Reichspostdampfer
As Reichspostdampfer ( RPD ) ships were referred to by the operators of subsidized regular German mail steamer connections had been built for this.
NDL to East Asia and Australia
In 1881 the imperial government presented a memorandum on the improvement of trade relations with East Asia and Australia . A bill on the establishment of imperial mail steamer lines to East Asia and Australia was drafted, but rejected by the Reichstag in 1884 . In the newly elected Reichstag at the end of 1884, and with the acquisition of colonies in Africa in 1884/85 and in the Pacific in 1885, the mood changed. In 1885 the Reichstag (March 23, 1885) and the Federal Council approved a legislative proposal introduced by the postal administration under Heinrich von Stephan regarding a mail steamship connection to East Asia and Australia, but the proposal for an additional line to Africa was rejected. In July, Reich Chancellor Bismarck and Hermann Heinrich Meier , the head of North German Lloyd , signed a contract to carry out this traffic, which also stipulated that new steamers had to be built in Germany for operation. The contract regulated speeds, ports of call and the frequency of connections. It was revised several times and extended from 1898 to 1914. The NDL had a total of 31 steamers built for these lines by 1908. In addition, a large number of other steamers operated by the NDL were also used on the post lines.
Start of services
On June 30, 1886, the converted steamer Oder (3158 BRT, built in 1874) opened the service to East Asia. Earlier, the new Reichspostdampfer was Stettin started to transfer, the supplementary line Hong Kong - Japan should operate and the Or the new launched Luebeck their transfer to Australia, the local extension line Sydney - Apia ( Samoa should operate). The first trip on the Australian line was made by the also converted Salier (3083 BRT, built in 1875) from July 14, 1886 . Their sister ships, the Hohenzollern , Habsburg and Hohenstaufen , were made available for the Australian service , and the similar Neckar , Nuremberg and Braunschweig ships for the service to East Asia ; Reserve ship was the similar General Werder . These Strasbourg-class ships were built in England between 1874 and 1876 for the Atlantic Services of the NDL. From 1886/1887 the three Reichspost steamers of the Prussian class came into operation.
Secondary lines
The service on the Trieste - Brindisi - Port Said branch was taken over by the Braunschweig steamer for the first voyage on July 13, 1886 ; From August the steamers Adler (1356 BRT, built in 1884 Flensburg) and Sperber (898 BRT, built in 1871) were used. The Szczecin took up the service Hong Kong - Kobe on August 13, 1886, the Lübeck from Sydney via Tonga to Apia / Samoa. In 1893, the line from Trieste to Alexandria, which was mainly used for tracking mail, was canceled in a contract change, as the mail steamers now took the post in Genoa and Naples on board. The loss-making Samoa line was also canceled and replaced on April 27, 1893 by a line from Singapore to the colony of German New Guinea , which was initially served by the Lübeck , then by the converted sister ship Stettin and extended to Sydney in 1900 .
After trial runs of the Munich 1900/1901 between Australia and China, the Singapore-German New Guinea line was replaced in 1904 by a new branch line Sydney- Rabaul - Hong Kong- Japan with the Prince Waldemar and the Prince Sigismund , with the subsidized part ending in Hong Kong. April 1904 to December 1906, and from April 1909, an additional post line from Singapore to German New Guinea was set up with Manila . Then there was the island service with the old Sumatra from Rabaul.
Hapag participation
Two Imperial mail steamers of the Barbarossa class were commissioned by Hapag , which participated in the post line to East Asia from 1900 to 1904. In 1904 she kept the Hamburg for the North Atlantic traffic, but gave the Kiautschou to the NDL (renamed Princess Alice ) against five cargo ships. Hapag continued to operate a freight line to East Asia.
Reichspostdampfer-Linie of the German East Africa Line
In May 1890, following a change in the law, the Reich government concluded another contract with the German East Africa Line (DOAL), which was founded especially for this purpose, for a mail steamer line to East Africa. The aim was not only to support German colonial interests , but also to share in the traffic, especially to the Boer republics in South Africa . The DOAL had a total of 20 ships built for service on this line between 1890 and 1914. The DOAL also uses other steamers on the post line. The opening journey began the steamer Reichstag (2202 BRT, year 1889th) on 23 July 1890. In June, the new company had at Blohm & Voss built sister ships Eduard Bohlen and Aline Woermann of the Woermann Line bought as Reichstag or Federal Council got going. This line also had two branch lines ( Coastal Service of the German East Africa Line ): the coast line, which called at the ports of the colony of German East Africa and Zanzibar , and the so-called Portuguese line, which called south at the ports of Mozambique . The DOAL line to Bombay was not an imperial post steamer line . In 1900 the service around Africa was introduced, which alternated first in the west or east around Africa. At the same time, the so-called intermediate line was created, which ensured a fortnightly frequency on the route through the Mediterranean to East Africa.
From autumn 1907 ships of the Woermann-Linie and Hapag were also used on the Reichspostdampferlinie under the management of the DOAL as part of a new joint operating agreement.
