Bremen (ship, 1929)
 The Bremen 1929
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The Bremen was a turbine-driven 4- screw high - speed steamer operated by the Norddeutscher Lloyd shipping company . After the Bremen (1858), Bremen (1897) and Bremen (1923), she was the fourth Lloyd ship to be named Bremen ( Bremen IV) and in 1929 she won the Blue Ribbon for the first time as the fastest ship on the transatlantic route Europe - New York .
construction
The Bremen was laid on June 18, 1927 at the Deschimag -Werft AG "Weser" in Bremen . On August 16, 1928 the ship at the launching of Empire became president Paul von Hindenburg in the name Bremen baptized. The interior was designed by well-known architects, largely by FA Breuhaus , Bruno Paul , Carl Rotermund from Bremen and the Düsseldorf architect Karl Wach . RA Schröder designed the architecture of the smoking salon. The test drives began on June 12, 1929 and already on the test drive on June 27, 1929, the Bremen reached a maximum speed of 28.8 knots . After completion of the test drives , she was handed over to Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) on July 5, 1929 and began her maiden voyage from Bremerhaven to New York on July 16, 1929 . Overall, the construction of the Bremen cost around 65 million Reichsmarks .
Technical specifications
- Length: 286.10 meters
- Width: 31.10 meters
- Draft 10.32 meters
- Tonnage: 51,656 GRT (1929), 51,731 GRT (1939)
- Rated output: 87,000 PS w (62 MW w )
- Greatest net power: 135,000 PS w (99 MW w )
- Speed: 27-29 knots (50-53.7 km / h)
Crew and passengers
Total passengers : 2228, of which
- 811 in 1st class
- 500 in 2nd class
- 300 in the tourist class
- 617 in 3rd class
- 966 to 1000 crew members
Regular scheduled services
Sister ships
construction
In contrast to earlier buildings, the hull of the Bremen was made of 7000 t of high-strength steel with 52 kp / mm² (500 N / mm²) tensile strength , with which 800 t of weight could be saved. The construction for the first time had already among American warships used Taylor's bulbous bow on.
technology
overview
The Bremen and her sister ship Europa were considered to be the most modern high-speed steamers in the world in their time. The achievable high speeds, but also the comfort and luxury on board, placed high demands on the technical staff. Around 170 men were employed in the machinery area on both ships, including around 30 marine engineers.
Like the sister ship Europa , the Bremen also had a catapult with a seaplane on the upper deck between the two funnels , which was used to transport mail faster. At first she had the only Heinkel HE 12 on board, which had an accident on October 5, 1931, whereby the crew Simon / Wagenknecht was killed. The aircraft took off a few hours before the port of destination and landed for a while at the water airport in Blexen . In 1932 the Bremen received the only Heinkel HE 58 that had previously been used on the Europa . From 1933 to 1935 she then had a Junkers Ju 46 on board.
Boiler system
The boiler and machine system was planned by Gustav Bauer , who became famous not least for the "Bauer-Wach" exhaust steam turbine . The Bremen had four atmospherically closed boiler rooms. This means that the combustion air for the boiler's oil burners was blown into the boiler rooms by eight steam turbine-driven fans, which were therefore under overpressure and only accessible through pressure locks. 20 oil-fired water-tube steam boilers were installed for steam generation, including eleven double-ended and nine single-ended units in four groups with a total of 227 oil burners. The steam pressure was 23 atm (≈24 bar ) with a steam temperature at the superheater outlet of 370 ° C. The maximum steam generation was 500 t / h. Three boilers with their own blowers were available for port operations , so that the locks could remain open for work in the boiler rooms. The total heating area was 17,050 m², the superheater area 3,875 m² and the air preheater area 8786 m². The feed water was preheated to 130 ° C. The heating oil requirement was around 33 t / h or 800 t / day, which corresponds to a specific fuel consumption of 380 g / PSh (517 g / kWh). 7,552 tons of oil could be bunkered.
Machine system
The Bremen had four sets of geared turbines with a total maximum output of 135,000 PS w (99 MW w ) (output measured on the shafts). Each set was coupled to a high pressure, a medium pressure, a low pressure and a reverse turbine. 65% of the forward speed was available for reversing. During normal travel, the turbines turned at 1800 rpm, the propellers at 180 rpm. The output was 84,000 PS w (62 MW w ). The four propellers were made of bronze, had a diameter of 5,000 mm, a pitch of 5,200 mm and a weight of 17 t each.
