Cecilie (ship)

Cecilie

The Cecilie on the Rhine (1973)

Ship data flag  Germany other ship names Crown Princess Cecilie Ship type Paddle steamer home port Cologne Shipping company Cologne-Düsseldorf German Rhine Shipping Shipyard Sachsenberg brothers , Cologne-Deutz Build number 625 building-costs 351,000 RM Order March 1909 Keel laying August 1909 Commissioning May 5, 1910 Decommissioning 1975 Whereabouts scrapped

Ship dimensions and crew length 77.80 m ( Lüa ) width 8.25 m above wheel arches: 15.70 m Draft Max. 1.48 m displacement 437  t

Machine system machine 2-cylinder compound machine Machine performance 725 PS (533 kW) propeller 2 side wheels ∅ 3.66 m

Transport capacities Load capacity 260 dw Permitted number of passengers 1600

The Cecilie was a side paddle steamer built in 1909/10 for the Preußisch-Rheinische-Dampfschiffahrtgesellschaft in Cologne , which was used by the Cologne-Düsseldorf Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt until 1974 in scheduled service. Although the shipping company completely renovated the ship in 1972/73, it was decommissioned after the 1974 season due to excessive operating costs for economic reasons and decommissioned in 1975. The Cecilie was scrapped in 1984 in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, the Netherlands, with the exception of the machinery and the paddle wheels .

technical description

Hull, decks and fittings

The Cecilie was a monohull with a pointed bow, a vertical stern and a cruiser stern . The fuselage consisted of riveted steel plates on frames . The ship disposal in Ablieferzustand two fixed decks and a complete with an awning covered protective cover , which was equipped at the front with a solid windowed panel. The rest of the deck was open at the sides and secured with a railing. Later, a sun deck was set up in the front area, and the cladding was extended to behind the wheel arches - in addition, the protective deck was provided with a solid wooden roof. In the first years, the main deck was open at the front in the front area. During a modernization carried out in 1925, a fixed panel was installed in this area. At the stern was a small open deck covered with an awning. The ladies' salon in the stern area of ​​the lower deck and the dining room above were furnished in Empire style according to plans by the Berlin architect JG Pfaff.

Drive and control

The Cecilie was driven by an inclined two-cylinder composite steam engine with slide control from the Sachsenberg Roßlau brothers with an output of 725  hp via two 3.66 m high paddle wheels , each with eight paddles, controlled by push rods and eccentrics . The steam required was generated with two flame tube cylinder boilers , each with a heating surface of 147 m² . The vapor pressure was 9.5  kgf / cm².

history

Construction and commissioning

The Crown Princess Cecilie (1910)

In March 1909, the Preußisch-Rheinische-Dampfschiffahrtgesellschaft ordered a luxurious double-deck saloon steamer from the Sachsenberg brothers' shipyard in Cologne-Deutz . The keel of the ship manufactured under construction number 625 was laid in August 1909. The final equipment and the exterior painting were carried out in March 1910 at the shipping company's own workshop in Cologne's Rheinauhafen . The construction costs for the ship were 351,000  Reichsmarks . The name giver for the ship, which was named Crown Princess Cecilie in Cologne on May 5, 1910, was Cecilie zu Mecklenburg , the last Crown Princess of the German Empire . The subsequent maiden voyage with guests of honor and the PRDG supervisory board initially led to Koblenz and on the following day to Mainz . The Cologne-Düsseldorfer operating group then used the Cecilie in scheduled service on the high-speed journey between Mainz and Cologne. The coal-fired steamship was allowed to carry up to 2300 passengers.

From 1911 to 1938

On the occasion of the inauguration celebrations for the opening of the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne on May 22, 1911, the Crown Princess Cecilie was the imperial festival ship. During the evening fireworks she was escorted by 90 ships. On board were Kaiser Wilhelm II , Empress Auguste Viktoria , Princess Viktoria Luise and many other guests of honor. At the beginning of the First World War , the steamer was converted into a hospital ship. It could accommodate up to 500 wounded, who were cared for by four doctors and 20 paramedics. Soldiers wounded on the western front were brought by smaller ships across the Moselle to Koblenz. There they were taken over by the Crown Princess Cecilie for further care and transport to places close to home . After the end of the war, the ship had to be rented to the head of the field railways on the instructions of the French allies . The Vaterland was assigned to the Schiffahrtsgruppe West and used as a troop transport until November 8, 1919 if necessary .

Due to a railroad strike, the Cologne-Düsseldorfer took over the mail transport on the Rhine between Ludwigshafen and Xanten from March 11 to December 17, 1923 . A post office was set up in the lower front deck of the ships used, the front area of ​​the main deck served as a storage area for parcels. The post office workers lived on the ship during this time. In 1925 and 1933, the ship received fixed glass panels in the front areas of the main and upper deck as well as a fixed rowing chair .