Other mail steamer lines
Many other lines and ships were referred to as "mail steamship lines" or mail steamers. A list "Deutsche Postdampfer-Linien 1899" lists 42 lines, of which only nine describe the Reichspostdampferdienst:
- two lines to East Asia (start Bremerhaven and Hamburg)
- the Singapore – German New Guinea branch line
- the line to Australia
- two lines to East Africa (to Delagoa Bay and to the port of Durban )
- three coastlines of the DOAL .
Then there are:
- six lines to the USA (five to New York - three from the NDL , two from Hapag - and the NDL to Baltimore )
- eight Hapag lines to the West Indies (terminal ports Puerto Barrios / Guatemala , Cienfuegos / Cuba , Veracrux / Mexico , Cartagena / Colombia , Port Limon / Costa Rica , Progreso / Mexico, Jeremie / Haiti )
- four lines to Santos , Brazil (three from HSDG , one from NDL)
- three lines to Buenos Aires , Argentina (two of the NDL, one of the HSDG)
- two lines to Callao , Peru of the DDG Kosmos
- four lines to West Africa of the Woermann Line (terminal ports Loango / Republic of the Congo , Sherbro / Sierra Leone , Cotonou / Benin , Luanda / Angola )
- a line to South West Africa of the Woermann Line to Cape Town
such as
- two lines from Genoa , Italy, to New York of the NDL and the Hapag
- two lines from Zanzibar to Bombay of the DOAL
- a line from Shanghai via Tsingtau to Tientsin operated by the Jebsen shipping company .
Of course, the Reich Postal Administration paid for the transport of the post on all lines.
Shanghai – Tsingtau – Tientsin
Only in the last case was there a subsidy agreement because the German government was interested in a regular connection of the Kiautschou lease area in China. With the shipowner Michael Jebsen sen. From Aabenraa , two contracts were signed in 1898 to ensure regular traffic to the colony. Jepsen has been active in East Asia since 1881 and initially used small freighters on the line ( Mathilde , Apenrade , Knivsberg ) and, after signing the subsidy contract, bought the steamer Santelmo (1588 GRT), built in Great Britain in 1891 , which he brought into service as Tsintau . Jepsen also commissioned a new building. The governor Jaeschke (1738 GRT, 11 kn, 55 passengers), built by Howaldt , arrived in Shanghai in March 1901. In the meantime, the general manager Albert Ballin had "forced" Hapag Jepsen to sell the line so that the ship was taken over by Hapag on arrival in Shanghai, which operated the line without subsidies.
In addition to the former ships of the Jebsen shipping company, she also deployed four other ships:
- 1898–1910 Tsintau ex Santelmo (Bj. 1891 Blackwood, Port Glasgow, 1588 BRT, 10 kn, 38 passengers)
- 1901-1914 Governor Jaeschke (b.1900 Howaldt, Kiel, 1738 BRT, 11 kn, 55 passengers), laid up in Honolulu in 1914
- 1905-1910 Peiho ex Medan, Maha Vajiravudh (Bj. 1899 Burmeister, Copenhagen, 779 GRT, 9.5 kn 18 passengers)
- 1905-1912 Admiral von Tirpitz (Bj. 1905 Seebeck, Bremerhaven, 2007 BRT, 11 kn, 112 passengers)
- 1905-1914 State Secretary Kraetke (b. 1905 Howaldt, Kiel, 2009 BRT, 11 kn, 116 passengers), hung up in Honolulu in 1914
- 1905-1914 Sikiang (Bj. 1907 Koch, Lübeck, 1840 BRT, 11 kn, 20 passengers), launched in 1914 in Shanghai
Hong Kong – Micronesia – Sydney
A similar problem of inadequate connection existed with the colony of German New Guinea , which was reached by the branch line of the Reichspostdampferdienst from Singapore via Sumatra, the end of which had meanwhile become the seat of government of the area, Herbertshöhe . From July 1900, the NDL also tried to organize traffic from Australia via German New Guinea to China . This service ran from Simpsonhafen to Yap and on via Saipan (a long detour that lasted a long time, hardly brought freight and kept urgent goods off the line) to Hong Kong ; he left the bulk of the Caroline Islands , the Marianas, and the Marshall Islands aside. In addition, the deployed Munich (1889 Fairfields, 4803 GRT) stranded on her third voyage on February 3, 1901 in front of Yap and was sold wrecked. The Jaluit Society offered a regular connection not only between Australia and their possessions in Micronesia , but also beyond Jaluit to Ponape and Yap and to Pagan with their steamer Oceana (ex Harold , built in 1891, 684 GRT). From January 1, 1901, the German Reich paid a subsidy for this. After the failure of Munich , the company even extended its line to Hong Kong. The old steamer's service was short-lived, as the Oceana ran aground in Jaluit on December 29, 1903. After an emergency repair in Sydney on January 21, 1904, it could only be determined that a repair was not worthwhile.
