Gna (ship)

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The Gna was a fast screw steamer built in 1907 , which was used on Lake Constance as a research ship to obtain meteorological data.

history

Little is known in nautical literature about the screw steamer Gna , named after Gna , the fast-moving messenger of the Nordic queen of the gods Frigg, except that it was used for aerology , the aviation weather service founded by Hugo Hergesell . For this purpose, measuring instruments were pulled from the Gna by means of kites at high speeds. It was therefore referred to as a “dragon boat” (better: dragon tug boat), and in some publications as the “station ship” or “ascent ship” of the Friedrichshafen balloon station. The first tests on Lake Constance were carried out by Zeppelin and Hergesell as early as 1900 and 1902/1903, at that time with the Württemberg propeller boat . From the various reports of Graf Zeppelin was founded on April 1, 1908 Dragon station (Weather Station) in Friedrichshafen and the archive material of the airship Zeppelin GmbH and Fritz Maier shows that the Gna 1907 as hull number 803 of the construction of torpedo boats specialized Schichau shipyard in Elbing near Danzig was built specifically for the kite station at a price of 74,800 marks on behalf of the Reich Office of the Interior. The shipyard and client were able to draw on experience with the deep-sea kite ship SMS Sleipner during planning . The torpedo boat built in 1900 was much larger and also faster.

After a speed of 18.5 knots (34.3 km / h) was reached during test drives of the shipyard on the Frischen Haff , the final acceptance took place to full satisfaction on January 20, 1908 during a test drive to Constance . The return trip to Friedrichshafen was accomplished in 35 minutes, which corresponds to 40 km / h. The Gna was the fastest steamship on Lake Constance and for a long time also the fastest monohull of this size. The inauguration took place in the presence of the Württemberg royal couple on July 11, 1908. A special feature was the flag flying of the Gna in service: Probably as the only ship on Lake Constance in peacetime, she carried the imperial service flag of the Imperial Navy (on the bow) as well as the flag of the Kingdom of Württemberg (on the stern).

The construction of an already planned second ship was prevented by the outbreak of the First World War. From 1914 to 1918 the ship was placed under the command of the airship commander as a flight operations vehicle. After the war, the scarce funds led to reduced stakes. Only in the early 1930s did aerology regain importance, visible in the upgrading of the new kite station to an aeronautical observatory, which was subordinate to the Reich Ministry of Aviation . With the beginning of the Second World War it was placed under the Air Force High Command with an unknown function. However, the technical and meteorological advances were already so significant that respected meteorologists such as Hermann Flohn classified the scientific benefit of the kite station with the Gna as insignificant after 1935.

In the Second World War, the use of the research ship was increasingly difficult; In 1942 it was completely discontinued. “According to an article in the Schwäbische Zeitung of April 5, 1953, the dragon boat GNA was destroyed in a bomb attack (...), sank and could only be lifted and transferred to the Bodan shipyard after the end of the war. Plans for reuse were still being tackled by the French occupying forces, but the project failed because of the costs. So far, there is no reliable information about the final fate of the dragon boat GNA. ”According to Allwang, the Gna received a hole over the waterline when Friedrichshafen was bombed on April 28, 1944. After the end of the war, she sank when French soldiers attempted to tow them to the shipyard, but was raised again. In Federal Printed Paper No. 4116 of February 25, 1953, the entry “Chap. (E 24) Title 11: Reconstruction of the research vessel "Gna", 2nd part of the repeat budget 1952 DM --- ", after which the project was apparently abandoned. The commission book of the former Bodan shipyard in Kressbronn am Bodensee shows that the Gna was repaired there several times and scrapped in 1954.

Use and technology

From the Gna in the middle of the lake or - even in times of war - on the southern bank of Switzerland, measuring instruments were brought up to heights of up to 6000 meters undisturbed by obstacles using large weather kites or a 60 m³ tethered balloon ; usually they reached 3000 meters. The Gna was "as fast as an arrow", either to pull the kite as high as possible even when there was no wind or to keep the balloon as vertical as possible when the wind was blowing from the aft by keeping the speed of the ship corresponding to that of the wind. To do this, she had to be able to react quickly. Dr. Kleinschmidt, director of the kite station, explained this to his visitors on July 14th, 1909, that “the Gna is able to go very quickly, within 3 minutes, from a normal drive to the strongest exertion using an air-driving fan, which its boiler design enables “The team and material must have been challenged to the limit. Despite good maintenance, the Gna was very susceptible to repair. According to documents from the Reichstag, the ship was not operational for 50 to 60 days in the first five years, and the trend is rising.

It took about an hour to climb a balloon. Then the measured meteorological data were transmitted to the kite station while the boat was still in motion. In addition to aerological research, the Gna also served limnology with the regular measurement of the water temperature on the surface and in the depths.

