Njassa (ship, 1924)
 The Adolph Woermann , a sister ship of the Njassa
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The Njassa was the last ship that the Hamburg-American Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (Hapag) had built for its participation in the German Africa Service. The Hamburg shipping companies Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie (DOAL) and Woermann-Linie (WL), which dominate German traffic with Africa, had two sister ships and three similar ships. And with the Tanganyika , Hapag has already used a very similar ship in its Africa service.
When the German shipping companies were disengaged from the state in 1934, Hapag chartered its two passenger steamers to the remaining shipping companies for the Africa service before selling the ships to them on June 30, 1936. This is how the Njassa came to the DOAL.
On August 9, 1939, took over Navy the Njassa even before the war began as a barge. First deployed in Kiel, then in Wilhelmshaven , it was badly hit in a bombing raid on March 30, 1945, burned out and sank.
After the end of the war, the wreck was scrapped.
Building history
The Njassa was the third passenger steamer that Hapag used in joint Africa service with the Woermann Line and the German East Africa Line after the First World War .
Since 1907, Hapag has had a joint venture with the Hamburg-based Africa shipping companies Woermann and DOAL. Woermann got into considerable difficulties due to the expansion of his fleet for troop transports to German South West Africa and came under further pressure when the NDL pushed into the Africa business via HBAL . Unlike DDG Kosmos , Woermann did not seek protection from Hapag, but the major shipping company forced him to participate and also took eight steamers from him. All of these ships were lost in the First World War.
After the lost war, the Shipping Company Compensation Act of 1921 was intended to provide financial compensation for the war and reparation losses. The German shipping companies were able to obtain substantial funding if they ordered newbuildings from German shipyards, which triggered a shipbuilding boom. The German Africa lines ordered u. a. at Blohm and Voss, combined cargo and passenger ships powered by a geared turbine. The first series consisted of the Usaramo , Ussukuma (both DOAL) and Wangoni (WL) delivered in 1921 . In 1922/23 Adolph Woermann and Usambara followed .
Hapag also ordered two newbuildings from Blohm & Voss and also put its West India ship Dania (1905), bought back in 1921, as a Tsad (3927 GRT, 11.5 kn, 30 passengers 1st class, 106 3rd class) in West Africa service with the Woermann ships, which was sold again in 1924. The first newbuilding for Hapag, the Tanganyika , which was delivered on October 4, 1922 , was almost 10 m longer than the three ships for the Africa lines that were delivered before it.
The Njassa, which was the last of the first combination ships to be delivered on June 26, 1924, was a sister ship of the Adolph Woermann and Usambara, and like them a little shorter. The 8754 GRT ship was driven by a geared turbine and offered space for 285 passengers. It was named after the British colony of Nyassaland , today's Malawi . A comprehensive modernization of the ship did not take place during her service time.
Civil service
Surprisingly, the Nyassa made her maiden voyage , which began on July 15, 1924, not to Africa, but to New York with 240 passengers . The first trip to South Africa did not take place until October 4th. From the beginning of her service to Africa, the Nyassa made all of her trips under the DOAL chimney brand. It was used on various lines that were themselves subject to permanent change. So the all around Africa lines were gradually abandoned and the restrictions on calling at former German colonies were abandoned. In addition, tourist destinations were increasingly important, as the ships of the German Africa Service also built such trips into their regular service. There were also special trips to visit the former German colonies. The ship fleet was modernized mainly by building new buildings by WL and DOAL in 1928 ( Ubena , Watussi , 9500 BRT) and Pretoria and Windhoek (1936/1937, 16662 BRT). Hapag increased its share from 1927 to 1932 through Toledo (formerly RPD Kigoma of the DOAL, 8106 GRT, 300 passengers, canceled in 1934).
In 1934 the "reorganization of the shipping lines" began by the German government, which meant that Hapag (and the NDL) had to give up their shares in Deutsche Afrikafahrt. Hapag initially chartered its two combi-ships and the freighter Livadia (1922, 3083 BRT) and had to sell the three ships on June 30, 1936. The Njassa became the property of the DOAL.
Housing ship of the Kriegsmarine
Even before the war began, the DOAL gave the Njassa that was not needed to the Navy as a barge in August 1939 . Only used in Kiel, then in Wilhelmshaven , it was badly hit in a bomb attack on March 30, 1945, burned out and sank. Shortly after the end of the war, the wreck was removed and scrapped.
