Graf Zeppelin's boats, ships and floating halls
Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin is primarily with its Zeppelin brought -Luftschiffen in conjunction, less contrast with the floating asset, the boats , ships and floating airship hangars to him during Manzell decade of the century to 1910 west of Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance were available in order to be able to realize his ideas.
Swimming pools
At the beginning and at the end of this decade there was a huge floating airship hangar in the shallow Manzeller Bay, about 600 meters from the shore area and some work sheds. These Zeppelin halls were used for the assembly, safe accommodation and repair of the first Zeppelin airships . The water-based location on Lake Constance was chosen because the risk of ascent and descent on the obstacle-free water surface was lower than on land. Also the maneuver was safer because the on pontoons floating hangar at only one large anchor was moored. So she could swim freely and the hall opening was always on the leeward side . The entry and exit therefore always happened with the bow of the zeppelin against the wind. Unhindered by cross winds, a tugboat was able to bring the airship, which was being held on a long raft, out of the hall and tow it to the ascent position. However, air eddies led to accidents several times . After the swimming pool operations were ended in 1909 and moved ashore, the ships, with the exception of the new Gna , lost their importance for Graf Zeppelin.
First swimming pool from 1899/1900
The first wooden hall was 142 m long, 23.4 m wide, 23.5 m high and had a draft of 80 cm. It was the "home port" of the LZ 1 prototype and was only in operation from 1899 to 1901. In the summer of 1900, three test drives could be carried out. Because of tight finances, the first zeppelin and the swimming pool were then canceled. As a successor, a permanent (country) hall was built on the bank in 1904, which burned down in 1918.
Reich swimming pool from 1907
The name of the later swimming pool is derived from the investor and owner, the German Reich . It was made of metal, slightly larger than the first swimming pool and, with a division of labor, supplemented the country hall. Two years later, the Reichsschwimmhalle was scrapped after several accidents and production was relocated to Friedrichshafen at a lower cost.
Work ships
During the construction and operation of the swimming pools and zeppelins, boats were required to transport people, for which Zeppelin owned rowing boats and the motor boats Württemberg , Manzell and Weller . The material and the components manufactured by suppliers were transported on pontoons, freight barges and trajectory barges from the port siding in Friedrichshafen to the swimming pool in front of Manzell. The boats also dragged the 116 m long raft with the airship when entering and leaving the hall. Large loads such as the swimming pools were towed by two steamships belonging to the Royal Württemberg State Railways (KWSt.E.). These saloon steamers also served Zeppelin as spectator ships.
Buchhorn tugboat
The 1891 as tractors for Trajektkähne KWSt.E. The Buchhorn built proved to be too weak for this purpose, which is why it was loaned to Zeppelin from 1899 to 1909.
Towing boat Weller
The 1908 at Escher Wyss & Cie. The bulbous tugboat Weller , built for Zeppelin in Zurich , was used in the last few months of the Manzell swimming pool mainly to maneuver the airships. Their whereabouts are unknown.
Motor boats
Motorboat Württemberg
The "Daimler motor boat" was built in 1898 by the Swiss shipyard F. Teichler in Kilchberg ZH according to the plans of Graf Zeppelin, just a decade after Gottlieb Daimler invented the motor boat in 1886. It had a low cabin, was 15 meters long and with the 15 HP petrol engine a maximum of 16 km / h. The Count's private boat is said to have occasionally also been used as a propeller boat. As a rule, however, he used it for trips between Friedrichshafen and Manzell, as a spectator boat for prominent guests and as an escort boat for test drives of LZ 1. It was also used in 1902 and 1903 as a starting point for meteorological research kites in aerological tests by Zeppelin and Hugo Hergesell . This function was later taken over by the special dragon ship Gna .
The Württemberg was badly damaged on April 8, 1908 in a fire in the boat shed at the men's pool in Friedrichshafen. At the age of almost 78, Graf Zeppelin and Claude Dornier observed the first attempts at taxiing the Dornier Rs II flying boat from his Württemberg on May 17, 1916 . In 1924 the Königlich Württembergische Yachtklub Friedrichshafen bought it in desolate condition from Luftschiffbau Zeppelin as a support boat for regattas, most recently at the Lake Constance Week in August 1939. During the heavy air raid on Friedrichshafen on April 28, 1944, it burned like most of the club's boats in the Seemoos warehouse.
Manzell motor launch
The Manzell was similar to the Württemberg in design. She was long and slim but with a largely open deck and no cabin. It was a typical multi-purpose boat, used as a feeder and tugboat, and occasionally as a propeller boat. On November 10, 1908, the Manzell carried Kaiser Wilhelm II to LZ 4. The Manzell became widely known when on September 4, 1909, during an advertising trip for the Zeppelin LZ 6 to Lindau, she led the spectator fleet of twelve fully occupied passenger ships, including two representative ones Steam ships for members of the Federal Council and the Reichstag. Their whereabouts are unknown.