It was therefore replaced by the new Germania (1096 GRT, 11 kn, 32 passengers), which had been built at the Germania shipyard in Kiel for this service and which left Hong Kong for Sydney for the first time on December 9, 1904. Germania made 57 trips by 1914 . Her last trip was from Hong Kong on June 12, 1914 via Palau , Yap , Oleai , Saipan , Truk , Ponape , Kosrae to Jaluit (July 11) and on via Nauru , to Rabaul and Sydney (July 30). On the way it had crossed a typhoon and had some damage. During the repairs, the war broke out and the Germania was confiscated.
The Germania ran next to the new Reichspostdampferzweig line operated by the NDL from October 19, 1904 between Hong Kong and Sydney (Austral-Japan Line), which was operated by the little Prinzendampfer and a third ship (most recently Coblenz ), and next to the one in the supplementary agreement of July 2 1909 agreed with the Lloyd, so-called island service of old Sumatra within the colony.
Remarks
- ^ Georg Bessell: Norddeutscher Lloyd - History of a Bremen shipping company , Bremen 1957, page 49
- ↑ see Kludas: The History of German Passenger Shipping, Volume II Expansion on All Seas 1890-1900 , Appendix 5
- ↑ Mail steamer to Tsingtau , see Kludas: The History of German Passenger Shipping, Volume II Expansion on All Seas 1890-1900 , Chapter 16, pp. 204 ff.
- ^ [1] picture of the Oceana
- ↑ [2] Pictures and History of Germania
- ↑ [3] (PDF file; 713 kB) Timetables and data from Germania
literature
- Arnold Kludas : The ships of the North German Lloyd 1857 to 1919 . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, 1991, ISBN 3-7822-0524-3 .
- Arnold Kludas : The History of German Passenger Shipping 1850 to 1990 . Ernst Kabel Verlag, 1986.
- Christine Reinke-Kunze: History of the Reichspostdampfer. Connection between the continents 1886–1914. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft 1994, ISBN 3-7822-0618-5 .
Web links
List of Reichspostdampfer of the NDL and the Hapag
Built for the Reichspostdampferdienst
1. Use | Surname | tonnage | shipyard | Status / fate |
06/17/1886 | Szczecin | 1815 GRT 2230 GRT |
AG Vulcan , Szczecin |
6.1886 transferred to Hong Kong for branch line to Japan (13.8. 1st trip), 8.1987-1892 branch line Brindisi - Port Said , 1896 reconstruction, Singapore - German New Guinea branch line, 1900 extension of the branch line Sydney- DNG-Singapore, 1903 sold to China 1910 Loong Yue , 1917 Ryuyu Maru , broken up in 1931 |
06/30/1886 | Lübeck | 1815 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
6.1886 transferred to Sydney for branch line to Apia / Samoa, 1893 new branch line Singapore-German-New Guinea branch line, sold in 1895 Gaisen Maru , stranded in 1903 |
11/20/1886 | Danzig | 1852 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
February 11, 1987-1892 Trieste - Port Said branch , sold to Sloman Frascati in 1896 , moved to Great Britain in 1900, stranded in the Bahamas in 1902 |
11/03/1886 | Prussia | 4577 GRT 5295 GRT |
AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1st trip to Australia, 2 months in quarantine due to smallpox , 6.1887 1st trip to East Asia, 1894 conversion, 1908 service Mediterranean-Black Sea , 1909 sold for demolition |
02/09/1887 | Bavaria | 4574 GRT 5034 GRT |
AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1st trip to East Asia, reconstruction in 1893, to Australia for the first time on 9.1895, service Mediterranean-Black Sea in 1908, sold for demolition in 1909 |
04/06/1887 | Saxony | 4571 GRT 5026 GRT |
AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1st trip to East Asia, reconstruction in 1893, to Australia for the first time on 2.1895, service Mediterranean-Black Sea in 1908, sold for demolition in 1909 |
10/02/1889 |
Kaiser Wilhelm II. 1900: Hohenzollern |
6990 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
to Australia, six voyages, from 1890 cruises and North Atlantic service , Mediterranean-New York 6.1906 cruises in the Mediterranean and Marseille-Alexandria service, 10 April 1908 stranded near Alghero Sardinia |
08/29/1894 | Prince Regent Luitpold | 6288 GRT 6595 GRT |
F. Schichau , Danzig | 1st trip to Australia, 1902 also East Asia, 1910 reconstruction, Mediterranean service, launched in Messina in 1914 / confiscated by Italy in 1915 , Pietro Calvi , broken up in 1928 |
01/02/1895 | Prince Heinrich | 6263 GRT 6636 GRT |
