Chancellor (Schiff, 1891)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reichspostdampfer Chancellor
Post flag 1892-1918.svg
Chancellor (2) DOAL.JPG
The Chancellor's replacement building in 1892
Commitment: Hamburg-East Africa line
Owner: German East-Africa Line ,
Hamburg
Launching ( ship christening ): November 22, 1890
Commissioning: March 24, 1891
Maiden voyage : April 1, 1891
Builder: Blohm & Voss , Hamburg, building no. 76
Sister ships (similar)

Kaiser
(2901 BRT / Reiherstiegwerft 1891)
Chancellor (II)
(3032 BRT / Blohm & Voss 1892)

Passengers: 32 First Class
24 Second Class
38 Third Class
Crew: 48 men
Building-costs: 1.53 million gold marks
Technical specifications
Measurement: 2,838 GRT
Load capacity: 3,120 dw
Length over all: 100.8 m
Width: 12.5 m
Draft :
Machinery: Triple expansion steam engines
Number of screws: 1
Power: 1,900 PSi
Top speed: 14.0 kn
Whereabouts
Stranded on September 5, 1891
off the Rovuma estuary

The Reichspostdampfer Chancellor was the first of 20 ships that the German East Africa line (DOAL) 1890-1914 for the service within the closed May 1890 with the German Reich Treaty on the establishment and operation of a regular German mail steamer connection with East Africa built.

prehistory

Since the DOAL was only founded for the acquisition of the Reichspostdampfer subsidy, it had no ships when the contract was signed on May 9, 1890. Since the DOAL had to accept the Reich's proposed dates for the opening of the service, it immediately bought two steamers of the Woermann line , which were used as Reichstag (2202 BRT, 1889 Blohm & Voss) and Bundesrath (2192 BRT, 1890 Blohm & Voss) in Service were taken, and the requirements of the Reichspostdampfer contract met.

On July 23, 1890, the Reichstag (ex Eduard Bohlen I) began the first contractually prescribed test drive, on which it reached Lamu on August 24 and Zanzibar on August 27, both of which were still part of the German sphere of influence in East Africa . Both ships carried out two round trips each on March 4, 1891, before the agreed 1st regular voyage of the Reichspostdampferlinie.

For the regular service, the DOAL had ordered 2 steamers for the main line from Blohm & Voss and the Reiherstieg shipyard. In addition, there should be 2 coastal steamers from Blohm & Voss for the also agreed coastlines.

commitment

The Chancellor was delivered by Blohm & Voss on March 24, 1891, as were nine other new DOAL steamers and three steamers for the coastlines. The Chancellor was able to take over the second regular trip to East Africa on April 1st. In addition to her, the two Woermann acquisitions and the sister ship Kaiser came into use from May 27, 1891.

The Chancellor was only given a very short period of service. On her second departure, she was stranded on September 5, 1891 on the Pinda banks in front of the Rovuma estuary between Lindi and Mocambique . The DOAL's coastal steamer Emin was able to hold passengers, mail and crew, but the ship was lost.

As a replacement, the DOAL bought the relatively new steamer Tosari (2589 BRT, 1890 Swan Hunter ) from the Deutsche Dampfschiffs-Rhederei (Kingsin Line) and put it into service on November 11, 1891 as Admiral . As a ship built abroad, however , the Admiral did not meet the requirements of the Reichspostdampfervertage.

A replacement building for the stranded Chancellor was ordered from Blohm & Voss, came into service as Chancellor II on December 18, 1892 and remained in service until 1913.

Use of the other early DOAL mail steamers

The sister ship Kaiser , built at the Reiherstieg shipyard, remained in service on the main line until 1902 and was transferred to the so-called intermediate line in 1902.

After the introduction of the “Around Africa Service”, this traffic was introduced primarily for freight on the old line through the Mediterranean in order to maintain the previous density of departures. In 1905 the Kaiser was transferred to the DOAL South Africa – Bombay line and sold to Argentina in 1912.

The bought Reichstag and Bundesrath were withdrawn from the main line at the same time and then sent to Bombay; they were sold in 1910 and 1909 respectively.

The second chancellor also came on the intermediate line in 1903, in the Bombay service in 1907 and was sold to India in 1913 and was also lost when it was stranded on August 14, 1914 on a trip from Karachi to Mauritius on the Malcolm Reef in the Maldives .

The first coastal steamers

On September 15, the DOAL put the 618 GRT steamer Wissmann , built in Belfast , into service , which was sold again in 1898.

Of the two 595 GRT coastal steamers built by Blohm & Voss, the Peters came into service first and performed her first coastal service on April 14, 1891 with a voyage from Dar es Salaam to Bagamayo .

The Emin entered service in May 1891. The small steamer that had recovered everyone from the damaged mail steamer Kanzler left Durban on December 29, 1893 for Laurenco Marquez and disappeared without a trace with 31 men on board.

The coastal steamers were named after men who were important for the development of German East Africa .

literature

  • Arnold Kludas : The ships of the German Africa Lines 1880-1945. Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg 1975, ISBN 3-7979-1867-4
  • Arnold Kludas: The History of German Passenger Shipping. Volume 3: Erratic Growth 1900-1914. Ernst Kabel, Hamburg 1988, ISBN 3-8225-0039-9 , plan pp. 28/29 ( writings of the German Maritime Museum 20).
  • Christine Reinke-Kunze: History of the Reichs-Post-Steamers. Connection between the continents 1886–1914. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1994, ISBN 3-7822-0618-5 .