General class
 The RPD Scharnhorst
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The Feldherren-Klasse was a steamship type of the North German Lloyd , of which eleven ships were used on the Reichspoststampferlinien to East Asia and Australia in the years 1903 to 1908 . The Zieten was the first ship to be delivered by F. Schichau in Danzig on January 15, 1903 . Schichau delivered five ships of this type. The second ship, the Roon, was completed by the Joh. C. Tecklenborg shipyard, after which the ship class was also named in some publications. The Tecklenborg shipyard is supplying three ships of the class, AG Vulcan Stettin one and AG Weser two ships. The first five ships from 1903/04 were around 8,000 GRT, the second series from 1906 to 1908 between 8,800 and 9,000 GRT.
These ships replaced the older Reichspost steamers and reduced the use of the Barbarossa class to the main travel season of the postal steamship lines.
Service at the NDL
The more than 10,000 GRT ships of the Barbarossa class were the first large series that the NDL ordered for the Reichspostdampferlinien operated by it. These ships soon proved to be too big and too costly to operate all season long. They were also not yet sufficiently adapted for tropical service.
The NDL therefore developed the smaller steamers of the Feldherren class, which have proven themselves very well in tropical service. They could accommodate a large number of between deck passengers on the lower deck, but the space was only used for cargo in the mail steamer service. The rooms for third class passengers were located in the front part of the main deck. On the upper deck there was the first class dining room in the bridge house, to which part of the cabins was connected. In the rear superstructure were the dining room and the 2nd class cabins. On the promenade deck there were further 1st class cabins and behind the chimney the smoking room. The rear superstructure still had lounges for the second class.
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All were twin-screw steamers with a chimney and two masts.
The Reichspost steamers Prinz Eitel Friedrich and Prinz Ludwig , which were delivered by the Szczecin Vulcan between the two series, were similar in their basic concept, although they were somewhat longer, had a larger passenger facility and two chimneys.
The Zieten made her maiden voyage to New York on January 25, 1903 , she made eight trips to the North Atlantic, a. a. in April 1912 one to Montreal . The other ships also made occasional trips across the North Atlantic, the Yorck on November 23, 1906, her maiden voyage, as well as the Lützow on April 11, 1908 and the Derfflinger on May 9, 1908.
The Roon , the Seydlitz , the Bülow and the Goeben made their maiden voyages to East Asia, the Gneisenau , the Scharnhorst and the Kleist to Australia. They all seem to have been used on both lines; this is only unclear for the two most recently delivered Lützow and Derfflinger .
The Seydlitz was the only ship of the class to make a round trip to South America in March 1913.
| Trips of the Reichspostdampfer | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surname | Shipyard | GRT | in service | 1st trip to East Asia | Round trips | 1st trip to Australia | Round trips | North Atlantic |
| Zieten | Schichau | 8066 | 1.03 | 01/25/1903 | 12 | 11/25/1903 | 15th | J 10 |
| Roon | Tecklenborg | 8022 | 4.03 | 04/15/1903 | 14th | 02/19/1908 | 10 | 9 |
| Seydlitz | Schichau | 7942 | 6.03 | 5.08.1903 | 6th | 02/22/1905 | 18th | 8th |
| Gneisenau | AG Vulcan | 8081 | 8.03 | July 6, 1904 | 3 | 2.09.1903 | 17th | 10 |
| Scharnhorst | Tecklenborg | 8131 | 8.04 | December 5, 1908 | 7th | 08/31/1904 | 19th | 5 |
| Bülow | Tecklenborg | 9028 | 9.06 | 09/26/1906 | 18th | 01/23/1907 | 3 | 5 |
| Yorck | Schichau | 8901 | 06/11 | 11/23/1906 | 17th | 02/20/1907 | 4th | J3 |
| Kleist | Schichau | 8950 | 4.07 | 12/18/1907 | 18th | 04/17/1907 | 2 | 2 |
| Goeben | AG Weser | 8792 | 7.07 | 07/31/1907 | ? | 08.1913 | 1 | 0? |
| Lützow | AG Weser | 8818 | 4.08 | 07/29/1908 | == | 0 | J4 | |
| Derfflinger | Schichau | 9060 | 5.08 | 1.07.1908 | ? | J | ||
Use in World War
At the beginning of the war there were 10 ships in transit and only the Scharnhorst was in Germany. She was equipped as a hospital ship and later served as a transport in the Baltic Sea.