F. Schichau, Danzig | 1st trip to East Asia, 3.1907 also Australia, 1908 conversion, Mediterranean service, launched in Lisbon in 1914 / confiscated by Portugal in 1916 , Porto , broken up in 1925 |
11/11/1896 | Frederick the Great | 10531 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1st trip to Australia, 3.1907 Genoa-New York, 6.1914 Germany-Baltimore, launched in New York in 1914 / confiscated by US Shipping Board in 1917, City of Honolulu , October 12, 1922 400 nm off Los Angeles on fire and sunk |
01/08/1897 | Barbarossa | 10,769 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 1st trip to Australia, 3.1906 Genoa-New York, 1912 Germany-Baltimore and other US ports, launched in New York in 1914 / confiscated by the US Shipping Board in 1917, scrapped in 1924 |
11/17/1897 | Queen Luise | 10,566 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1. Voyage as a mail steamer to Australia, 2.1904 Genoa-New York, 4.1914 Germany-Baltimore, 1919 delivered to Shipping Controller, London , 1921 Omar , 1924 Edison , 1935 broken up |
01/20/1897 | Bremen | 10522 GRT 11540 GRT |
F. Schichau, Danzig | 1. Voyage as a mail steamer to Australia (16 round trips in total until 1911), burnt out / rebuilt in Hoboken in 1900, also North Atlantic service , delivered to Shipping Controller, London in 1919, ran as Constantinople for the Byron Line, 1924 King Alexander , broken up in 1929 |
04.10.1899 | King Albert | 10531 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1. Voyage as a mail steamer to East Asia, 3.1906 Genoa-New York, launched in Genoa in 1914 / confiscated by Italy in 1915 , Ferdinando Palasciano , 1923 Italia , broken up in 1926 |
03/12/1900 | Hamburg | 10643 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1. Voyage of a Hapag mail steamer to East Asia, 6.1904 Hamburg-New York (no longer in the Reichspostdampferdienst), 4.1905 Naples-New York, interned in New York in 1914 / 13.9.-28.10.1914 a trip as Red Cross to Rotterdam, 1917 US Shipping Board, Powhatan , 1920 New Rochelle , 1921 Hudson , 1922 President Fillmore , broken up in 1928 |
07/11/1900 | Great Elector | 13,183 GRT | F. Schichau, Danzig | 1. Voyage as a mail steamer to Australia, many cruises from 4.1903, launched in New York in 1914 / confiscated by US Shipping Controller in 1917, Aeolus , broken up in 1937 |
10/30/1900 | Princess Irene | 10,881 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1. Voyage as a mail steamer to East Asia, 4.1903 Genoa-New York, launched in New York in 1914 / confiscated by US Shipping Controller in 1917, Pocahontas , 1923 to 1932 back in service with the NDL, 1923: Bremen (III) / 1928: Karlsruhe (II ) / 1932 demolition |
December 25, 1900 |
Princess Alice to 1904: Kiautschou |
10911 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
as Kiautschou , Hapag 1st trip to East Asia, / 1904 to NDL, renamed / 1914 interned in Cebu / Philippines, 1917 to US Shipping Board, Princess Matoika , 1922 President Arthur , 1927 City of Honolulu , burnt out in 1930, broken up in 1933 |
04/13/1903 | Zieten | 8066 GRT | F. Schichau, Danzig | 1. Voyage as a mail steamer to East Asia, 11.1903 also to Australia, also 9 trips to the USA , 1914 in Mozambique / 1917 confiscated by Portugal , Tungue , 27.11.1917 sunk by UB 17 |
04/15/1903 | Roon | 8022 GRT | Tecklenborg AG, Geestemünde | 1st trip to East Asia (total of 14), 2.1908 also to Australia (10), also 8 trips to the USA, interned in Tjitatjap in 1914, delivered to Shipping Controller, London, 1919, Greece Constantinoupolis in 1921, broken up in 1925, |
08/05/1903 | Seydlitz | 7942 GRT | F. Schichau, Szczecin | 1st trip to East Asia (total of 6), 2.1905 also to Australia (18), also 8 trips to the USA, 3.1913 even a trip to South America , escort ship of the cruiser squadron, interned in Argentina on 1.1915, again in service with the NDL from 1921 to 1931, broken up in 1933 |
09/02/1903 | Gneisenau (I) | 8081 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin | 1. Trip to Australia (total of 17), 7.1905 also to East Asia (3), also 10 trips to the USA , 1919 delivered to Shipping Controller, London, 1921 Italy Citta di Napoli , broken up in 1930 |
08/31/1904 | Scharnhorst (I) | 8131 GRT | Tecklenborg AG, Geestemünde | 1st trip to Australia (19 in total), 5/1904 also to East Asia (7), also 5 trips to the USA , delivered to France in 1919 ( CGT , La Bourdonais ), broken up in 1934 |