World War II and post-war period

Together with the paddle steamer Rüdesheim at the Mainz pier (1973)

Decommissioned in Niehler Hafen (1978)

With the paddle steamer Mainz (1978)

In the first year of World War II , the shipping company continued to use the ship for passenger transport. In March 1941, Crown Princess Cecilie was given a blue-gray camouflage to provide better protection against air raids . From 1941 the Cologne-Düsseldorfer also transported goods with the Crown Princess Cecilie . Freight traffic had become necessary to maintain the status of war importance for the KD . This was the only way to ensure that the shipping company was allocated the necessary operating materials, such as coal, lubricants and metal spare parts. In addition, the draft personnel could therefore remain on the ships.

On January 13, 1945, the Crown Princess Cecilie was waiting for loading at a cargo handling point in Mannheim . At about 1.30 p.m. the port hull was torn open by fragments of high explosive bombs flying around . Since transverse bulkheads were dispensed with during the construction of the ship and no pumps were available, the hull of the ship overflowed, so that it sank within a short time. In December 1946, the Dutch salvage company PH van Wienen received the order to lift the ship. Due to a long period of frost and low water , the wreck could only be sealed and lifted in November 1947. The shipping company then had the ship transferred to Düsseldorf , where it lay for about two years without any further use.

1950s until retirement

In the first months of 1950, the steamer was repaired and modernized at Ewald Berninghaus' shipyard in Cologne . The ship received a new bow and the superstructures of the upper deck were moved to the rear so that a sundeck could be set up in the front area. With the restart on May 27, 1950, the ship's name was shortened to Cecilie . The shipping company mostly used the ship on the shorter routes in excursion traffic, as it was too slow due to its small paddle wheels to keep the timetable on the long haul from Cologne to Mainz . In the spring of 1958, the shipping company provided the boiler of Cecilie in cooperation with the manufacturer Babcock & Wilcox to on heavy fuel. The permitted passenger capacity was reduced to 1,600 on May 16, 1964.

After the 1966 season, the Cologne-Düsseldorfer decommissioned the Cecilie and held her up as a reserve ship. On May 16, 1967, the DGMN and the Preußisch-Rheinische Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft merged to form the Cologne-Düsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt AG . Ownership of all ships of the two companies was transferred to the new company. From May 29th to the end of July 1967 the Cecilie took over the journeys of the Goethe, who had failed due to an accident . The final retirement of the Cecilie was planned for the end of the season 1968. After a fire in Cologne's Rheinauhafen on February 23, 1968, in which the paddle steamer Frieden was completely destroyed, the shipping company had to revise this plan and from then on put the Cecilie back on the schedule. Since the oldest ship of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer in operation was not very prone to failure, in contrast to other younger paddle steamers, it was overhauled again in the winter of 1972/1973. The interior was modernized and partially equipped with new furniture.

Due to the oil crisis in autumn 1973 and the immensely higher fuel prices associated with it, the Cologne-Düsseldorfer decided to downsize their fleet. Due to the high operating costs , the management decided to retire the Cecilie . After the summer season 1974, the Seitenraddampfer was in Niehler port launched and placed permanently withdrawn from service in 1975.

Use after retirement

Until 1983 the Cecilie served as a spare parts donor for the paddle steamers Goethe , Mainz and Rüdesheim, which were still in service at the time . In addition, the crew of the hydrofoil Rheinpfeil stayed overnight on the ship during their daily port visit. The Köln-Düsseldorfer also used the ship as a floating storage facility during this time. At the end of 1983, the Dutch ship recycling company Arie Rijsdidijk, Boss & Zoonen bought the ship. From December 8th he had the two tugs Amice III and Albert R transported it to Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht for scrapping . The machinery, the paddle wheels and the associated fuselage section were bought by a Berlin private collector - the rest was disposed of in 1984.

In 1994 the Cecilie project group was founded in Nörvenich . It had set itself the goal of reconstructing the steamer in its pre-war state using the old machinery according to the original plans. The machine acquired by the project group in 1995 was transferred to the Laubegast shipyard in Dresden , where the replica was to be carried out. After the financing could not be secured, the plans had to be discarded. When the Nederlandse Raderstoomboot Maatschappij from Rotterdam completed the former KD steamer Rüdesheim in 1999 and operated it in the port of Rotterdam under the name De Majesteit , they wanted to build the paddle steamer Hansa , which was only preserved from the hull, to enlarge its fleet . For this project they bought the Cecilie machinery in Dresden in 2000 - this project was not realized either.

Web links

Commons : Cecilie  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

• Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 . Self-published, Marienhausen 2004, ISBN 3-00-016046-9 .
• AF Napp-Zinn: 100 years of Cologne-Düsseldorf Rhine steam shipping, in particular destruction and reconstruction 1939-1953 . M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne 1953.
• Stephan Nuding: 175 years of Cologne-Düsseldorf Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt AG . Schardt Oldenburg 2001, ISBN 978-3-8984-1035-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 461 and 462
2. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 461
3. ^ ^{A b} Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 462
4. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 463
5. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 464
6. ↑ Cologne Ship Investigation Commission: Official ship certificate from May 16, 1964 . Quoted from Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826–2004 , p. 465
7. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 465
8. ↑ ^{a b} Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Cologne 2004, p. 466