Yorck and Seydlitz served the cruiser squadron as supplies and then found refuge in South America. Zieten met with SMS Königsberg in the Persian Gulf and then drove to Mozambique with coal procured from the cruiser. In February 1916 it was confiscated by the Portuguese authorities and put into serviceas a Tungue by Transportes Maritimos do Estado , Lisbon. In 1917 the British chartered the ship. On the way from Karachi to Milos, the former Zieten was sunk on November 27, 1917 by the German submarine UB 17 120 miles north of Port Said .
Post-war deployment
In 1916, Portugal had confiscated two ships of the general class: the Zieten in Mozambique , which was then the only ship of the class to be lost in the war in 1917, and the Bülow , which had sought refuge in Lisbon in 1914 while leaving . Renamed in Tras-os-Montes she did until 1922 service, and then in Lisbon launched to be. In 1924 the Companhia Nacional de Navegaceo acquired the ship and renamed it Nyassa and deployed it to South America . In April 1931, she served the Portuguese Navy as an auxiliary cruiser to bring government troops to Madeira to fight a mutiny . Between 1940 and 1944, in addition to her trips to South America, she also made 14 trips to the USA, to New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia . In November 1949 the only remaining ship of the class was laid up again in Lisbon and canceled in Blyth in 1951. The two ships seized by Portugal were the one with the shortest and the longest service life.
Great Britain had already confiscated two ships in the Suez Canal in 1914 and immediately set them back on the road as a Hunnish steamer , as the British press called it in reference to the so-called Hun speech of Kaiser Wilhelm II . The Huntsgreen used by Stelp & Leighton , formerly Derfflinger , was bought back by the NDL in 1923 and, after being repaired and converted, started using it again from September 20, 1923. The Huntsend , formerly Lützow , was also bought back in 1923 and started up again on June 14, 1924. The NDL was able to keep two ships that remained in South America (former suppliers to the cruiser squadron ) after the end of the war on the basis of the Columbus Agreement . After repairs, the Seydlitz made the NDL's first post-war voyage with passengers on November 12, 1921, and the Yorck embarked on its first post-war voyage on March 11, 1922 .
The Kleist had when the war began in Padang , Sumatra sought refuge. In 1919 she was delivered to Great Britain and used by the British India Steam Navigation Company Co. until 1922, when she was then ceded to Japan . She drove as Yoshino Maru of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) on the Japan – Australia route. During the war she was used as a transporter and hospital ship. On July 31, 1944, she was torpedoed and sunk in Luzon Strait by the American submarine USS Parche (SS-384) .
The Roon had sought refuge in Tjilatjap , Java , and was extradited in 1919. In 1920 it was sold to Greek owners and renamed Constantinoupolis . In May 1925 it was canceled in Germany.
The Gneisenau was in Antwerp in 1914 on her departure for Australia . In October 1914 the Belgians sunk it in the Scheldt to obstruct the port access. In May 1917 the Germans lifted the ship and began repairs in Antwerp. There the Belgians confiscated the ship in November 1918 and sold it to Italy on June 20, 1920. The restoration took place in Antwerp and as Citta di Genova , the former Gneisenau drove under the Italian flag from Genoa on its old route to Fremantle , Melbourne , Sydney and Brisbane , mainly with Italian and Greek emigrants, until it was broken off in Naples in 1930 .
The other two ships of the general class last sailed for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) under the French flag.