09/26/1906 | Bülow | 9028 GRT | Tecklenborg AG, Geestemünde | 1st trip as a mail steamer to East Asia (total of 18), 1.1907 also to Australia (3), also 5 trips to the USA , launched in Lisbon in 1914 / confiscated by Portugal in 1916 , names: Tras-os-Montes , Nyassa , broken up in 1951 |
02/20/1907 | Yorck | 8901 GRT | F. Schichau, Danzig | 1st trip as a mail steamer to Australia (4 in total), 10.1907 also to East Asia (17), also 3 trips to the USA , interned in Valparaiso on 10.1914, 1922 to 1929 again in service with the NDL, broken up in 1933 |
04/17/1907 | Kleist | 8950 GRT | F. Schichau, Danzig | 1st trip to Australia (2), also to East Asia (18), also 2 trips to the USA , interned in Padang (Indonesia) in 1914 , extradited to Shipping Controller, London in 1920 , sunk in Japan in 1921 Yoshino Maru , July 1, 1944 |
07/31/1907 | Goeben | 8792 GRT | AG Weser , Bremen | 1. Trip to East Asia, including Australia, 1914 Vigo, extradited to France in 1920 ( CGT , Rousillon ), broken up in 1931 |
07/01/1908 | Derfflinger | 9060 GRT | F. Schichau, Danzig | 1. Voyage as a mail steamer to East Asia, including Australia, arrested off Port Said in 1914, Huntsgreen , again in service with the NDL from 1923 to 1932 , broken up in 1933 |
07/29/1908 | Lützow | 8818 GRT | AG Weser, Bremen | 1. Voyage as a mail steamer to East Asia, also Australia and the USA (4), confiscated in the Suez Canal in 1914, Huntsend , again in service with the NDL from 1924 to 1932 , broken up in 1933 |
07/18/1903 | Prince Waldemar | 3227 GRT | Seebeck shipyard , Geestemünde | Initially Singapore-German-New Guinea-Sydney branch line, 1904 branch line Sydney-Hong Kong- Japan, auxiliary services for the cruiser squadron, then to Honolulu, 4.1917 confiscated by the US Shipping Board, Wacouta , 1921 Yucatan , broken up in 1925, |
09/04/1903 | Prince Sigismund | 3302 GRT | AG Weser, Bremen | Initially Singapore-German-New Guinea-Sydney branch line, 1904 branch line Sydney-Hong Kong- Japan, confiscated in Brisbane in 1914, Bambra , broken up in 1.1927 |
10/13/1904 | Prince Eitel Friedrich | 8865 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1. Voyage to East Asia, equipped as an auxiliary cruiser in Tsingtau, with the cruiser squadron, laid up in Newport News in 1915 / confiscated by the US Shipping Board in 1917, De Kalb , Mount Clay in 1921, broken up in 1934 |
08/09/1906 | Prince Ludwig | 9630 GRT | AG Vulcan, Szczecin |
1. Trip to East Asia, 1914 Bremerhaven, 1920 delivered to Shipping Controller, London, 1921 Orcades , broken up in 1925 |
Used by the NDL on the post lines
1. Use | Surname | tonnage | shipyard | Status / fate |
06/30/1886 | Or | 3,158 GRT | Caird & Co. Ltd., Greenock | May 23, 1874 North Atlantic Service , June 30, 1886 first NDL mail steamer to East Asia, May 30, 1887 stranded near Socotra on her third voyage home, 4 dead |
07/28/1886 | Neckar | 3120 GRT | Caird | 04/17/1874 North Atlantic Service , 07/28/1886 second post steamer of the NDL to East Asia, 1887 also to Australia, 02/14/1894 Naples – New York, 1895 North Atlantic Service , 01/1896 demolition |
08/25/1886 | Nuremberg | 3116 GRT | R. Steele & Co. Ltd., Greenock | 02/17/1874 North Atlantic Service , 08/25/1886 third mail steamer of the NDL to East Asia, 07/13/1887 to Australia for the first time, 1892 to 1895 on the Hong Kong – Japan branch, demolished in 1895 |
07/13/1886 | Braunschweig | 3116 GRT | Steele , | September 1st, 1873 North Atlantic Service , July 13th, 1886 1st mail steamer on the Trieste-Brindisi-Port Said branch line, January 13th, 1887 to East Asia, July 8th, 1891 to Australia, North Atlantic Service again on January 1st, 1896, demolition |
07/14/1886 | Salier | 3083 GRT | Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , Hull | 8.09.1875 North Atlantic service, 1876 also South America , 14.07.1886 first post steamer of the NDL to Australia, 1891 conversion, 12.94 again Atlantic service, 7.06.1896 stranded off Cabo Correbudo (Spain) (279 dead) |
08/11/1886 | Hohenzollern | 3,094 GRT | Earle | December 7, 1873 North Atlantic service, 1876 also South America , July 14, 1886 second mail steamer of the NDL to Australia, 1890 conversion, 1895? on the Hong Kong – Japan branch, sold to Hong Kong in 1899, to Russia in Ussuri in 1900, stranded at Ikibsukishima in May 1900 |
01/26/1887 | Hohenstaufen | 3090 GRT | Earle | 08/29/1874 North Atlantic service, 1881 also South America , 01/26/1887 on the postal line to Australia, 1890 rebuilding, 1897 demolition |