Fate of the early Africa turbine ships from Blohm & Voss
| Launched in service |
Surname | tonnage | Construction no | fate |
| October 2, 1920 March 10, 1921 |
Usaramo DOAL |
7775 BRT 7150 dw |
No. 387 | First new German passenger ship after the First World War , March 17, 1921 Maiden voyage through the Suez Canal to East Africa, July 31, 1936 The first units of the Condor Legion were transported from Hamburg to Cádiz , sought refuge in Vigo on the journey home in September 1939 , from October 1940 houseboat of the Kriegsmarine in Bordeaux , sunk by an air raid on December 10, 1940, lifted and repaired again, sunk again by an air raid in the Gironde on August 25, 1944 , lifted and scrapped at the end of the war. |
| 30.12.1920 09.07.1921 |
Ussukuma DOAL |
7765 BRT 7280 tdw |
No. 389 | 1921 Maiden voyage through the Suez Canal to East Africa, arrived from Lourenco Marques in Bahía Blanca on October 13, 1939 , attempted relocation to Montevideo on December 5, 1939 , made by the light cruiser HMS Ajax and sunk before being seized. |
| March 22, 1921 September 8, 1921 |
Wangoni WL |
7768 BRT 7328 dw |
No. 391 | September 15, 1921 maiden voyage to West Africa, sought refuge in Vigo in September 1939, breakthrough of the blockade to Hamburg by March 1, 1940, from June 1940 houseboat of the Kriegsmarine in Swinoujscie and Gotenhafen , from March 1945 wounded transporter in the Baltic Sea, March 19, 1946 delivery to the Soviet Union, completely overhauled in Rostock, in service as Chukotka until 1967. |
| June 1, 1922 October 4, 1922 |
Tanganyika Hapag |
8540 BRT 7720 dw |
No. 459 | October 15, 1922 maiden voyage to Cape Town and East Africa, June 30, 1936 sold to WL, April 19, 1939 to the Kriegsmarine as a barge in Kiel, then Wilhelmshaven, sunk there by air raid in 1942, lifted again and repaired, on November 4, 1943 after air raid burned out, moved to Dover in August 1947 and scrapped. |
| June 15, 1922 November 16, 1922 |
Adolph Woermann WL |
8577 BRT 8210 tdw |
No. 395 | Sister ship of the Nyassa , May 25, 1923 Maiden voyage to West Africa, left Lobito on November 16, 1939 , the ship is stopped by the light cruiser HMS Neptune on the 22nd near Ascension and sunk before it is raised. |
| August 30, 1922 April 7, 1923 |
Usambara DOAL |
8690 BRT 7860 dw |
No. 397 | Sister ship of the Njassa , April 17, 1923 maiden voyage around Africa via the Suez Canal around the east coast of Africa, from October 1939 houseboat of the Kriegsmarine, from January 6, 1944 accommodation of the 4th U-Flotilla in Stettin , burned out on April 11, 1944 after being hit by a bomb , sunk by another bomb hit on March 20, 1945, lifted and scrapped after the end of the war. |
literature
- Arnold Kludas: The History of German Passenger Shipping Volume IV Destruction and Rebirth 1914 to 1930 , Writings of the German Shipping Museum, Volume 21.
- Arnold Kludas: The ships of the German Africa Lines 1880 to 1945 . Verlag Gerhard Stalling, 1975, ISBN 3-7979-1867-4 .
- Hans Georg Prager: Blohm & Voss Koehler Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1977, ISBN 3-78220-127-2 .
- Claus Rothe: German ocean passenger ships 1919 to 1985 . Steiger Verlag, 1987, ISBN 3-921564-97-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Kludas, Afrika-Linien, p. 11
- ↑ Prager, p. 120.
- ↑ Kludas, Afrika-Linien, pp. 81f.
- ↑ Kludas, Afrika-Linien, p. 82 ff.
- ↑ Kludas, Passenger Shipping, Vol. IV, p. 127
- ↑ Kludas, Afrika-Linien, pp. 90f.
- ^ Kludas, Afrika-Linien, p. 92
- ^ List of the 240 passengers on the Nyassa
- ↑ Kludas, Passenger Shipping, Vol. IV, p. 130
- ↑ Kludas, Afrika-Linien, p. 13
- ↑ Kludas, Passenger Shipping, Vol. IV, p. 135
- ↑ Rothe, p. 47
- ↑ Rothe, p. 50
- ↑ Rothe, p. 51
- ↑ Rothe, p. 68
- ↑ Rothe, p. 69
- ↑ Rothe, p. 76