Prince Bismarck (ship, 1905)

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Prince Bismarck
Fuerst Bismarck 1905.jpg
Ship data
flag German EmpireThe German Imperium German Empire France
FranceFrance (national flag of the sea) 
other ship names

Friedrichruh
Amboise

  • Friedrichsruh
  • Amboise
Ship type Passenger ship
home port Hamburg
Owner Hamburg-American Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft
Shipyard Fairfield , Glasgow
Launch March 22, 1905
Commissioning June 10, 1905
Whereabouts Canceled in 1935
Ship dimensions and crew
length
148.13 m ( Lüa )
width 16.8 m
Draft Max. 9.07 m
measurement 8,332 GRT
 
crew 212 men
Machine system
machine 2 quadruple expansion steam engines
indicated
performance
Template: Infobox ship / maintenance / service format
6,800 hp (5,001 kW)
Top
speed
14.9 kn (28 km / h)
propeller 2
Transport capacities
Load capacity 7600 dw
Permitted number of passengers 180 1st class
20 2nd class
841 tween deck
Others
Sister ship Crown Princess Cecilie (1905)
Germania shipyard, Kiel

The second Fürst Bismarck of the Hamburg-American Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG) was a passenger ship of 8332 GRT for up to 1000 passengers which was delivered by Fairfield Shipbuilding in Glasgow in 1905. The ship, originally laid down as Wettin , was renamed Friedrichsruh in 1914 , as Hapag now wanted to put the third Bismarck into service. Delivered at the end of the war, the Friedrichsruh remained in French service for a few years under the new name Amboise .

commitment

The Fürst Bismarck (II), whose keel was laid as a Wettin , was launched on March 22, 1905 at Fairfield Shipbuilders in Govan and began her maiden voyage from Hamburg to New York on August 19, 1905 with stops in Dover and Boulogne . On October 21, she ran from New York to the Mediterranean for the first time.

On January 10, 1906, she began her first journey on her future main line from Hamburg via Cuba to Mexico . From March she was supported by the sister ship Crown Princess Cecilie . While this was often withdrawn for cruises, the Fürst Bismarck was only used in early 1914 with two Boston trips on a different line, although the load factor left a lot to be desired.

On June 7, 1914, the Fürst Bismarck unexpectedly arrived in New Orleans to pick up cargo. Since she was on her way to Mexico, had no passengers on board and was loading 3,000 tons for three days in a port area where ammunition and military articles were suspected, rumors arose that she was transporting ammunition. The Americans feared a renewed revival of the Mexican Revolution , from which they had withdrawn supplies by occupying the port city of Veracruz in April 1914. When the ship left port, the captain had contradicted the rumors about arms transports. The so-called "Ypiranga incident" made it known that the Germans were delivering military supplies to Mexico.

A significant change was planned for the ship, which had since been renamed Friedrichsruh , for autumn 1914 . It was to be used on the intended HAPAG passenger line to East Asia. This service should also the beginning with the Hamburg-Süd purchased on August 10, 1914 steamers Cap Blanco (7523 BRT, built in 1903) and Cap Ortegal (7819 BRT, built in 1903) under the new name Prince Hubertus and Prince William operated become. The war prevented these plans.

War effort

The Friedrichsruh was launched in August 1914 in the home and was in Hamburg. From September 13th to November 3rd, 1917, she served under the command of Captain Rantzau as a troop transport for the Oesel company in the Baltic Sea.

Under the French flag

On March 29, 1919 the Friedrichsruh was transferred from Hamburg to Southend and on April 2, 1919 it was delivered to Great Britain in the Allied ship pool. She was managed by the Orient Line .

In November 1921 the ship came under the French flag and as an Amboise in the service of the Messageries Maritimes . As a passenger ship for 124 passengers in the 1st class, 124 in the 2nd and 74 in the 3rd class, the Amboise operated mainly on the Marseille - Saïgon - Hải Phòng line until 1932 and occasionally also on the line via East Africa to Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. A conversion to oil firing was no longer carried out. In 1935 it was canceled in Italy.

Sister ship Crown Princess Cecilie

The sister ship was put under construction at the Germania shipyard as Wittelsbach and was launched on October 14, 1905 as Crown Princess Cecilie (8699 GRT).

Delivered on February 20, 1906, she began her maiden voyage from Hamburg via Cuba to Mexico on March 14. She stayed on this route with the exception of a few cruises until 1910. Together with the sister ship Fürst Bismarck , they were the largest ships in Central America service. There was space on board for 326 1st class passengers, 33 2nd class and 914 between deck passengers. From 1907 it was used as a replacement for the fatal Princess Victoria Luise (4409 GRT, built in 1900) initially only in the Caribbean on cruises, but in 1908 also to Spitsbergen .

On August 4, 1914, the ship from New York arrived in Falmouth (Cornwall) and was confiscated because of the British declaration of war on Germany. In 1915 a British prize court declared the confiscation legal. The Crown Princess Cecilie then came as a battleship dummy Princess in the service of the Royal Navy. From January 1916 to September 1917 she was used as an auxiliary cruiser.

In 1919 the ship was handed over to the shipping controller and managed as Princess by Ellerman Bucknall until it was demolished in Germany in 1923? / 1926.

Individual evidence

  1. Bismarck is buried in Friedrichsruh
  2. Postcard of Prince Bismarck in Vera Cruz
  3. LINER GOING FOR HUERTA ?; Fuerst Bismarck Reaches New Orleans - May Take On Arms Cargo , New York Times, June 7, 1914.
  4. Bismarck SAILS; But Is Believed to be Carrying No Arms to Puerto Mexico | New York Times | June 10, 1914
  5. On April 21, 1914, the HAPAG steamer Ypiranga tried to unload weapons in Veracruz
  6. ^ Friedrichsruh as an Allied troop transport
  7. Amboise arrives in Saigon
  8. Color postcard of Crown Princess Cecilie and three other postcards
  9. ^ NYT, several New Yorkers who sailed on the Hamburg-America Line's Kronprinzessin Cecilie .. were detained four days at Falmouth on Aug. 4.
  10. ^ NYT, LONDON, March 23rd - .. Hamburg American liners Prince Adalbert and Crown Princess Cecilie were ... prizes.

literature

  • Carl Herbert: War voyages of German merchant ships . Broschek & Co, Hamburg 1934.
  • Arnold Kludas : The History of German Passenger Shipping. Volume 3: Rapid growth 1900 to 1914. Ernst Kabel Verlag, Hamburg 1988, ISBN 3-8225-0039-9 ( writings of the German Maritime Museum 20).
  • Claus Rothe: German ocean passenger ships. 1896 to 1918 . Steiger Verlag, Moers 1986, ISBN 3-921564-80-8 .

Web links