02/23/1887 | Habsburg | 3083 GRT | Earle | 03/11/1876 North Atlantic service, 1876 also South America , 02/23/1887 on post line to Australia, 1891 reconstruction, 04/1895 again Atlantic service , 1898 demolition |
?. ??. 1887 | General Werder | 3020 GRT | Caird | 16.09.1874 North Atlantic Service, launched 1874-79 , reserve ship Reichspostlinien, 1887 to 1892 on the Hong Kong – Japan branch, traded in in 1892 for the new HH Meier building , Midnight Sun , 1912 demolished |
05/29/1889 | Dresden | 4802 GRT | Fairfield SB & Eng. Co. Ltd., Glasgow | 5.01.1889 delivery, 10.4. Maiden voyage to New York, May 29th , 1889 1st deployment on the imperial post line to China (new building not built in Germany!), July 9th, 1890 also first deployment to Australia, deployment on all lines of the NDL, Helius sold to Great Britain in 1903, to Turkey in 1906 Bezzi Alem , sunk in 1914 |
1.04.1891 | Stuttgart | 5349 GRT | Fairfield | 12/30/1889 delivery, 01/10/1890 maiden voyage to La Plata, 01/04/1891 1st deployment on the imperial post line to China (new building not built in Germany!), 07/01/1896 first deployment to Australia, deployment on all lines of the NDL, 1908 for Demolition sold |
07/22/1891 | Darmstadt | 5316 GRT | Fairfield | 11/26/1890 delivery, maiden voyage to La Plata, 07/22/1891 1st deployment on the imperial post line to China (new building not built in Germany!), 04/10/1895 first deployment to Australia, deployment on all lines of the NDL, sold to Turkey Karadeniz in 1911 , 1923 demolition |
06/22/1892 | Oldenburg | 5317 GRT | Fairfield | 01/27/1891 Delivery, South and North America service, 06/22/1892 1st deployment on the imperial post line to China (new building not built in Germany!), 10/26/1892 first deployment to Australia, deployment on all lines of the NDL, 1911 sold to Turkey Akdeniz , 1930 demolition |
09/28/1892 | Karlsruhe | 5347 GRT | Fairfield | 01.1889 delivery, South and North America service, 28.09.1892 1st deployment on the imperial post line to Australia, 31.01.1894 also first deployment to China, deployment on all lines of the NDL, 1908 sold for demolition |
07/19/1893 | Gera | 5319 GRT | Fairfield | 13.12.1890 delivery, South and North America service, 19.07.1893 1st deployment on the imperial post line to China, 22.11.1893 also first deployment to Australia, deployment on all lines of the NDL, 1909 sold to Italy Valparaiso , 11.10.1917 by UB 48 sunk |
2.06.1897 | Weimar | 5316 GRT | Fairfield | 03/10/1891 delivery, North America service, 06/02/1897 1st deployment on the imperial post line to Australia, 01/31/1894 also first service to China, service on all lines of the NDL, 1908 sold to Italy Santiago , 1909 Armonia , 03/15/1918 by UC 67 sunk |
? .05.1900 | Munich | 4803 GRT | Fairfield | 02/25/1889 Delivery, South and North America service, 5.1900 1st deployment on the Imperial Post Line to Australia, 7.1900 Australia-New Guinea, 01.01.19 Sydney – Shanghai branch, stranded off Yap on February 3, 1902, sold to Shanghai by Gregory Mörch , demolished in 1910 |
? .10. 1889 | Elbe | 4510 GRT | John Elder & Co. Ltd., Glasgow | 06/24/1881 delivery, North Atlantic express steamer, 10.1889 3 mail steamer trips to Australia, then again North Atlantic, sunk after collision in the English Channel in 1895 (332 dead) |
07/18/1900 | Willehad | 5003 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | May 11, 1894 delivery, North and South America service , July 18, 1900 on post to Australia, various North Atlantic services , launched in Boston in 1914 / confiscated by US Shipping Board in 1917 Wyandotte , demolished in 1924 |
09/11/1901 | Rhine | 10 058 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | December 5, 1899 delivery, North Atlantic service , 1900 and later troop transport to East Asia, September 11, 1901 deployment on the post line to Australia, launched in Baltimore in 1914 / confiscated by the US Shipping Board in 1917 |
08/24 1886 | Eagle | 1356 GRT | Flensburg shipbuilding | April 9, 1884 delivery, chartered to the Imperial Navy for Africa service, 1985 service in England , August 24, 1886 Trieste-Port Said branch line, service in England again on August 8, 1897, sold in 1897, Ville de Nantes in 1904 , demolished in 1926 |
09/11/1886 | Sparrowhawk | 898 GRT | Earle | 17.03.1871 purchase, service to England , 8.1886 to 8.1887 Trieste-Port Said branch line (4 voyages), sold in 1894, Ligure in 1897 , Turkiye in 1923 , demolished in 1935 |
