Princess Irene
.jpg) 1919 as the US troop transport Pocahontas .
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The Prinzess Irene was completed as the seventh ship of the Barbarossa class for the Reichspostdampferdienst of the North German Lloyd (NDL). She (like her sister ships ) had two chimneys and two masts. As a combined passenger and cargo ship, it was back in service with the NDL from 1923 as Bremen (III) and from 1928 as Karlsruhe (II).
Princess Irene
The ship, which cost 5.672 million gold marks when it was built, sailed from 1900 to 1917 under the name of Prinzess Irene for North German Lloyd and made her maiden voyage to New York on September 9, 1900. On October 30, 1900, Princess Irene began her first voyage of seven as an imperial mail steamer to East Asia to Yokohama . After East Asia, the second series of the Barbarossa class was used: the King Albert and Princess Irene of the NDL, who came into service in 1899/1900, as well as the Hamburg and Kiautschou of HAPAG , which participated in the imperial mail steamer service to East Asia from 1899 to 1903. In 1904 the Kiautschou got going as Princess Alice for the NDL.
The Princess Irene was one of the twin-screw saloon mail steamers operated by North German Lloyd. These stood for a luxurious, comfortable crossing that was not based on the speed of the two to three days faster Atlantic liners of the NDL “four chimney quartet”. Almost all of the ships of the Barbarossa class were also on the Mediterranean-USA service and, especially in autumn / winter, as imperial mail steamer to Australia or East Asia. As on all Lloyd's passenger ships, the Princess Irene also had a licensed doctor who cared for all patients free of charge. This regulation was prescribed in the Reichspostdampfer contract. From April 30, 1903, Princess Irene was used for the first time between Genoa and New York, alongside the sister ship King Albert and the old Hohenzollern . With this new line, the NDL was immediately able to secure the largest share (24%) of traffic with Italian emigrants. The two original East Asian ships König Albert and Prinzess Irene were the main porters of this line from 1903 to 1914.
Three more of the Barbarossa steamers of the NDL were also temporarily used on this route, so the Queen Luise for the first time on February 25, 1904 (last on May 25, 1911) , the Barbarossa for the first time on March 16, 1906 (18 voyages up to the 6th November 1913) and Friedrich der Große for the first time on March 22, 1907 (16 trips up to July 25, 1912) .
Then on May 15, 1909, there was the considerably larger Berlin .
On June 10, 1909, the Princess Irene was the first ship to arrive at the British RMS Slavonia , which was stranded near the Azores and had made the first SOS call in history, and rescued 110 of the passengers. On July 9, 1914, the Princess Irene was the last NDL ship to sail from Genoa to New York, where she stayed.
Pocahontas
Launched in New York in 1914 , it was confiscated by US Shipping Controllers in 1917 and operated under the US flag as the USS Pocahontas until 1923, transporting American soldiers to France. The captain Edward C. Kalbfus was awarded the Navy Cross because he saved the ship from sinking by the German submarine cruiser U 151 .
In 1920, the chartered United States Mail Steamship Company , the Pocahontas and she started her first trip from New York to Italy on 26 February 1921. During the third trip, the shipping company went into liquidation. The Pocahontas was at the time with a drive damage in Gibraltar . The NDL bought the damaged ship back in September 1922 and had it towed to Germany for repair.
Bremen (III)
The bought-back ship was the only one of the Barbarossa class to return to German service after the World War. It was renamed Bremen (III). The ship was significantly rebuilt. The cabins of the 1st and 2nd class were expanded to a new middle class for 355 passengers and the 520 berths of the III. Class was improved. After the renovation, the Bremen had two quadruple expansion steam engines with an output of 9,000 hp and could reach a speed of 15 knots. The ship ran from April 7, 1923 to 1928 on the Bremerhaven – New York line .
Karlsruhe (II)
Due to the upcoming commissioning of the new Bremen (IV), the ship was renamed Karlsruhe (II) in January 1928 and continued to serve the USA. In 1930 Halifax and Boston were also called. In 1931 the Karlsruhe made her first voyage Bremerhaven – Cuba– Galveston (Texas) and also voyages to Mexico (most recently in August 1931). In 1932, four more Mediterranean cruises followed. On August 20, 1932, the Karlsruhe (II) left Galveston on her last voyage in regular service. In 1933 the ship was scrapped in Bremerhaven .
literature
- Arnold Kludas : The ships of the North German Lloyd 1857 to 1919 . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, 1991, ISBN 3-7822-0524-3 .
- Arnold Kludas: The History of German Passenger Shipping 1850 to 1990 . Ernst Kabel Verlag, 1986.
- Christine Reinke-Kunze: History of the Reichspostdampfer. Connection between the continents 1886–1914 . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, 1994, ISBN 3-7822-0618-5 .