Stralsund ferry

**Stralsund**
	The Stralsund railway ferry in the Wolgast museum harbor
Ship data
flag	Germany
Ship type	Railway ferry
home port	Wolgast
Shipyard	Ferdinand Schichau shipyard, Elbing
Launch	1890
Whereabouts	Museum and theater ship in Wolgast
Ship dimensions and crew
length	37.46 m ( Lüa )
width	9.8 m
Machine system
machine	2 × two-stage steam engine
Machine ; performance	200 hp (147 kW)
Top ; speed	8 kn (15 km / h)
propeller	2

The Stralsund ferry (ex Stralsund ) was put into service in 1890 for the Strelasund crossing , the connection from Stralsund to Altefähr . It was last used in Wolgast until 1990 . Since March 11, 2017, the oldest surviving steam train ferry in the world has been a technical monument in the Wolgast city harbor.

history

The ship was built with the construction number 440 at F. Schichau GmbH in Elbing . The Royal Prussian Railway Machine Office put the Stralsund into service on December 20, 1890 as the third ferry of the trajectory connection between Stralsund harbor and Gralhof near Altefähr. After larger ferries were used on the Strelasund towards the end of the 19th century due to the sharp increase in freight traffic to the island of Rügen , the Stralsund was relocated to Swinoujscie around 1901 .

There she served on the connection between the islands of Usedom and Wollin . The ship, which can also be used as an icebreaker , was used in the winter months to keep the Kaiserfahrt and the Swine free of ice . The Stralsund was also used to keep the Sassnitz ferry basin clear . When the Swedish railway ferry Drottning Victoria ran aground in front of Stubbenkammer on February 20, 1915 , the Stralsund took part in the rescue operation and took the passengers off board.

On October 1, 1924, the ferry became the property of the Deutsche Reichsbahn and was subordinated to the Reichsbahndirektion Stettin . In 1926 major repairs were carried out at AG Vulcan Stettin ; the ship was lengthened by one meter in order to be able to transport larger baggage vehicles.

From autumn 1936 on, building materials were transported by ferry to the Peenemünde Army Research Center . Secret transports of technology and systems were carried out from Sassnitz. The rocket test facilities on Greifswalder Oie were also supplied with material by the Stralsund . The ship survived the bombing of Peenemünde on the night of August 18, 1943 without damage.

Model in the Stralsund Marine Museum

When the retreating German troops blew up the Karnin lift bridge and the Wolgaster Peenebrücke on April 28, 1945 , the ferry should also be destroyed. The captain Rudolf Kleiner and the chief engineer Schmidt prevented the demolition. Together with other auxiliary ship units, they sought refuge in the Zicker See near the Mönchgut peninsula in Rügen .

On behalf of the Soviet military administration in Germany , transport trips with parts of the army research facility to Stettin and Swinoujscie were carried out from 1945 to 1949. Sunken test rockets were searched for at Greifswalder Oie. With the demarcation west of Swinoujscie at the Potsdam Conference , the island of Usedom lost its last railway connection to the mainland. Soviet pioneer troops therefore built ferry docks in the Wolgast port and on the island of Usedom. After captain Kleiner had frequently headed for Swinoujscie, Stralsund and Greifswald with the Stralsund , the ferry was used again from summer 1946 to transport people and goods from Wolgast to the island of Usedom. In September 1949 the ferry drove for the last time to Stettin and Swinoujscie, then it was handed over to the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

Until 1990 the ferry was only used on the connection Wolgast Hafen - Wolgast ferry. When the condition of the steam engines deteriorated so much in the 1980s, despite maintenance work on the Wolgaster Peenewerft, that another operation was assessed as too great a risk, the steam engines were brought to Laubegast for repair in 1986 . The ferry was declared a technical monument. The ferry service was continued by the tug Rassow maneuvering the Stralsund over the Peene. After the centenary of the railway steam ferry Stralsund's service was celebrated on October 26, 1990 , the last official trip followed on December 13, 1990. The Reichsbahn was not ready to have further repairs carried out. The steam engines that had not yet been repaired were brought back from Laubegast. The Stralsund was officially decommissioned on December 31, 1991.

In 1992 the city of Wolgast became the owner of the ferry. Under the supervision of the monument protection authority, repair work was carried out in spring 1993 by regional specialist companies and ABM . The conversion of the train fleet on the island of Usedom made it necessary to reactivate it as a rail ferry (Trajekt) between 1993 and 1995 . From June 1997, the now called Stralsund ferry was in the Wolgast museum harbor and could be viewed there. In March 2017 it was moved to the Wolgast city harbor.

At the end of 2018, underwater conservation began in the Wolgast Peenewerft. This is to maintain the buoyancy of the ship so that it can continue to be used as a museum ship.

Technical specifications

Typically for a single-end ferry, the ship was loaded and unloaded via the bow. Since the extension by one meter, the ferry is 37.46 meters long and 9.80 meters wide. The draft is 1.23 meters unloaded and 1.88 meters when loaded. The water displacement is 192.5 tons unloaded and 337.4 tons loaded. With the two double expansion steam engines , each with a maximum output of 112.5 horsepower (83 kilowatts ), the Stralsund reached a speed of eight knots . The 32 meter long track offered space for three two-axle passenger coaches or up to four freight wagons. In the case of passenger transport, the ship could accommodate up to 300 passengers.

Friends of the steam train ferry and theater ship

The Förderverein Dampf-Eisenbahnfährschiff Stralsund e. V. was founded in 2014. He has made the preservation of the ship his mission. The aim is, on the one hand, to prevent the ship from deteriorating and, on the other hand, to be able to put certain systems on the ship back into operation within the scope of the technical possibilities. So far, the external appearance of the technical monument has been refreshed and the fresh water system has been put back into operation.

In addition to the technical repairs, the ship was also used as a theater ship.