Danmark (ship, 1922)

Danmark

Ship data flag  Denmark Ship type RoRo - Ferry Shipyard Helsingør Jærnskibs- og Maskinbyggeri , Helsingør Build number 163 Launch December 7, 1921 Commissioning December 1922 Whereabouts Wrecked in 1968

Ship dimensions and crew length 101.73 m ( Lüa ) 101.56 m ( Lpp ) width 18.75 m Draft Max. 4.50 m measurement 2915 BRT 1264 NRT

Machine system machine 2 × compound machine Machine performance 3,600 hp (2,648 kW) Top speed 15.5 kn (29 km / h) propeller 2

Transport capacities Load capacity 500 tdw running track meters 157 m Permitted number of passengers 1100 Vehicle capacity 70 cars

Others Registration numbers IMO : 5086267

The Danmark was a Danish RoRo - and railway ferry , in the ferry traffic on the Baltic Sea between Denmark and Germany, with a short interruption in and after World War II , was inserted from 1922 to 1968.

Construction and technical data

The ship was on December 7, 1921, the hull number 163 at the shipyard of Elsinore Jærnskibs- og Maskinbyggeri in Elsinore for the Danish State Railways (DSB) from the stack . The two-funnel ship was 101.73 m long ( length over all , 101.56 m between the perpendiculars) and 18.75 m wide and had a draft of 4.50 m . The Danmark was measured with 2915 GRT and 1264 NRT and had a load capacity of 500 tons . On its two tracks with a total usable track length of 157 m, it could carry up to 20 freight wagons or seven passenger coaches . There were also up to 70 cars . However, it only had one bow hatch , so that it could only be loaded and unloaded via the bow. The passenger capacity was 1100 people. Two triple expansion steam engines with a total of 3600 HP enabled a top speed of 15.5 knots with two screws during the test drives .

career

The Danmark at Gedser ferry port, 1963

The Danmark was delivered on December 11, 1922 and put into service on the Warnemünde – Gedser route that same month . There she replaced the paddle wheel ferry Prinsesse Alexandrine . Home port was Gedser. From 1926 it provided the express train , car and passenger ferry service together with the new Schwerin of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR), which replaced the single-track paddle wheel ferry Friedrich Franz IV . The two old double-track screw ferries Mecklenburg (DR, 1810 BRT) and Prins Christian (DSB, 1900 BRT) continued to be used for freight traffic and reduced operations in the winter months. Only one incident is known from this period: on January 9, 1929, the Danmark collided with the Schwerin .

The beginning of the Second World War only resulted in a brief interruption in the ferry service. This made it the troops of the Wehrmacht during the invasion of Denmark easily scheduled as standard with the early morning of April 9, 1940 incident Mecklenburg and soon after following Schwerin to land invasion forces in Gedser and occupy the port. The Danmark fell into German hands. As a result, like the two German ferries Schwerin and Mecklenburg and the Prins Christian captured in Copenhagen, it brought further troops from Warnemünde to Gedser by shuttle service. Even after the occupation of Denmark, the ferry connection between Warnemünde and Gedser (including passenger trains) continued to operate, although military shipments had priority.

On March 8, 1945, Danish resistance fighters in Gedser succeeded in gaining access to Danmark and sinking them in the harbor.

After the war ended, the ship was lifted on June 28, 1945 and towed to the Burmeister & Wain shipyard in Copenhagen for repair and modernization . On July 15, 1946, the Danmark was back in service, and from May 10, 1947, it was back on the Gedser – Warnemünde route.

When the new Großenbrode – Gedser ferry line was opened on July 15, 1951 , this service began with the Danmark , which ran alternately from Gedser to Großenbrode-Kai and to Warnemünde. She was supported by the old Prins Christian . It was not until May 1953 that Germany was added to the Deutsche Bundesbahn . This was the beginning of the trajectory of passenger trains, as Danmark had previously only carried freight wagons and motor vehicles on this route.

With the opening of the Vogelfluglinie on May 14, 1963, the Grossenbrode – Gedser ferry connection was discontinued and the Danmark was now only a reserve ship. Her last journey took place on April 14, 1968 between Gedser and Warnemünde. On April 18, 1968, it was sold to Van Heyghen Frères in Bruges ( Belgium ) for demolition. She arrived there on April 23, 1968.

Succession

A new DSB railway ferry called Danmark was launched on February 14, 1968 and began service on the Vogelfluglinie on June 7, 1968.

Web links

• http://kwmosgaard.dk/index.php?option=com_djcatalog2&view=item&id=208:danmark&cid=10:jernbanefaerger&Itemid=139
• COASTERS & OTHER SHIPS REVIVED: Danmark, 1922, with photos before and after the renovation
• http://www.ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=Danmark1922&lang=en
• Photo of the converted Danmark for the purpose of resuming the Gedser-Warnemünde ferry service in 1947
• http://www.trains-worldexpresses.com/webships/700/704.htm

Footnotes

1. ^ The 1933 BRT Prinsesse Alexandrine was built in 1903 near Schichau in Elbing .
2. ↑ The Prins Christian was built in 1903 for the Warnemünde – Gedser line, has been in use on the Öresund since 1923 and on the Great Belt between Korsør and Nyborg since 1945 .
3. ↑ German troops in the Danmark in May 1940
4. ↑ German troops in the Danmark in May 1940
5. ↑ German troops in the Danmark in May 1940