The electricity requirement was met with four electric generators with 220 V operating voltage and 520 kW electrical power each, which were driven by diesel engines. There were a total of 420 electric motors, around 21,000 light bulbs, electric stoves and 20 elevators on board.
history
Before World War II
Already on her maiden voyage, the Bremen, under the command of Commodore Leopold Ziegenbein, achieved the blue on July 22, 1929 with a crossing of 4 days, 17 hours and 42 minutes at an average speed of 27.83 kn (51.54 km / h) Ribbon held by RMS Mauretania for 20 years . On the return journey, TS Bremen even reached an average speed of 27.91 kn (51.69 km / h). In 1933 she succeeded in surpassing her average speed of 28.51 kn (52.8 km / h) again. In 1930 the Bremen lost the Blue Ribbon to her sister ship Europa, but got it back in 1933. In 1935, the new French ship Normandie finally succeeded in replacing the Bremen as the fastest Atlantic liner. The ship was very popular with the passengers as it offered a certain luxury and speed. Hermann Rohrbeck's orchestra has provided entertainment on board in recent years. The Bremen began a tour of South America on February 11, 1939, during which she was the first ship of this size to cross the Panama Canal . On August 22, 1939, the Bremen embarked on her last trip to New York . In ten years of operation it had completed almost 190 round trips across the ocean.
Long-time on-board photographer Richard Fleischhut , who worked on the Bremen until 1937, was a chronicler of the numerous journeys of the Bremen and its prominent passengers from Europe and the USA .
The famous Swiss photographer Hans Finsler was present on the maiden voyage as an on-board photographer on behalf of the shipping company and took 283 traditional photographs during this voyage. These photographs are now, with the entire estate of Hans Finsler, in the Moritzburg Art Museum in Halle (Saale) . Some of the photographs can also be viewed online at museum-digital .
In World War II
During the crossing to New York at the end of August 1939, the Bremen was ordered by the NDL to stop radio communications. When the Bremen had reached its destination New York, the NDL ordered that it should return to Germany as quickly as possible and without passengers . However, at the request of the British, she was arrested first. A law that was not actually applied in peacetime was used, according to which she was officially searched for weapons. After 36 hours the US could not find any reason for further delays and therefore the Bremen was allowed to sail.
On August 30, 1939, she began her return journey to Germany. On September 1, began with the German invasion of Poland of the Second World War and the ship was ordered to the Soviet port of Murmansk to run. During the journey, the crew members painted the ship gray for camouflage. The Bremen was in Murmansk for around three months, during which time it became the subject of secret diplomacy between the Soviet Union and the German Reich after the Hitler-Stalin Pact . The Soviet authorities allowed the crew, who had been released to Germany, to return to Germany and to re-equip the Bremen undercover . Wintering the passenger ship in the narrow Kola Bay should be avoided at all costs. The beginning of the Soviet- Finnish winter war seemed to temporarily divert the attention of British intelligence from the whereabouts of the ship. This provided the opportunity for the Bremen to sail and subsequently break through the blockade to Germany. The ship lifted anchor on December 10, 1939 and set course for Wesermünde . The weather on the voyage was very foggy, so that the Bremen could not be seen by British ships thanks to her gray camouflage paint. Captain Adolf Ahrens wrote a book about these events entitled The Bremen Victory Trip . In Wesermünde, the ship docked at the Columbuskaje . In 1940 the Bremen in Hamburg , together with her sister ship Europa , was converted into a troop transport for the Seelöwe company , the planned landing in England.
On March 16, 1941, a fire broke out on board the Bremen , which despite all efforts of the Wesermünder fire brigade could not be extinguished. The ship was flooded and grounded to prevent it from burning out completely. The 17-year-old cabin boy Gustav Schmidt later stated that he had started the fire in revenge for a slap in the face from a superior. For this he was sentenced to death and executed . However, there are still doubts as to whether Schmidt was actually the sole originator of the fire. The burned-out Bremen was docked in Kaiserdock II on October 10, 1941, a damage inspection took place, useful furnishings were removed and stored or used, the typhon - the ship's siren - is still today, for example, a signal generator for shipyard working hours. The steamer Bremen was undocked again on November 11, 1941. From 1942 in the Kaiserhafen in Wesermünd, where the ship was moved after the fire, all usable parts were removed and the ship itself scrapped. In 1946, the last raised floor sections were set down on the north bank of the Weser across from Nordenham. There you can still see some ribs and floor planks of the Bremen at strong ebb on a sandbank near Blexen .
