Mainz (ship, 1929)

Mainz

The Mainz in August 1970 near Rüdesheim am Rhein to the valley

Ship data flag  Germany other ship names since 1985: Museum ship Mannheim Ship type Paddle steamer home port Düsseldorf (last) Shipping company Cologne-Düsseldorf German Rhine Shipping Shipyard Shipyard Christof Ruthof Build number 1000 building-costs 664,000 RM Order January 17, 1928 Keel laying October 10, 1928 Launch March 19, 1929 Commissioning June 4, 1929 Decommissioning October 1981 Whereabouts Museum ship

Ship dimensions and crew length 83.62 m ( Lüa ) width 8.70 m over wheel arches: 16.20 m Draft Max. 1.46 m displacement 497  t

Machine system machine 2-cylinder superheated steam compound machine Machine performance 900 hp (662 kW) propeller 2 side wheels ⌀ 3.8 m

Transport capacities Load capacity 300 dw Permitted number of passengers 1790

From 1975 Registration numbers until 1981: Europe no .: 4200360

The Mainz is a side paddle steamer built in 1928/29 for the Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft für die Nieder- und Mittelrhein (DGNM) , which was used by the Cologne-Düsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt in plan service on the Rhine . She was the thousandth ship completed by the shipyard Christof Ruthof and also the last paddle steamer built for the Cologne-Düsseldorfer . The Mainz was the only ship of the shipping company to survive the Second World War , but was so badly damaged in an accident on June 12, 1956 that the hull had to be rebuilt. Due to the high need for repairs and renovations, the Cologne-Düsseldorfer decommissioned the passenger ship after the 1980 summer season.

After the donation to the Society for the Promotion of the German Rhine Maritime Museum in Mannheim , the excursion steamer was converted into an exhibition ship. Since October 17, 1985, it has been firmly anchored as the Mannheim museum ship below the Kurpfalz Bridge on the Neckar . It houses a permanent Technoseum exhibition on the history of inland navigation .

technical description

Hull, decks and fittings

Deck plan of the Mainz from 1957

The Mainz was designed as a monohull ship with a pointed bow, straight steamer stem and a cruiser stern. The fuselage consists of riveted steel plates on frames . The ship has two fixed decks and a protective deck completely covered with wood . After the accident in 1956, the front half of the deck was given a fixed cladding, which was glazed on the bow side to protect the wind. The length between the stems is 80.50 m, the overall length is given as 83.62 m. The width on the frames is 8.70 m, the width over the wheel arches 16.20 m.

On the lower deck, which was equipped with eight transverse bulkheads for safety , the crew cabins and six rest cabins for passengers were located in the forward area during their active deployment time . In the middle of the ship were the two steam boilers and the steam engine , behind them further personnel cabins and storage rooms. On the main deck , an open deck was set up in the bow area, which was followed by a smoking salon with 68 seats. In the wheel arch on port side there was a hairdressing salon, the passenger toilets, the cloakroom, a luggage room and the inspector's office, in the starboard wheel arch there was another crew cabin, the staff toilets, the ship's kitchen and two washing rooms; Large entrance areas in front of and behind the wheel arches were each equipped with 16 seats. In the back area was the steamer's dining room with seats for 172 guests. A covered deck was set up aft . The viewing salon, which was located on the protective deck in the front half of the ship and was designed for 84 people, had an all-round paneled outdoor area. From the veranda in the central nave, which was designed for 96 people, the operating steam engine could be viewed through an open shaft. The covered rear area of ​​the deck offered space for 200 passengers, was open at the sides and secured with a railing.

Drive and control

The Mainz was driven by an inclined two-cylinder composite steam engine with valve control from Maschinenfabrik Christof Ruthof with an output of 900  hp via two 3.80 m high paddle wheels , each with eight paddles, controlled by push rods and eccentrics . It had two double-flame tube cylinder boilers that had been manufactured by the Deutsche Babcock & Wilcox steam boiler works in Oberhausen . With a total of 291 m² heating surface , they generated a steam pressure of 12.5  kp / cm² (12.3  bar ). With a bunker capacity of 33 tons, coal consumption was an average of 590 kilograms per hour. Heavy oil has been used as fuel since the boiler system was converted . The ship was steered by a steam-powered steering gear with a 4.46 m long single-surface rudder. The steamer reached an average speed of 18 km / h when traveling uphill on a scheduled basis and 23 km / h when traveling downhill . With a top speed of 22 km / h when traveling uphill, the Mainz was the fastest passenger ship on the Rhine until the Rheinpfeil hydrofoil was put into service .

history

Planning, construction and commissioning

General plan from 1929

The Mainz after the accident in June 1956

The Mainz in Mainz

“Music trip” on the Rhine in the
1970s

The DGNM ordered a passenger ship from the Ruthof shipyard on January 17, 1928, which should be suitable for high-speed trips on the Rhine thanks to the shape of the hull and the optimization of the paddle wheels. A series of tests with model ships was therefore carried out at the Hamburg Shipbuilding Research Institute . After completion of the tests, the first ship parts were manufactured from July 2, 1928. The keel was laid on October 10, the launch on March 19 of the following year. Since defects were found during the first test drive on May 4th, the planned date for the maiden voyage had to be postponed from May 19th to June 4th 1929 due to the need for reworking time. In the presence of around 200 guests of honor, the Lord Mayor Karl Külb and the IHK chairman Christian Scholz gave the ceremonial speeches for the ship's christening on the banks of the Rhine in Mainz . They were the spokesmen for the godparents - the city of Mainz and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Rheinhessen . The subsequent nine-hour maiden voyage, carried out as a high-speed voyage, ended in Cologne . From the following day, the Mainz was used in scheduled service on the same route. The coal-fired steamship was allowed to carry up to 2680 passengers.

World War II and post-war period

The Mainz was one of the shipping company's twelve ships that were decommissioned when the Second World War broke out. The side paddle steamer was in the ports of Krefeld , Düsseldorf and Oberwinter from September 1939 to January 1943 . In 1941 a blue-gray camouflage was applied. After repair work on the moving parts and the steam boilers at the Cologne shipyard , the ship was used in the summer months of 1943 and 1944 for passenger and freight traffic as well as for evacuation trips. In the winter time it was parked in Rüdesheim and Oberwesel . The Reichsbahndirektion Mainz rented the ship from November 1944 and used it as a residential ship in Gernsheim . On February 23, 1945, the Mainz was relocated to the Altrhein near Erfelden . At the end of the war, the Mainz was the only one of the shipping company's 22 ships that had survived the war in good condition. The 328 bullet holes caused by machine gun fire from low -flying planes were poorly repaired by the KD staff by September 1945. After approval by the American authorities, the ship was able to sail to Cologne's Rheinauhafen on February 21, 1946 on its own . There the camouflage was removed and further maintenance work was carried out. After completion, the American allies confiscated the ship on March 31, 1946 and transferred it to Assmannshausen . The Tour Center Assmannshausen carried out recreational trips with the ship three times a week for soldiers of the US Army . After the Tour Center was dissolved in November, the Cologne-Düsseldorfer was able to dispose of the ship again. In the Düsseldorf harbor it was converted into a hotel ship with 20 double cabins. It was used as a hotel ship in the Berger Hafen in Düsseldorf in the winter of 1946/47 and between July 1, 1947 and the spring of 1948 . In the spring months it was used again for recreational trips through a charter contract for the Assmannshausen Rest Center . From August 28, 1948, the Cologne-Düsseldorfer used the ship five times a week for excursions. After the rest of the war damage had been repaired in the winter of 1948/49, the Mainz could be used again on the high-speed journey between Cologne and Mainz from April 14, 1949. The property was transferred back to the DGNM at this time .

1950s and 1960s

The ship was completely modernized when it was in the shipyard during the winter breaks from 1950 to 1955. Among other things, the lower deck was given a different division of the utility rooms and staff cabins; a wooden roof with solid side walls up to the wheel arches was also installed on the upper deck instead of the previous awnings. At the end of the work, the steam engine was converted from coal to oil firing in early 1956.

At noon on June 12, 1956, during a turning maneuver by Mainz near the Koblenz gauge house, there was a collision with the 800 t motor ship Elise , which was driving uphill and was steered by an 18-year-old sailor without a Rhine boatman's license. The passenger ship was badly damaged on the port side behind the wheel arch. Shortly after the master with the damaged vessel reached the shallow bank in Koblenz-Neuendorf at Rhine kilometer 592.5, which he had planned for evacuation , the ship sank as a result of the strong water ingress. The 91 passengers and 40 crew members could be picked up by smaller boats and the water police . Due to the strong current of the flood-bearing Rhine, the anchor chains tore and the Mainz turned with her bow to the middle of the river. The hull broke through just behind the wheel arches. Only the superstructures on the upper decks held the hull together. With the help of the lifting jacks Kondor , Arend , Titan and Cyclop , the damaged vessel was lifted on June 28th. Still hanging in the cables , the ship's hull was makeshiftly repaired and then anchored near the shore. On July 4, the non-maneuverable shipwreck was towed to the Cologne shipyard for repairs. The salvage costs were 750,000  DM . During the almost one year accident-related stay in the shipyard, the ship was again completely refurbished , a new rowing chair and a modern chimney were installed. The repair and conversion costs were DM 1,000,000. The number of passengers was reduced to 1,600 at the official inspection by the Cologne Ship Inspection Commission. After the 1963 summer season, the newly built Loreley passenger ship took over the express service on the Cologne – Mainz route. The Mainz was used in scheduled and excursion traffic. In 1965 the number of passengers was increased to 1790. On May 16, 1967, the DGMN and the Preußisch-Rheinische Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft merged to form the Cologne-Düsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt AG . Ownership of all ships of the two companies was transferred to the new company.

From 1970 until decommissioning

On September 4, 1970, the captain tried to moor the Mainz downhill in heavy gusts of wind. On the second try both the failed engine telegraph and the steering gear so that the ship first, the KD pier rammed and then against the pier of the ferry Bingen-Rudesheim drove. A quay wall finally slowed the ship. It was badly damaged on the port side on the wheel arch and on the stern roof. The two piers were torn from the bank and sank into the Rhine. After an emergency repair in its shipyard, the Mainz was ready to go again. All damage caused by the accident was repaired in the Dutch IJssel shipyard in spring 1971 . From 1973 onwards, the ship had a high need for renovation due to its age, which led to several visits to the shipyard every year. In particular, the dilapidated ship's floor, the engine, the boiler and the steering gear had to be repaired several times.

When there was again a great need for repairs after the 1980 summer season, the management of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer decided not to use the paddle steamer, which was no longer economically viable, in the following year. The last scheduled deployment was an evening trip on the Koblenz – Boppard – Koblenz route on September 27, 1980. The next day, the Mainz drove to the Cologne-Niehl port without passengers , where it was shut down with immediate effect and decommissioned in October 1981. Until 1985 it was in harbor basin 4a - the so-called "KD-Hafen" - without any further use. In July 1985 the shipping company signed a donation agreement with the Society for the Promotion of the German Rhine Maritime Museum in Mannheim . On August 31, 1985, the new owner had the passenger ship transferred from the motor ship Haniel 62 to Speyer for conversion .

Museum ship Mannheim

Permanent exhibition in the museum ship

In the yard Joseph Brown was Kasko of 18 October rehabilitated by January 1986, and preserved. The ship received a heating system that was independent of the steam boilers and a closed sewage system. The interior was then converted for future use as an exhibition ship. The steam engine and paddle wheels were made popular so that they could be driven by an electric motor and used for demonstration purposes. The renovation and conversion costs were DM 1,400,000. On October 2nd, the ship, renamed Museumschiff Mannheim , was transferred to the berth below the Kurpfalzbrücke on the Neckar in Mannheim . On October 17, 1986, the sponsoring association handed over the completed ship to the State Museum for Technology and Work in Mannheim (since 2009 Technoseum ) in a festive setting . In the two exhibition rooms on the main deck , visitors are informed about the history of inland navigation using many ship models . The museum set up several experimental stations for children to explore the natural area of ​​the Neckar. A restaurant and an event area were set up on the upper deck .

