Sagitta (ship, 1885)
_-_Bremerhaven_-_1890.jpg) Around 1890 at the Geeste quay
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The Sagitta was the first German fish steamer . The name Sagitta means the arrow in Latin .
history
On February 7, 1885, the Geestemünder fish trading company, Friedrich Busse & Co. put its first fish steamer into service. During these years, ice storage made it possible to keep fresh fish fresh for longer and to transport it to new customers inland by rail. For this, however, a steady supply was necessary, which could not always be guaranteed with fishing vessels under sails. The Sagitta , built according to English models at the Bremerhaven shipyard FW Wencke , received the PG 3 fishing license and was initially received with skepticism in the professional world - the Deutsche Fischerei-Zeitung only published a short article about the new type of ship. On the first fishing trips in the North Sea , long lines are used , which led to a loss of around 15,000 marks in the first year. The fishing gear was changed from longlines to tree trawls in 1886 and made the ship economically very successful with a capacity for 700 basket fish from that point on. This initially led to the construction of President Herwig and other fish steamers in 1888 and subsequently initiated a period of around 75 years in German deep-sea fishing.
In 1899 the Sagitta ran aground , but was recovered. The Sagitta set sail on March 26, 1901 under the command of Geestemünder Captain Bültjer for her 636th fishing trip to Iceland and was last spotted fishing off Iceland on April 5th . The Bremerhaven maritime office declared the fishing steamer Sagitta missing. It was believed that the steamer sank during a storm.
Maritime Administration hearing
On August 14, 1901, the Bremerhaven Maritime Administration negotiated the disappearance of the Geestemünder ship in the Hafenhaus at Keilstrasse 3.
Government assessor Geelwink and Reich Commissioner Captain Ghüden with four expert assessors from the harbor master to the pilot commander, as well as two witnesses, conducted the maritime administration negotiations.
The ship had come home safely from 635 fishing trips in sixteen years of service, despite often extreme weather conditions, machine damage and accidents. During these years it had often given aid to other ships and seamen in distress.
“On March 26th of this year” , so the minutes of the maritime administration negotiation, “the steamer left the fishing port of Geestemünde and, after having replenished its coal supply in Longhope (England), continued its voyage to fish under Iceland on March 28th. […] The last sighting of the ship was on April 5th, under Iceland. The shipowner Busse, who appeared as a witness, stated that the ship was well equipped in every respect and that the engine was also in perfect condition. Captain Bültjer was a very careful and reliable skipper. [...] The helmsman Lehmann from the fishing steamer Mond , who was also present as a witness, testifies that he last saw the Sagitta under Iceland on April 5th. On that day did the moon , as the blowing from the east-south-east wind had reached the magnitude 7, aufgehievt its network and is home damped, while the Sagitta have further fished ". Next to the inquiry committee has been given for the record: " The The location was then seven miles from the coast. The following day the moon had to deal with a hurricane from east-south-east. ” After the steamer failed , the owner of the Sagitta , Busse, had the whole south coast of Iceland searched by the fishing steamer Sophie , but this was unsuccessful.
After brief deliberation by the committee of inquiry, the committee in the Maritime Office made its verdict: “The German fish steamer Sagitta , which set off from Longhope to catch fish on March 28, 1901 and was last sighted under Iceland on April 5, is not from the voyage returned. It can be assumed that the steamer sank. Any deficiencies in terms of condition, equipment and design of the ship did not emerge. "
literature
- Wolfgang Walter: German fish steamer. Technology, development, use, ship register (= publications of the German Maritime Museum. Vol. 50). Carlsen / Die Hanse, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-551-88517-6 .
- 100th birthday of a legend. In: Nordsee-Zeitung , August 14, 2001.
- Ingo Heidbrink, Hilda Peters, Werner Beckmann: Stranded under Iceland. Ship losses and marine accidents in German deep-sea fisheries on the Icelandic coast. = Strönd vid Ísland. Working group on the history of German deep-sea fishing at the German Maritime Museum, Bremerhaven 2002.