The Goeben found refuge in Vigo in 1914 and was extradited to France in January 1919. There it was renamed Roussillon and made available to the CGT. On September 28, 1920 she ran for the first time from Marseille to New York and then on December 3 for the first time from Le Havre . She last started on this route on September 18, 1923 and switched to the route from Bordeaux to New York on November 1 . Her last journey with passengers started from Bordeaux on August 24, 1930. In February 1931 it was canceled in Pasajes , Spain.
The Scharnhorst , which was the only ship of the class to have experienced the war at home, was confiscated by the French in Cherbourg on February 6, 1919 , when she was employed in the prisoner exchange service. It was then used by the Messageries Maritimes and handed over to the CGT in 1921 and renamed La Bourdonnais . Equipped for 122 cabin passengers and space for 500 more in the III. She started class on April 2, 1921 for the first time from Le Havre to New York. It last started on this route on January 20, 1923. On March 3, 1923, the first journey from Bordeaux took place. On January 31, 1931, the former Scharnhorst started on her last journey with passengers from Bordeaux via Vigo and Halifax to New York. In 1934 it was canceled in Genoa.
| Fate of the generals mail steamer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surname | Shipyard | GRT | in service | 1914 | further fate |
| Zieten | Schichau | 8066 | 1.1903 | Mozambique | Tungue 1917 by SM UB 17 sunk |
| Roon | Tecklenborg | 8022 | 4.1903 | Tjitlatjap | 1919 Great Britain, 1921 Constantinoupolis Greece, 1925 demolition in D |
| Seydlitz | Schichau | 7942 | 6.1903 | 12.1914 Argentina | 1921–1931 again at NDL, demolished in 1933 |
| Gneisenau | AG Vulcan | 8081 | 8.1903 | Antwerp | 1919 Great Britain, 1921 Citta de Genova , 1930 demolished |
| Scharnhorst | Tecklenborg | 8131 | 8.1904 | homeland | 1919 France, 1921 La Bourdonnais , launched in 1931, demolished in 1934 |
| Bülow | Tecklenborg | 9028 | 9.1906 | Lisbon | Tráz-oz-Montes , 1924 Nyassa , launched in 1949, canceled in 1951 |
| Yorck | Schichau | 8901 | 11.1906 | Valparaíso | 1922–1929 again at NDL, demolished in 1933 |
| Kleist | Schichau | 8950 | 4.1907 | Padang | 1920 Great Britain, 1921 Yoshino Maru , sunk in 1944 |
| Goeben | AG Weser | 8792 | 7.1907 | Vigo | 1919 France, 1920 Roussillon , launched in 1930, demolished in 1931 |
| Lützow | AG Weser | 8818 | 4.1908 | Port Said | 1914 Huntsgreen , 1923–1932 again NDL, 1933 demolition |
| Derfflinger | Schichau | 9060 | 5.1908 | Sue | 1914 Huntsend , 1923–1932 again NDL, 1933 demolition |
literature
- 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).
- Arnold Kludas: The ships of the North German Lloyd. Volume 1: 1857 to 1919. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1991, ISBN 3-7822-0524-3 .
- Christine Reinke-Kunze: History of the Reichs-Post-Steamers. Connection between the continents 1886–1914. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1994, ISBN 3-7822-0618-5 .
- Claus Rothe: German ocean passenger ships. 1896 to 1918 . Steiger Verlag, Moers 1986, ISBN 3-921564-80-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Article on Zieten with pictures
- ↑ Article and painted postcard about the Roon
- ↑ Article and two postcards about Gneisenau
- ↑ Article and postcard on Scharnhorst
- ↑ Article and two postcards on Bülow
- ↑ Article painted postcard to Goeben
- ↑ NYASSA ex. Tràs-os-Montes; ex. Bulow
- ↑ French article on Roussillon with picture ( Memento of the original from February 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ French article on La Bourdonnais with picture ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