?. ??. 1888 | swallow | 932 GRT | Tecklenborg | 5.1883 delivery, England service , 1888 branch line Penang - Sumatra (NDL's own initiative to obtain tobacco as cargo for the mail steamers), chartered to New Guinea company 1891–93 , sold to Singapore in 1894 Lady Mitchell , 1906 Nanto Maru , 1938 demolished |
03/12/1889 | Sumatra | 584 GRT | Howaldt , Kiel | 3/12/1889 transfer drive to Penang, Penang branch line Sumatra, 1891-93 to Guinea-Compagnie chartered, 1904 Island services of Rabaul , 13.9.1914 achieve when trying Timor applied by Australian cruiser sunk 06/26/1923 |
? .04.1904 | Manila | 1790 GRT | Rickmers Schiffbau AG, Geestemünde | 23.03.1904 delivery, 4.1904 branch line Singapore – New Guinea, 12.1906 Sydney – Hong Kong, 4.04.1909 again Singapore – New Guinea, 8.1914 Amboina , 1919 delivered to Great Britain, 1922 China Siang Leem , 1927 Heng Chong , 1928 demolition |
? .09.1907 | Coblenz | 3,169 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | May 5, 1897 delivery, Brazil and North America Service , September 9, 1907 Sydney – New Guinea – Hong Kong branch, 8, 1914 Manila, confiscated by US Shipping Board in 1917 Sachem , 1920 Cuba , 9 September 1923 stranded |
List of imperial mail steamers of the DOAL
Built for the Reichspostdampferdienst
1. Use | Surname | tonnage | shipyard | Status / fate |
04/01/1891 | Chancellor | 2901 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | September 5, 1891 stranded while leaving the Rovuma Delta |
05/27/1891 | Emperor | 2901 GRT | Reiherstieg shipyard , Hamburg | 1901 intermediate line, 1905 Bombay service, 1912 sold to Argentina, no longer in service in 1920 |
04/18/1891 | Peters | 595 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | Used on the coastlines, sold to Syria in 1903, not canceled until 1960 |
05/08/1891 | Emin | 595 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | Using the coastlines, to drive from 12.29.1893 Durban after Laurenço Marques lost |
? .03.1892 | safari | 1433 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | Transferred to East Africa, coast service and line to Bombay, sold to Bombay in 1906, Mansourah in 1907, broken up in 1928 |
10/12/1892 | Chancellor (II) | 3052 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | Sold to Bombay in 1913, stranded off the Maldives on August 14, 1914 |
07/22/1896 | duke | 4993 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 1906 intermediate line, 1911 sold to Portugal Beira , broken up in 1925 |
11/25/1896 | king | 4820 GRT | Reiherstieg shipyard, Hamburg | 1909 intermediate line, 1913 Bombay service, 1914 Dar es Salaam , 17 August 1915 sunk by shelling by the British, wreck not removed until 1955 |
07/04/1900 | Crown Prince | 5645 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 8.1914 Laurenco Marques / 3.1916 confiscated by Portugal Quelimane , broken up in 1927 |
11/20/1901 | Elector | 5655 GRT | Reiherstieg shipyard, Hamburg | May 5, 1904 stranded on the journey home north of Sagres / Portugal |
07/02/1902 | mayor | 5904 GRT | Flensburger SchiffsbauGes ., Flensburg | 1914 Hamburg, Macoris delivered to France in 1920, broken up in 1935 |
??. ??. 1901 | governor | 3381 GRT | Reiherstieg shipyard, Hamburg | 1907 Bombay service, 31.10.1909 stranded while leaving for Bombay between Laurenco Marques and Inhambane |
? .04.1901 | president | 3310 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | November 24, 1901 Intermediate line, 1907 Bombay service, August 8, 1914 from Beira to Lindi , discovered and damaged by the British at 10.14, sunk on September 29, 1915, in the 1960s wreck - filled with concrete - related as part of a pier |
May 6, 1903 | Prince Regent | 6142 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 1914 Las Palmas , delivered to France in 1919 Cordoba , broken up in 1932 |
08/26/1903 | Field Marshal | 6142 GRT | Reiherstieg shipyard, Hamburg | 1914 Dar es Salaam, captured by the British in 1916, renamed Field Marshall , stranded in 1922 to Shanghai Ling Nam , 1928 Hong Kheng , 1947 |
09/30/1905 | Admiral (II) | 6341 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 8.1914 Laurenço Marques, Portugal seized by 3.1916 Laurenço Marques scrapped, 1950 |
05/12/1906 | princess | 6387 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 1914 Hamburg, extradited to France in 1920, General Voyron , broken up in 1934 |
03/04/1911 | general | 8063 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 1914 Messina , to Turkey, confiscated by France in 1918, Azay le Rideau in 1923 , launched in 1932 / scrapped in 1937 |
