Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coat of arms of the Bergenske Dampskibsselskab
The BDS turbine ship Leda , flagship in Bergen-Newcastle service from 1953 to 1974
The former BDS ship Nordstjernen 2013 in front of the shipping company's former headquarters in Bergen

The Norwegian shipping company Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab (German: Die Bergener Dampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft), also known internationally as The Bergen Steamship Company or Bergen Line (BDS), existed from 1851 to 1988. The distinctive identification of all BDS ships was the black chimney mark with the three white rings.

history

Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab was founded on December 12, 1851 by the shipowner Michael Krohn in order to set up a liner service from Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand to Hamburg and Altona .

The first ship of the shipping company was the Bergen , which was put into service in 1852 . The Bergen , one of Norway's first iron ships, served the route Bergen – Hamburg twice a month from February 1853. Two years later, the newly built sister ship Norge was added. Now these two ships operated together on the Bergen – Hamburg route.

From 1856 the BDS also drove northwards to Trondheim , later, in cooperation with Det Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab (NFDS), the Trondheim– Hammerfest (from 1865) and Bergen– Tromsø (from 1872) routes were also served. The latter route was extended to Christiania –Tromsø in 1874 .

In 1907 Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab took over the Norwegian Steamship Company with its three ships from the Dutch owners and started a Bergen-Rotterdam service. In the same year, in cooperation with NFDS, they also took over Vestlandske Lloyd from Bergen, whose fleet was divided between the two companies. The shipping company, also popularly known as Bergen Line , used the acquired ships to open a liner service to Iceland . Before the beginning of the First World War , the Norske Syd-Amerika Linje was started in 1913 as a joint service by Bergen Line, Otto Thoresen Line and the Nordenfjeldske shipping company. This service connected Oslo in a liner service with Rio de Janeiro , Santos and Buenos Aires until 1980 .

Between the world wars, the Canada-Europe line operated by Canada Steamship Lines from 1921 to 1961 began . This joint service was operated with Norwegian ships on long-term charter, including those of the Bergen Line. From 1921 to 1971 the shipping company also operated former cruise ships. In 1922 the pleasure steamer Meteor was taken over, which like the Oceana came from HAPAG and the Blohm & Voss shipyard . The Meteor was used on the Hamburg-America Line until 1914 and served well-heeled passengers for crossing and a. to New York. After the beginning of the First World War she was the living and target ship of the submarine school Eckernförde of the German Navy . On May 30th 1919 she was handed over to the British “Shipping Controller”, then managed by the Royal Mail Line and finally by HJ Jewell . On May 7, 1940, the Meteor was confiscated by the Navy in Bergen and converted into a hospital ship. The Meteor sank on March 9, 1945 after an air raid in the port of Pillau in East Prussia .

From 1971 the branch of the former steamers was operated in cooperation with Nordenfjeldske as the Royal Viking Line . From 1951 to 1979 tanker shipping was part of the business. In 1984, the Bergen Line was from about Anders Jahre belonging to A / S Kosmos acquired, but ran as an independent shipping company operating the Fährschiffahrt between Norway and Newcastle continued. After another sale in 1988, the company completely lost its independence.

Hurtigruten shipping company

A not insignificant branch of the BDS that was maintained for over 85 years was the operation of up to four ships on the Hurtigruten line connection . Just one year after the line was founded, the BDS deployed its first ship, the D / S Nordstjernen, on the Hurtigruten in 1894 . When the shipping company was sold in 1979, these Hurtigruten ships were transferred to Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap A / S , based in Tromsø, together with the Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab . This year the history of BDS ended on the Hurtigruten.

Ships of the shipping company (selection)

In brackets the year of commissioning for the shipping company

  • Steamship Bergen (1852)
  • Steamship Norge (1854)
  • Steamship Nordstjernen (1855)
  • Steamship Jupiter (1857)
  • Steamship Nidelven (1857)
  • Steamship Nordstjernen (1882)
  • Steamship Mercur (1890)
  • Sirius steamship (1894)
  • Steamship Irma (1905)
  • Uranus steamship (1908)
  • Steamship Flora (1909)
  • Steamship Castor (1909)
  • Steamship Midnatsol (1909)
  • Polarlys steamship (1912)
  • Steamship Zeta (1919)
  • Motor ship Leda (1920)
  • Steamship Irma (1922)
  • Steamship Nova (1922)
  • Lyra steamship (1924)
  • Steamship Clio (1925)
  • Stella Polaris steamship (1927)
  • Steamship Ara (1928)
  • Steamship Iris (1928)
  • Steamship Leo (1928)
  • Steamship Spica (1929)
  • Steamship Diana (1930)
  • Steamship Keret (1930)
  • Motor ship Venus (1931)
  • Motor ship Pollux (1932)
  • Motor ship Corvus (1932)
  • Motor ship Crux (1933)
  • Motor ship Brant Contry (1935)
  • Steamship Nordstjernen (1937)
  • Motor ship Midnatsol (1949)
  • Motor ship Vela (1949)
  • Motor ship Nordlys (1951)
  • Motor ship Polarlys (1952)
  • Turbine ship Leda (1953)
  • Motor ship Meteor (1955)
  • Motor ship Nordstjernen (1956)

List is not exhaustive

literature

  • Wilhelm Keilhau: Norges eldste linjerederi. Jubileumsskrift til Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskabs 100-års dag December 12th 1951. Bergen, 1951 (2nd edition: Bergen, 1952).

Web links

Commons : Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bergenske Dampskibsselskab ( Norwegian ) In: Bergen byleksikon . Bergen Byarkiv. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  2. ↑ Per Rydheim: Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab 1851-1988 ( Norwegian ) In: SkipsMagasinet . Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  3. ↑ Launched March 15, 1904, length 91.20 m, width 13.40 m, maiden voyage June 3, 1904 from Hamburg to Norway