Telegraph boat Frahm
The Frahm dispatch boat from Constance was used at least occasionally to carry messages to or from the Zeppelin . It served to transmit messages and to give orders to the other boats and to shore stations.
Research vessels
The propeller boat
In order to gain experience in the efficient use of the propellers with which the first two zeppelins were equipped, Zeppelin carried out experiments from 1896 to 1905 with a propeller (motor) boat that was driven by a propeller (synonym: propeller ). Using the measured propulsion force or speed of the boat, Zeppelin examined the effect of the wing length, the number of wings and the speed on the efficiency of the propeller.
Dragon ship Gna
The Gna , a fast screw steamer built in 1908, was available as an important ship for the Zeppelin . The research ship used kites and balloons to obtain meteorological data for the Friedrichshafen kite station and the preparation of the airships' voyage.
Ships of the Zeppelin study expedition to Spitzbergen (1910)
In 1909 the Manzell years were over. In the summer of 1910, Graf Zeppelin was able to use three ships on his arctic study expedition to Spitzbergen to explore the possibilities of exploring the Arctic with a zeppelin from there. The focus was on meteorological and oceanographic issues as well as radio tests under arctic conditions. All three ships had a radio telegraphic station on board, the most powerful with a range of 600 to 1,500 km was installed on the Mainz . With a special winch device, 12 balloon ascents to great heights were made in order to measure the air layers and currents, the reaction of the gas filling and icing.
Expedition ship Mainz
The Reichsforschungsdampfer Poseidon (built in 1902, 481 GRT), originally made available for the North Pole expeditions from 1910 to 1914 , turned out to be too small. As an alternative, the freight steamer Mainz (built in 1897, 3,204 GRT) was chartered by Norddeutscher Lloyd and converted accordingly . She was very well equipped, but not suitable for ice and, with a draft of 7.50 m, only limited use in arctic coastal waters.
Ice ship Fönix
That is why the small, rather old, fishing vessel Fönix in Norway was rented and equipped at short notice as an escort ship. Her wooden hull was suitable for ice and she had only a shallow draft.
Message boat Carmen
Prince Heinrich of Prussia , who himself took part in the expedition, made his private yacht, the station ship Carmen, available to the Zeppelin expedition as a mail boat. It was the former division torpedo boat D1 , built in 1897.
Web links
- Heinrich Schützinger: Graf Zeppelin and Lake Constance , Volume 46, 1917, pp. 3–56 Scan
literature
- Manfred Bauer: Airship hangars in Friedrichshafen . In: Wolfgang Meighörner (Hrsg.): Writings on the history of the Zeppelin airship. No. 2, second expanded edition. Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen, Friedrichshafen 2001, ISBN 3-86136-069-1 .
- Dietmar Bönke: paddle wheel and impeller. The history of the railroad on Lake Constance . GeraMond Verlag, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-86245-714-4 .
- Werner Deppert: With a steam engine and a paddle wheel. Steam navigation on Lake Constance 1817–1967 . Verlag Friedr. Stadler, Konstanz 1975, ISBN 3-7977-0015-6 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Figure tugboat Weller . When the Kaiser Wilhelm ran aground off the mouth of the Rotach in November 1909 , the Weller hid some of the 59 passengers.
- ↑ Short video with celebrity passengers
- ↑ meteorological research kite
- ^ Zeppelin Lindau RS II
- ↑ 100 years of the Württemberg Yacht Club 1911–2011 . Publisher: Württembergischer Yachtclub e. V., Friedrichshafen 2011. Graf Zeppelin was co-founder and honorary president of the WYC.
- ↑ A photograph of the Manzell shows Kaiser Wilhelm II as a passenger on the Manzell on the occasion of his tour of the Manzell Zeppelin shipyard on November 10, 1908.
- ^ Wiener Luftschiffer-Zeitung, 5th year 1906, p. 58
- ^ Cornelia Lüdecke : The Zeppelin study expedition to Spitzbergen (1910) . In: Cornelia Lüdecke, Kurt Brunner (Ed.): From (A) ltenburg to (Z) eppelin. German research on Spitzbergen until 1914. 100 years of the expedition of Duke Ernst II of Saxony-Altenburg (= series of publications by the Institute for Geodesy of the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich . Volume 88 ). Neubiberg 2012, p. 99-107 ( researchgate.net ).
- ^ A. Miethe , H. Hergesell (Ed.): With Zeppelin to Spitzbergen . Bong, Berlin 1911. Reprint: Salzwasser Verlag, Paderborn 2012, ISBN : 978-3-84600-414-2.