06/29/1912 | Tabora | 8052 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 1914 Dar es Salaam, sunk by the British on 23 March 1916, wreck removed on site in 1955 |
05/10/1914 | Kigoma | 8156 GRT | Reiherstieg shipyard, Hamburg | Back to Hamburg in 1914, delivered to Great Britain in 1919, Algeria (II) in 1921 , Toledo bought from Hapag in 1922 , employed in Africa from 1927, modernized in 1930, demolished in 1934 |
Used by DOAL on the post lines
1. Use | Surname | tonnage | shipyard | Status / fate |
07/23/1890 | Parliament | 2002 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | ex Eduard Bohlen , November 18, 1889 in service of the Woermann Line , June 7, 1890, first DOAL mail steamer to East Africa, 1902 on the Bombay line, sold in 1910 Turkey Sabah , 1911 Libano Italy, 1914 Fido , 1920 Ida , 1923 demolition |
09/17/1890 | Federal Council | 2192 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | ex Aline Woermann , 31.05.1890 in service with the DOAL, 1903 on the Bombay line, 1909 demolished |
??. ??. 1891 | admiral | 2589 GRT | Swan & Hunter, Newcastle | ex Tosari , 10/17/1890 in service with the Kingsin Line , taken over on 10/16/1891, sold to Great Britain in 1902 Rosalind , 1912 City of Sydney , marooned 17/3/1914 |
03/10/1894 | Setos | 1746 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 06/28/1883 in service with DDG Kosmos , taken over on 03/08/1894, Sansibar –Bombay service, 02/15/1901 sunk in Bombay after collision |
??. ??. 1894 | general | 2361 GRT | Armstrong, Mitchell & Co, Newcastle | ex Salatiga , 8.09.1890 in service of the Kingsin Line, taken over on 2.08.1894, 18.03.1904 new Trieste-Suez-Bombay service, 1909 demolished |
??. ??. 1898 | sultan | 2884 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | ex Virginia , September 4, 1891 in service with Hapag, taken over on December 5, 1898, Bombay service, sold to Japan in 1913 Hachiro Maru , demolished in 1933 |
??. ??. 1902 | Margrave | 3680 GRT | Armstrong, Mitchell & Co, Newcastle | ex Mark , 12/30/1893 in service with NDL, 07/15/1902, 1909 Bombay service (between Bombay- Jeddah pilgrimages ), 8/1914 in Tanga , 8/19/1915 sunk by artillery fire from British warships |
??. ??. 1910 | Commodore | 6013 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | ex Esne , 11.09.1904 in service with DDG Kosmos, 23.09.1910, 1913 Bombay service, 8.1914 in Goa , 2.1916 confiscated by Portugal Mormugao , 1924 Infante de Sagres , 1927 Zaire , 24.10.1929 stranded |
??. ??. 1910 | Usambara | 5,999 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | ex Edfu , 11/21/1903 in service with DDG Kosmos, taken over on 10/10/1910, 1913 Bombay service, 8/1914 in Tenerife , delivered to France in 1919 Montana , 03/22/1928 stranded |
09/12/1907 | Gertrud Woermann | 6465 GRT | Reiherstieg shipyard, Hamburg | 08/28/1907 in service with the Woermann line, also used on the All-around-Africa post line as part of the joint venture, 08.1914 in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil confiscated 06.1917 Curvello , 1927 Cantuaria Guimaraes , 1931 Siqueira Campos , 08.25.1943 after collision stranded |
??. ??. 1907 | Adolph Woermann | 6268 GRT | Reiherstieg shipyard, Hamburg | November 2nd, 1906 in service with the Woermann line, also deployed on the Rund um-Afrika post line as part of the joint venture, August 1914 in Rotterdam , 1916 to Hamburg, 1919 delivered to Great Britain Westminster Abbey , 1921 Netherlands Venezuela , 1938 demolition |
??. ??. 1907 | Windhoek | 6344 GRT | Blohm & Voss AG, Hamburg | 01/25/1906 as Gertrud Woermann in service of the Woermann Line, 04/25/1907 renamed to Hapag /, as part of the joint venture, also used on the Rund um-Afrika post line, 08/1914 in Hamburg, 1919 delivered to Great Britain City of Genoa , 1928 Angola Joao Belo , 1950 demolition |
04/04/1911 | Rhenania | 6455 GRT | Bremer Vulkan , Vegesack | 12.05.1904 in service of Hapag , also used as part of the joint business at the post office line around-Africa, 8.1914 in Naples, Italy by 5.1915 seized Feltre through 08/26/1917 UB 32 sunk |
List of further imperial mail steamers
-
Jaluit Society , see above 3.2 Hong Kong-Micronesia-Sydney
- 1901 Oceana (ex Harold ),
- 1904 Germania (Reichspostdampfer)
- Michael Jebsen, Aabenraa, see above 3.1 Shanghai-Tsingtau-Sydney
- 1898 Tsintau (ex Santelmo ),
- 1901 Governor Jaeschke (Reichspostdampfer)
- Empress Maria Theresia (Reichspostdampfer) ???
- Usaramo (Reichspostdampfer)