Prince Waldemar (ship, 1903)

Prince Waldemar (NDL)
Prince Waldemar in Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen
Launching ( ship christening ):	June 3, 1903
Commissioning:	July 18, 1903
Builder:	G.Seebeck AG , Geestemünde
Sister ship:	Prince Sigismund (1903)
Passengers:	28 1st class 40 2nd class 22 3rd class
Crew:	96 men
Building-costs:	1.51 million gold marks
Technical specifications
Measurement:	3,227 GRT
Load capacity:	3550 dw
Length over all:	103.7 m
Width:	12.76 m
Draft :
Machinery:	2 triple expansion steam engines
Number of screws:	2
Power:	2,400 PSi
Top speed:	12 kn
Whereabouts
Confiscated by USA in 1917, canceled in 1925

The Reichspostdampfer Prinz Waldemar was one of two smaller twin-screw steamers that Norddeutsche Lloyd (NDL) had built in 1903 for the branch line of the Reichspostdampferdienst from Sydney via the German New Guinea colony to Singapore . The two-chimney ships built in Bremen for the first time were specially prepared for the tropical voyage and the outstanding ships in this area. In 1903, Prince Waldemar was the last pre-war building of the Seebeck shipyard for the NDL after seaside resort ships , the Brazil steamer Trier 1898, and three steamers for the East Asian coastal voyage ( Nuen Tung , Pitsanulok , Petchaburi ) 1900/1901.

Use for the NDL

After the transfer , Prinz Waldemar , built at the Seebeck shipyard, took up service on the line that was extended from New Guinea to Australia in 1900 and that had been provided by the old Stettin , which was sold in Singapore.

The German Reich wanted to improve the connection to the colony of German New Guinea , the management and supply of which had previously been largely left to the investors there ( New Guinea company until March 30, 1899 and Jaluit company until March 30, 1906).

The NDL had already carried out tests with a connection Australia - German New Guinea - Hong Kong . The steamer Munich (4803 BRT, 1889 Fairfield ), which was used from July 25, 1900, was sold stranded and wrecked in the driveway of Yap on its third voyage in early February 1901 .

With the two new ships, the branch line service was restructured again in 1904. A departure between Hong Kong and Sydney was offered every 12 weeks. In addition to the two "Prinzen", the steamer Willehad (4761 BRT, 1894 Blohm & Voss ) was used on the line from 1904, then the Manila , which was used in 1907 (1909?) By the converted, earlier Brazil steamer Coblenz (3169 BRT , 1897 Blohm & Voss), which was better suited to the new buildings.

In 1908 an additional branch route from Singapore to German New Guinea was set up again, on which the steamer Manila (1790 BRT, 1904 Rickmers shipyard ) sailed.

Both lines existed until the beginning of the First World War and were fixed in 1909 in an additional agreement to the Reichspostdampfervertrag. The NDL ran the line to Hong Kong as an Austral-Japan service from Sydney via Brisbane , Rabaul , Friedrich-Wilhelm-Hafen , Maron ( Hermit Islands - every 2nd trip), Yap , Angaur (every 2nd trip ), Manila , Hong Kong without subsidies to Kobe and Yokohama .

In addition, Lloyd took over the so-called island service with the old Sumatra (584 BRT, 1889 Howaldt ), which he had relocated to Rabaul in 1905 in order to offer touristic tours in the archipelago for travelers.

A postal connection had previously been partially guaranteed by the Jaluit company with its Germania (1096 BRT, 1904 Krupp Germania ), which continued to run its steamer from Hong Kong via the Marianas and Marshall Islands , Rabaul to Sydney. The ship also transported the members of the medical-demographic German New Guinea expedition to New Guinea in October 1913 .

War and post-war deployment

When the war broke out in 1914, the Prinz Waldemar under Captain Jurany was sent from Yokohama to the East Asia Squadron under Vice Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee in Pagan with 2300 tons of coal . With the entourage of the squadron, she followed the squadron via Eniwetok and Majuro to Christmas Island , and then went to Honolulu , where she was laid up.

When the USA entered the war, it was confiscated in 1917 and launched in Seattle as Wacouta . Sold to the New & Cuba Mail Line in 1921 and renamed the Yucatan , the former Prince Waldemar was canceled in 1925.

Sister ship Prinz Sigismund

The Prinz Sigismund , built by AG Weser, came into service shortly after the Prinz Waldemar .

When war broke out in 1914, she was in Brisbane and was confiscated by the British authorities.

As Bambra she got going again and was broken up in Germany in 1927.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bild der Prinz Waldemar ( Memento of the original from February 5, 2012 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. 
2. ↑ with picture in Finchhafen
3. ↑ beautiful picture of Sigismund
4. ↑ Image of Bambra ex Prince Sigismund

annotation

In its service to Brazil and Central America, HAPAG operated the somewhat larger Prinz Sigismund (4689 BRT, 1902 AG Neptun), which remained in service until 1958 (most recently under the Soviet flag) and Prinz Waldemar (4658 BRT, 1902 Reiherstieg shipyard ), which ran aground off Kingston (Jamaica) in 1907.

literature

• Eduard Friesland : From my trip around the world. Memories of Prof. Dr. Eduard Friesland. From the estate of the author, edited by Gustav Friesland, Hong Kong . Hanover 1912 (travel report 1909 Hong Kong-Australia on Reichspostdampfer Prinz Sigismund)
• Carl Herbert: War voyages of German merchant ships , Broschek & Co, Hamburg 1934
• Arnold Kludas : The history of the German passenger shipping , Ernst Pagels, Hamburg 1986-1990.
• Arnold Kludas: The ships of the North German Lloyd 1857-1918 , Köhlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1991, ISBN 3-7822-0524-3 .
• Christine Reinke-Kunze: The history of the Reichspostdampfer , Köhlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1994, ISBN 3-7822-0618-5 .
• Otto J. Seiler: Australienfahrt , ES Mittler & Sohn, Herford 1988, ISBN 3-8132-0270-4 .