Milwaukee (ship, 1929)
 The identical sister ship St. Louis
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The Milwaukee was a 1929 transatlantic passenger ship of the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG), which was used in passenger traffic to New York . During the Second World War used as a barge ship by the Kriegsmarine , the ship was in British hands from 1945 under the name Empire Waveney and was scrapped in Scotland in 1947.
The ship
The Milwaukee was a 16,699 GRT motor ship that was built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg-Steinwerder for the North America service of the HAPAG shipping company. The 175.52 meter long and 22.08 meter wide ship was launched on February 20, 1929 and was christened by Lydia Paetow Hoan, wife of Daniel Hoan , Mayor of Milwaukee from 1916 to 1940 . The Milwaukee was designed to carry 251 passengers in first class, 122 in second class and 330 in tourist class. The ship had a radio station that was equipped by the Deutsche Betriebsgesellschaft für wireless Telegraphie mbH (DEBEG). The call sign of Milwaukee was DIDP.
The Milwaukee was powered by four double-acting six - cylinder two - stroke diesel engines (type MAN , licensed by Blohm & Voss) with an output of 3000 PSe each, which enabled the ship to reach a speed of 16.5 knots. She was the sister ship of the St. Louis (16,732 GRT), which was launched on August 2, 1928 at the Bremer Vulkan , and which was best known for her “ Voyage of the Damned ” in 1939.
history
After completion on June 11, 1929, the Milwaukee set off on her maiden voyage from Hamburg to New York. Except for occasional cruises , the ship remained primarily in the North Atlantic passenger traffic in its first years of service. On December 24, 1933, Nordische Rundfunk AG broadcast the Milwaukee Christmas party, which was broadcast over 1300 kilometers, on German radio programs.
From 1936 the Milwaukee was only used as a pure cruise ship with space for 600 passengers. After modifications, the ship had a slightly increased volume of 16,754 GRT. The Milwaukee was very popular as a cruise ship and often carried passengers in the tourist class who had bought a trip through the National Socialist organization Kraft durch Freude (KdF). In 1939 Eva Braun took the Milwaukee on a cruise to the Norwegian fjords.
With the outbreak of World War II, the civil use of Milwaukee ended . From 1940 until the end of the war she served as a living and hospital ship for the Navy .
In 1945 it fell into the hands of the British as spoils of war in Kiel . The British government placed the ship under the management of the Cunard Line , which used it as a troop transport under the name Empire Waveney . On March 1, 1946, the ship sank in the port of Liverpool after a fire on board . Two months later, the former Milwaukee was lifted and towed to Dalmuir, Scotland, where it was scrapped in 1947.
literature
- E. Gödecke, B. Bleicken: “St. Louis ”and“ Milwaukee ”- the two new twin-screw cargo and passenger motor ships on the Hamburg-America Line. In: Journal of the Association of German Engineers , Volume 73, No. 29 (July 20, 1929) and No. 31 (August 3, 1929), pp. 1015-1021 and 1092-1094.