The screw steamer, which resembled a small torpedo boat , was powered by a three-cylinder triple expansion machine with surface condensation with an output of 350 to 530 PSi. The steam drive was more complex than an internal combustion engine , but at that time it was even more reliable. The crew consisted of three crew members and a weather researcher. The hull of the narrow smooth-deck steamer was initially light, later painted dark and partitioned off in five compartments (see floor plan, from the bow): (1) two cabins for apparatus and workplaces, (2) boiler room and coal bunker, (3) engine with dynamo Unit, (4) ten kites, three of which are ready to go, (5) ropes, etc. The deck plan looked like this from the bow: (a) anchor and headlights, (b) fan with “turbo” fan, (c) aft open steering position with compass, (d) chimney, (e) electric winch (60 kg pull) with four sections of piano wire of 4000 m; 90 levels of rotation speed (2 cm / s to 3 m / s) to quickly compensate for changes in wind strength, (f) dynamometer to measure the tension on the wire, (g) mast with devices for kite / balloon launch.

Longitudinal section, floor plan and deck plan of the Gna . Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen - Technology and Art
Data:
Year of construction: 1907 Overall length: 27 m Engine output: 350-530 PSi
Shipyard: Schichau-Werke , Elbing near Danzig Width: 3.40 m Speed: 31.5–36 km / h (17–19.6 kn)
Commissioning: 1908 Draft: 1.5 m Displacement: 20 t
Home port: Friedrichshafen Drive: three-cylinder triple expansion machine Location: Scrapped in 1954

Reports on the Gna

  • On March 8, 1917, the Gna ran aground as a result of an engine failure during a strong storm near Langenargen . Towing attempts by King Karl were unsuccessful because of the low water level, but were continued the following day.
  • In mid-August 1924 there was a serious accident involving the Gna . Researchers from the Institute for Lake Research in Langenargen carried out various experiments in the middle of the lake near Manzell , which were followed by spectators on four accompanying boats. About 20 people were on board the luxury motor yacht Stauffen, owned by a manufacturer from Weingarten , including members of the government and the state parliament as well as high officials. During a maneuver, the Stauffen got caught in the wake of the Gna and heeled so badly that the guests began to slide in their wicker chairs. Since the railing was too weak, nine of them fell overboard. A senior official drowned, the others were saved. Investigations revealed that the Stauffen was only approved for 12 people and had too little life-saving equipment on board.
  • The 11th German Physics Conference in 1935 took place in Stuttgart. It ended with an excursion by the scientists on the Gna and the ascent of a tethered balloon. Was also involved Erich Regener's research vessel undula cosmic radiation to measure.

See also

Web links

literature

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Bönke (see literature), pp. 178 and 180; Deppert (see literature), p. 178.
  2. ↑ See web links to the Gna : drachenarchiv.de, charlesdrachseite.ch, suedkurier.de
  3. ^ Archive of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH in Friedrichshafen: Bundle of the Gna , in particular the details of the construction contract (inspection on June 25, 2013). The files in the holdings of the Federal Archives R 5 Reich Ministry of Transport contain archive files (signature R 5/3725 ff) from the period from 1902 to 1909 (information from the Federal Archives from October 15, 2014)
  4. ↑ Maier, (see literature) p. 46.
  5. ↑ Construction list of the Schichau shipyard
  6. ↑ Liechtensteinensia 1908, p. 3 (PDF; 277 kB) accessed on January 2, 2015
  7. ↑ Liechtensteinensia 1908, p. 3 (PDF; 277 kB) accessed on January 2, 2015. All German ships on Lake Constance sailed until 1918 under the flag of Baden, Bavaria or Württemberg and not the flag of the German Empire.
  8. ↑ Erich Gröner, Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe, 1815-1945 , Volume 7, Bernard & Graefe, 1994. ISBN 3763748075
  9. ↑ "... a memory that will make you smile". Hermann Flohn: Meteorology in Transition: Experiences and Memories (1931-1991) , p. 6
  10. ^ Stadtarchiv Friedrichshafen, exhibition 'Schnelle Communication' 2007, according to information from October 14, 2013.
  11. ↑ Alexander Allwang: Book review Werner Deppert With steam engine and paddle wheel (see literature). In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings, Issues 95, Verlag Bodenseegeschichtsverein, 1976, p. 169 digitized ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bodenseebibliotheken.de
  12. ^ Addendum to the budget of the Federal Ministry of Transport for the financial year 1952, here Chapter 14 of the German Weather Service, page 42
  13. ↑ Legend of the exhibition "100 Years of the Friedrichshafen Dragon Station" 2008 in the Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen - Technology and Art. However, due to the ownership structure of the shipyard files, a reliable confirmation is currently not possible
  14. ↑ Quoted from the report on page XCI in: Annual Issues of the Association for Fatherland Natural History in Württemberg . Ed .: Prof. J. Eichler, Stuttgart 1910. ( Online ).
  15. ↑ For the details of the aerology and the operation of the kite station see web link (3) Gna on drachenarchiv.de. and Diem (see literature)
  16. ↑ Negotiations of the Reichstag, Volume 320 . Norddeutsche Buchdruckerei and Verlaganstalt 1914, p. 258
  17. ↑ All information: Kleinschmidt (see literature), p. 519f.
  18. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Reutlinger General-Anzeiger of March 12, 1917, page 2  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / 134.103.222.2@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / 134.103.222.2  
  19. ↑ The boat accident on Lake Constance. In: Reutlinger General-Anzeiger from August 19, 1924 ( Memento from January 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive )