Maipú (ship, 1951)
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The Maipú was an Argentine passenger ship that sank off Wangerooge in the fall of 1951 .
history
The Maipú was built on behalf of the Argentine state shipping company “Dodero” at Koninklijke Maatschappij “De Schelde” in Vlissingen ( hull number 267). The construction costs amounted to 26 million guilders. It was the second in a series of ships for the Argentine state shipping company. The keel was laid in October 1949, the launch on January 20, 1951.
On June 25, 1951, the Maipú embarked on her maiden voyage from Hamburg a . a. led to Buenos Aires via Bilbao , Vigo and Lisbon . After her sister ship Yapeyú , she was only the second larger passenger ship to be moored in the port of Hamburg after the Second World War . In early September 1951 the ship called again in Hamburg.
Downfall
On November 4, 1951, was Maipú on their way to Hamburg at 7:32 in the morning in the fog seven nautical miles north of the island Wangerooge by the American troopship General ML Hersey rammed. (Position 53 ° 54 ′ 42 ″ N , 7 ° 52 ′ 30 ″ E ) The ship sank within three hours. The 158-strong crew and 80 passengers were able to save themselves in the boats. There were 38 women and eight children under the age of ten among the passengers. Seven ships took part in the rescue operation, including the two deep- sea tugs Seebär and Seefalke . Some of the shipwrecked were picked up by General ML Hersey . The last lifeboat was not discovered in the fog until more than three hours after the accident. An attempt to drag the already deserted Maipú into shallower waters failed because the ship was already too big. In total, the Maipú had only made four Atlantic crossings.
After the sinking, the wreck of the Maipú, lying at a depth of around 25 meters, represented an obstacle to shipping. In 1955 the passenger ship had sunk around four meters into the grinding sand . After obtaining permission from the Argentine government, large parts of the wreck were blown away in the winter of 1964/65. The remains of the ship are still on the bottom of the North Sea.
description
The Maipú was designed as an emigration ship and could take up to 729 passengers in the tourist class. Only 13 passengers could be accommodated in a small first class. There were also holds for the transport of bulk and general cargo and holds for the transport of refrigerated loads such as meat and fruit. The holds were in the front and rear of the ship. Several booms for cargo handling were installed here.
The ship of two powered two-stroke - ten-cylinder - diesel engines of Werkspoor - Sulzer , the two propellers worked. The ship reached a speed of 18 knots .
literature
- HANSA - Zeitschrift für Schiffahrt, Schiffbau, Hafen 83 (1951), No. 28 of July 14, 1951, p. 1089.
- Otto Mielke: Disasters at Sea - The great sea emergencies and self-sacrificing rescue acts of our century , Oldenburg 1957, pp. 35–44.
Footnotes
- ↑ a b c Manuel Rodriguez Aguilar: El naufragio del Maipu , Historia y Arqueología Marítima.
- ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt , June 25, 1951.
- ^ Hamburger Abendblatt, September 3, 1951.
- ^ Hamburger Abendblatt, November 5, 1951.
- ↑ Maipú Historia y Arqueología Marítima.
- ^ Ship Sinks After Collision , The Cairns Post, November 5, 1951.
- ^ New York Times , November 5, 1951.
- ^ Hamburger Abendblatt May 5, 1955.
- ^ Hamburger Abendblatt, September 10, 1986.