The ship has been out of service since December 31, 2019, because the “TÜV” and the mooring permit from the city of Mannheim have expired. There is a risk that the last large Rhine steamer will be scrapped.

• Pictures of the museum ship Mannheim
• 

  Transfer trip to Speyer, August 31, 1985

• 

  Visit of the paddle steamer Goethe ,
  August 8, 1989

• 

  Visit of the paddle steamer Goethe ,
  August 8, 1989

• 

  Rear side view, 2010

• 

  Front side view, 2011

literature

• Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, ISBN 3-00-016046-9 .
• AF Napp-Zinn: 100 Years of Cologne-Düsseldorf Rhine Steam Shipping, in particular destruction and reconstruction 1939–1953 , M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne 1953.
• Stephan Nuding: 175 years of Cologne-Düsseldorf Deutsche Rheinschiffahrt AG , Schardt Oldenburg 2001, ISBN 978-3-8984-1035-9 .
• Armin A. Hummel: The Ruthof shipyard in Mainz-Kastel and Regensburg, 1871 - 1975 . Edition Winterwork Borsdorf 2018, ISBN 978-3-96014-456-4 .

Web links

Commons : Mainz  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Mainz page on www.rhein-neckar-industriekultur.de
• Page about the museum ship Mannheim on the Techoseum website
• Article by Karl Josef Klöhs in the Generalanzeiger Bonn of March 30, 2005: Cologne-Düsseldorfer - a fleet without ships

Footnotes

1. ↑ Flyer of the Technoseum on the Mannheim Museum Ship (PDF; 1.6 MB) , accessed on August 11, 2012
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ship Investigation Commission Cologne: Official ship certificate from May 31, 1957 . Quoted from Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826–2004 , p. 586
3. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Köln-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, p. 581
4. ↑ State Museum for Technology and Work in Mannheim (Hrsg.): Museumsschiff Mannheim - On the history of construction and tradition
5. ^ Ship inspection commission Mainz: Official ship certificate from May 13, 1929 . Quoted from Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826–2004 , p. 582
6. ↑ Article by Karl Josef Klöhs from March 30, 2005 in the Generalanzeiger Bonn: Cologne-Düsseldorfer - a fleet without ships ( Memento of the original from April 24, 2014 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. , accessed on August 11, 2012  
7. ^ War diaries of the PRDG chairman Dr. Walter Hempel. Quoted from Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826–2004 , p. 583 u. 584
8. ^ Ship investigation commission Cologne: Official ship certificate from May 14, 1956 . Quoted from Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826–2004 , p. 585
9. ↑ Article in the Rhein-Zeitung of June 13, 1956: A chain of unfortunate circumstances
10. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, p. 585
11. ^ Ship investigation commission Cologne: Official ship certificate from March 15, 1965 . Quoted from Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826–2004 , p. 587
12. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Köln-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, p. 587
13. ↑ The ship's propeller, issue 5/1986: The Ship Portrait - paddle steamer Mainz . TRITON Verlag GmbH (Ed.), Radevormwald 1986, p. 52, ISSN  0179-3195
14. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Köln-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, p. 588
15. ^ Georg Fischbach: The ships of the Cologne-Düsseldorfer 1826-2004 , self-published, Marienhausen 2004, p. 589 u. 590
16. ↑ Page about the Mannheim Museum Ship on the Techoseum website , accessed on August 11, 2012
17. ↑ Mannheim Museum Ship: From Monument to Wreck? On: rnz.de from January 14, 2020.

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on August 18, 2012 in this version .

Coordinates: 49 ° 29 ′ 40.8 "  N , 8 ° 28 ′ 8.4"  E