/h; 26.91 mph). with 5 days 11 hours and 45 minutes.
[4]
Among the fanfare however, it became clear that the ship had vibration problems, especially when reaching high speeds. Second class passengers felt it the worst as they were situated in the
stern
of the ship where the vibrations were the strongest. A year later she was
drydocked
in
Stettin
where her propellers were replaced to try to minimize the problem no avail.
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.
Also in 1902, during a rough storm returning from New York,
Deutschland
'
s whole rudder along with a part of her keel were ripped off her stern, the ship had to be maneuvered to Europe and the dock using only her propellers. This exhausted Captain Albers to such an extent that during her docking in
Bremerhaven
he collapsed in the chart room in the hands of his first officer and died of a heart attack.
[4]
It was also in 1902 that
John Jacob Astor
travelled on
Deutschland
to New York in one of her suites on the B Deck. He would perish in 1912 on the maiden voyage of the
Titanic
.
[4]
In July 1903, while leaving Bremerhaven a
schooner
got a bit too close to the ship and her sails got caught up in the railing of the ship.
[4]
The boat started getting sucked up by the ship's propellers. The ship's captain ordered a full stop and for a
lifeboat
to be lowered to rescue the crew of the schooner. The voyage recommenced after the boat was freed and the excitement subsided.
On 17 July 1906,
Deutschland
collided with a stone pier when departing the
Port of Dover
for New York, her engines having been put into forward rather than reverse. The ship's
bow
was damaged causing the voyage to be abandoned, with
Deutschland
being repaired at
Southampton
.
In 1907, the ship's vibration problems were finally solved by adjusting the angle of the propeller blades and a partial rebuild of her stern,
[5]
mainly the keel and rudder area. But by that time, Cunard's
RMS
Lusitania
took back the eastbound record. She kept on sailing for three more years before finally being pulled from the transatlantic service.
Victoria Luise
[
edit
]
She became one of the first cruise liners of the 20th century. Her original engines were derated as a high service speed was no longer needed. At the same time, the exterior of the ship was repainted in all white and her passenger capacity was also reduced to only 500 first-class passengers.
Her interiors were mainly left intact except for the removal of service rooms behind the third
funnel
, and the construction of a ballroom with a
parquet
dance floor. The grill room was repurposed into a tea room,
[5]
the Vienna cafe got replaced by staterooms and on the boat deck a film developing room was made.
[5]
Another novelty addition was a swimming pool located a deck below the dining saloon. This would make her one of the first ships to have a swimming pool, the first being the White Star Line’s
RMS
Adriatic
.
[6]
She was also given a new name,
Victoria Luise
. She replaced their first purpose-built cruise ship of similar name (
Prinzessin Victoria Luise
) that ran aground and was destroyed off the coast of Jamaica in 1906.
On 8 June 1914,
Victoria Luise
ran aground in the
Elbe
and developed a list. Her engine rooms flooded. She was later refloated, repaired, and returned to service.
In World War I,
Victoria Luise
was converted for use as an
auxiliary cruiser
, but because of her still-troublesome engines, she was not used as such by the
Imperial German Navy
.
Hansa
[
edit
]
In 1920, she was pressed into emigrant carrier service and renamed
Hansa
. During the renaming,
Hansa
had two funnels removed and had some of her interiors refitted. She became a full 3rd class liner, for exception of the 36 2nd class spots.
[5]
The United States passed the
Emergency Quota Act
in 1921 and the even more restrictive
Immigration Act
of 1924, which substantially reduced the emigrant trade from Europe. Ultimately
Hansa
was sold for
scrap
in 1925.
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Deutschland
in the open seas in 1906
-
The ship in 1905
-
First Class Ladies Parlour of
Deutschland
-
First Class Smoking Room of
Deutschland
-
Panorama view of Panama with
Victoria Luise
entering the harbor
-
Deutschland
speeding through the Atlantic, around 1901
-
Panorama view of Havana Harbor with
Victoria Luise
, different paint scheme
-
Entering New York, around 1911
-
Hansa
in 1921
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Groner, Erich (1985).
Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815?1945 | U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher
(in German). Vol. III. Koblenz:
Bernard & Graefe
. p. 158.
ISBN
3-7637-4802-4
.
- ^
Braynard, Frank Osborn; Westover, Robert Hudson (2002).
S.S. United States
. Turner Publishing Company. p. 80.
ISBN
978-1563118241
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
"HISTORY - ss DEUTSCHLAND - The only HAPAG four stacker and Blue Riband winner"
.
EARL OF CRUISE
. April 6, 2019
. Retrieved
17 July
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
Jurgen, Hans (1978).
Nordatlantik-Renner
(in German) (3rd ed.). Deutschland: Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft MBH. pp. 8?11, 19?44, 45?55, 60?65.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"S/S Deutschland (3), Hamburg America Line"
.
NorwayHeritage
. Retrieved
17 July
2023
.
- ^
Hinckley, Jim (June 28, 2020).
"Luxury at Sea"
.
Baron Services
.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Deutschland (ship, 1900)
at Wikimedia Commons
Records
|
Preceded by
|
Holder of the
Blue Riband
(Westbound record)
1900?1902
|
Succeeded by
|
Blue Riband
(Eastbound Record)
1900?1904
|
Succeeded by
|
Preceded by
|
Blue Riband
(Westbound record)
1903?1907
|
Succeeded by
|
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents from January to July 1914
|
---|
Shipwrecks
| |
---|
Other incidents
| |
---|
|
51°40′N
1°37′E
/
51.667°N 1.617°E
/
51.667; 1.617