Emperor Franz Joseph I.
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The Kaiser Franz Joseph I was a transatlantic ocean liner named after Franz Joseph I of the Austrian shipping company Austro-Americana , which was put into service in 1912. She was the largest and fastest Austrian merchant ship built to date and the flagship of the Austrian merchant navy . Sunk by German soldiers in La Spezia in 1944 , the wreck of the ship was lifted in 1949/50 and scrapped on site. The ship was named after the Austrian emperor during his lifetime.
history
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Technical specifications
The steel-built steamship Kaiser Franz Joseph I was built at the Cantiere Navale Triestino shipyard in Monfalcone and was launched on September 9, 1911. The 145.54 meter long and 18.35 meter wide ship was the largest ship under the Austrian flag with a volume of 12,567 gross register tonnes (GRT). The Kaiser Franz Joseph I owned two four-cylinder triple expansion steam engines made by David Rowan & Company from Glasgow , which developed 12,800 hp and could accelerate the twin screw steamer up to 17 knots. In the passenger quarters there was room for 125 passengers in first, 550 in second and 1230 in third class.
Commissioning and journeys until 1914
When the ship was launched and the ship was christened on September 9, 1911, numerous dignitaries, industrialists, merchants and workers were present alongside Archduchess Maria Josepha and Navy Commander Admiral Count Rudolf Montecuccoli . The ship's acceptance by the shipping company took place on April 26, 1912, and on May 8, 1912, in the presence of the governor of the three coastal states, Konrad zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst , she started on the maiden voyage, which the Austrian Fleet Association as a Mediterranean cruise from and to Trieste (among others Pola-Corfu-Tunis-Nizza-Zara). Since April 20, 1912, she was under the command of Carlo Gerolimich (until July 22, 1914), who had already commanded the maiden voyage of Martha Washington in April 1908 . On May 25, 1912, the Emperor Franz Joseph I set off from Trieste for her first trip to New York with stops in Patras (Greece), Palermo in Sicily and the Algerian capital Algiers . It operated on this route until June 13, 1914.
Shortly before the First World War, the free time in the passage during the 12 or 14-day crossing was used to offer passengers the opportunity to attend sales exhibitions initiated by Archduchess Maria Josepha - at that time in the social rooms that were otherwise used for other purposes. a. Goods from the Austrian house industries, Dalmatian lace and embroidery from the entire monarchy on display. However, due to customs problems, sales directly in the port of New York City were not permitted.
When the First World War broke out on August 1, 1914, Emperor Franz Joseph I was in Trieste, from where she was taken to her war hiding place (until 1918), Lake Prokljan near Sebenico.
Remaining and voyages under new ship names after the First World War
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2nd class ticket for $ 405 (+ $ 15 tax), Boston-Naples with Presidente Wilson on August 8, 1928, issued by Phelps Bros. & Co. of NY City (126 × 197 mm)
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- Cosulich Società Triestina di Navigazione
In 1919 Trieste was awarded to Italy and the Austrian Austro-Americana was taken over by the Trieste shipowner family Cosulich. The remaining ships of the Austro-Americana, including the Emperor Franz Joseph I , became the property of the newly formed Cosulich Società Triestina di Navigazione (usually called Cosulich Line ). The ship, whose funnels were shortened a little and whose lower promenade aisles were closed, was given the new name Presidente Wilson and set sail on May 5, 1919 on its first post-war voyage from Genoa via Marseille to New York. It mainly had returning US soldiers on board.
On June 24, 1919, the Presidente Wilson made her first voyage for her new owners from Trieste via Messina and Naples to New York. Many troops were on board for this crossing as well. On September 12, 1919, she left Trieste on her third journey in peacetime with 97 passengers in first, 371 in second and 623 in third class. It was her first trip under the Italian flag. In 1925/26 there was a change from coal to oil firing. In November 1929 she set out on her last trip from Trieste to New York via Naples.
- Lloyd Triestino
In 1929 the steamer went to Lloyd Triestino and was renamed after the Indian river in progress .
- Lloyd Adriatico
In 1936 the former Emperor Franz Joseph I changed the operator again when it was handed over to the Lloyd Adriatico . It had previously been renamed Marco Polo by the old owner .
- Troop transport
From 1940 the ship, which had been confiscated by the Italian state, served as a troop transport between Italy and North Africa until it was laid up in La Spezia in 1943 . There SS Marco Polo was sunk by the German Wehrmacht on May 12, 1944 for tactical reasons. In 1949/50 the wreck was lifted and scrapped on the spot.
Project SS Empress Elisabeth
As a complement to Emperor Franz Joseph I , the construction of a new, even larger ship began shortly after its completion, which was to be christened Empress Elisabeth and would have had a volume of 15,500 GRT. The construction work was stopped in 1917 and the unfinished hull was scrapped shortly after the end of the war .
Promotional materials, timetables, models
In order to advertise the trips of the Emperor Franz Joseph I , posters, timetables for the regular service and so-called pleasure and recreational trips as well as passenger lists, partly with information on the technical parameters of the ship and deck plans, were used in several languages, partly by well-known artists, u. a. Erwin Puchinger . Postcards with images of the ship were also sold by various publishers.
A scale model of the ship as it was in 1912 is in the collection of the Trieste Cicivo Museo del Mare. The writer Burkhard Spinnen restored another shipyard model, which was originally exhibited in a Vienna office of Austro-Americana, and documented this and the researched model history in detail on a website.
literature
- Gregor Gatscher-Riedl: Red-white-red across the Atlantic. The history of the Austro-Americana. Kral Verlag, Berndorf 2019, ISBN 978-3-99024-824-9 .
- Paolo Valenti: Emperor Franz Josef I. Il più grande piroscafo passeggeri della marina austroungarica. Luglio Editore, Trieste 2010 ISBN 978-88-96940-35-8 .
Web links
- Summary ship data in the Clydebuilt Ships Database (above)
- Entry and further pictures in the wreck database
Individual evidence
- ^ Pilsner Tagblatt dated April 8, 1911 ( ANNO digitalisat ) on the technical data and the naming
- ↑ Compare to the dates of the maiden voyage: Gregor Gatscher-Riedl: Red-white-red across the Atlantic - The history of Austro-Americana. , Berndorf 2019, p. 219; the Wiener Mondags-Journal of May 13, 1912, p. 9 ( ANNO online ), and the copy of Carlo Gerolimich's seafaring book, p. 32.
- ↑ (News) Welt Blatt from April 25, 1914 ( ANNO online )
- ↑ New Free Press of June 21, 1914 ( ANNO online )
- ^ Gregor Gatscher-Riedl: Red-white-red across the Atlantic - The history of the Austro-Americana. , Berndorf 2019, p. 166
- ^ Gregor Gatscher-Riedl: Red-white-red across the Atlantic - The history of the Austro-Americana . Berndorf 2019, p. 129
- ↑ Burkhard spiders: The wreck in the web .