Shipping company John W. Olbers
The shipping company John W. Olbers was a shipping and forwarding company in Cuxhaven that operated a liner service with cargo ships between Hamburg and Cuxhaven. The shipping business existed from 1903 to 1967.
history
With the start of the liner service in 1903, the founder John Waldemar Olbers continued the work of his father, who, like his father-in-law, had sailed with a sailor. His first ship, the Hermann , was originally a fish transporter from Rostock , which he brought to the liner service between Cuxhaven and Hamburg after being converted into a cargo ship. Parallel to the regular service, he built up a forwarding business with storage spaces in both cities. During the First World War , operations were suspended and resumed in 1919. During this time, the ship operated weekly on Thursdays from Cuxhaven to Hamburg, the return trip took place on Tuesdays. When John Olbers planned in 1925 to expand its operations, he named the Hermann in John Olbers I order.
A year earlier he had bought a second ship: the Braunsberg , built as a barge , had been converted in 1918 and was called Ajax from 1919 . With the new ship, the shipping company intensified traffic: The John Olbers II sailed from Hamburg to Cuxhaven on Tuesdays and Fridays, the return trips took place on Wednesdays and Saturdays. When John Olbers died on March 31, 1926 at the age of 46, his widow Martha took over the management of the shipping company. Her brother Otto Wulf, founder of what would later become the Otto Wulf diving company, founded a rival liner service between Cuxhaven and Hamburg in 1932. When Otto Wulf gave up his regular service in 1935, he sold his ship to Martha Olbers.
The new owner had the ship last used as a rescue vehicle converted into a cargo ship and named it John Olbers III . During the Second World War , the three ships were spared from being requisitioned by the Navy and continued to operate. However, the John Olbers II sank on May 9, 1941 during an air raid on Hamburg as a result of close hits and had to be scrapped. After the war, the company first invested in a new warehouse and office building.
In 1952 she put a new ship into service, which replaced the John Olbers III and also took over the name. Only a few press reports and photos are available for the new John Olbers III (2), further information is missing. In the 1950s and '60s trucks made the ships facing increasing competition until the ships of the company only pads . After Martha Olbers died in 1962, the heirs sold the two remaining ships in 1967 and 1968. The company also invested in other trucks.
Ships of the shipping company
| Surname | Construction year | Shipyard | Length × width | measurement | period of service | Notes, whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Olbers I | 1898 | Johann Junge shipyard, Wewelsfleth | 23.00 m × 5.50 m | 79 GRT, 36 NRT |
1903-1970 / 71 | Originally the fish transporter Hermann , 1910 conversion and extension to a motor freighter, 1925 renaming to John Olbers I , 1967 out of service, sold for demolition in 1970/71. |
| John Olbers II | 1910 | Gustav Fechter, Koenigsberg | 25.30 m × 5.30 m | 65 GRT, 36 NRT |
1924-1941 | originally built as a Braunsberg barge , 1919 Ajax , rebuilt in the early 30s, extended to 32.50 m and renamed John Olbers 2 , sunk on May 9, 1941 during the British air raid on Hamburg, then scrapped. |
| John Olbers III (1) | 1910 | allegedly Imperial Shipyard Wilhelmshaven , Wilhelmshaven | 20.30 m × 5.60 m | 63 GRT, 25 NRT |
1937-1968 | allegedly built as a cable steamer for the navy, sold in 1922 to Otto Wulf, renamed Otto Wulf , 1932 Carl Fridolf II , 1935 Otto Wulf II , 1937 sold to Martha Olbers as John Olbers III , 1952 decommissioned, sold in 1968, whereabouts unclear. |
| John Olbers III (2) | 1952 | k. A. | k. A. | approx. 130 t | 1952-1967 | According to newspaper reports, commissioned in Cuxhaven in 1952 as a replacement for the first John Olbers III , details of the ship are missing. |
literature
- Reinhart Schmelzkopf: The smallest liner shipping company on the Elbe - John W. Olbers, Cuxhaven , In: Strandgut. Materials on the history of shipping 72 , Cuxhaven 2010, pp. 33–48.
- Reinhart Schmelzkopf: Ships and Cuxhaven , 2nd ext. Edition, Wilhelm Heidsiek Verlag, Cuxhaven 2017, ISBN 3-935459-23-8 .
Web links
- Model of the John Olbers I at the historical shipbuilding group. V. , accessed on April 13, 2019