See also the story of the Columbus and the St. Luis on the attempts by German cruise ships to return when the war broke out .
Others
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The Bremen was repeatedly depicted on German postage stamps . In 1977 a special stamp showed the side view of the ship, in 2004 the Bremen could be seen in front of the Manhattan skyline .
In 2003 Radio Bremen produced the one-hour radio feature Queen of the Seas - The Story of the Express Steamer "Bremen" by Detlef Michelers, in which u. a. former sailors tell about their sailing time on the Bremen .
In 2008 Radio Bremen produced another one-hour radio feature Die "Bremen brennt" - or The Short Life of Deck Boy Schmidt by Detlef Michelers, in which the author presents previously unknown details about the fire in the Bremen in 1941 after a year of research .
- Ship models of the Bremen
- Two models are on display in the Übersee-Museum in Bremen , one on a scale of 1: 100 and another model of the predecessor ship on the same scale, which is significantly smaller.
- In the Technik Museum Speyer there is a detailed, floating replica on a scale of 1:25, which was made by Günter Bos and Günter Buse between 1947 and 1962. The roadworthy model is 12 meters long, 1.78 meters wide, 3.53 meters high and weighs 10 tons. It is powered by two Mercedes-Benz diesel engines with 38 hp (28 kW) each. In November 1997 it was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest seaworthy model ship .
- During the crossing with the Bremen, Wiking models (DRGM) on a scale of 1: 1275 with accompanying text were available for purchase as souvenirs for 5 Marks.
literature
- Adolf Ahrens (Commodore of the NDL and captain): The victorious voyage of the "Bremen". Steiniger, Berlin 1939 ("recorded by Christian Hilker")
- Nils Aschenbeck : Schnelldampfer Bremen. The legend: = Express Liner Bremen. The Legend. Aschenbeck and Holstein, Delmenhorst 1999, ISBN 3-932292-16-2 .
- Robert D. Ballard / Ken Marschall : Lost Liners - From the Titanic to Andrea Doria - the glory and the sinking of the great luxury liners . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag GmbH & Co. , Munich 1997, ISBN 3-453-12905-9 (English: Lost Liners: From the Titanic to the Andrea Doria. The ocean floor reveals its greatest lost ships. Translated by Helmut Gerstberger).
- Only the guest book testifies to the old splendor. Memories of Julius Hundt, Chief Engineer of the “Bremen” / visit on board was an experience. In Weser courier . Bremen 1999.
- "Bremen" photos from private albums. Illustrated book about the express steamer . In: Weser courier. Bremen 1999.
- Hermann Haarmann, Ingrid Peckskamp-Lürßen: Around the world with the camera. Richard Fleischhut (1881–1951), photographer. Kettler-Verlag, Bönen 2005, ISBN 3-937390-67-7 .
- Hanns Tschira (on-board photographer and photo reporter): The “Bremen” is returning home. German Semannsgeist and German comradeship save a ship. Published in cooperation with the Reichsamt Deutsches Volksbildungswerk of the NS.-Gemeinschaft Kraft durch Freude , Berlin a. a. 1940.
- Klaus-Peter Kiedel: “One million nautical miles”. With the on-board photographer Hanns Tschira over the seas of the world. 1927-1939. Oceanum Verlag, Wiefelstede 2010, ISBN 978-3-86927-081-4 ( Shipping and Photography 1 = Writings of the German Shipping Museum 81).
Web links
- Pictures from Hans Finsler's maiden voyage on museum-digital
- Photo of the steamer from 1936 on digit.wdr.de
- German Greyhounds https://earlofcruise.blogspot.com/2016/06/german-greyhounds-iii_21.html
- On board the 'Bremen'. (Detailed description) . In: Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung , April 22, 1929.
Footnotes
- ^ Hans-Jürgen Abert: The German merchant navy 1870-2000. The résumés of steam and motor ships over 100 GRT . Ratzeburg, 2002, no.1061, p. 634.
- ↑ Wilhelm Michel: Ocean Express "Bremen", in: German Art and Decoration 65 (1929/1930), pp. 110-144, 342-350 [1]
- ↑ Wissen.de: Picture about the arrival of the Bremen in New York ( memento from February 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), requested on July 21, 2009
- ^ Jochen Brennecke: Black ships, wide seas - The mysterious journeys of German blockade breakers. 4th edition, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1975, ISBN 3-453-00103-6 . P. 50ff.