S.S. GROSSER KURFUERST (was: INFORMATION on SHIP)
Michael Palmer
On Tue, 03 Mar 1998, Dick Kraft <rkr...@bcpl.lib.md.us> wrote:
> The GROSSER KURFURST.......... Friends Father came from Breman Germany
> to New York on this SHIP....Left on June 5th 1905 and arrived New York
> Ellis Island on June 13th, 1905... If any one has a picture of boat or
> when I might get one.
The steamship GROSSER KURF"URST [KURFUERST] was built by F. Schichau,
Danzig (ship no. 643), for Norddeutscher Lloyd, and launched on 2 December
1899. 13,182 tons; 177,05 x 18,90 meters (length x breadth); 2 funnels,
2 masts; twin-screw propulsion (quadruple-expansion engines, 9,000
horsepower), service speed 15 knots; accommodation for 299 passengers in
1st class, 317 in 2nd class, 172 in 3rd class, and 2,201 in steerage;
crew of 273.
5 May 1900, maiden voyage, under the Schichau flag, Bremen-Southampton-New
York. (Norddeutscher Lloyd held a minority share until the ship passed
her trials, at which time she purchaed Schichau's majority share.) 7
November 1900-17 January 1912, 9 roundtrip voyages, Bremen-Suez Canal-
Australia (largest ship sailing to Australia). 3 March-20 May 1904, New
York-Holy Land "Cruise of the 800". 9 October 1913, saved 105 from the
burning Canadian Northern steamship VOLTURNO. 1912-1914, West Indies
cruises from New York; she was to have been rebuilt as a cruising vessel
in the winter of 1914-1915, but World War I intervened. 11 July 1914,
last voyage, Bremen-New York (arrived 21 July); interned at Hoboken. 6
April 1917, seized by the U.S. Government at New York. 6 September 1917,
renamed AEOLUS (U.S. Navy transport). 22 September 1919, transferred to
the United States Shipping Board. 19 February 1920, leased to the Munson
Line; passenger accommodations refurbished; fitted with oil firing (10
September, 4 men killed in an explosion during refitting). 1 December
1920, first voyage, New York-Buenos Aires. 1921, purchased by the Munson
Line, but South America service dropped. 1 December 1921, chartered to
the Los Angeles Steam Ship Co. June 1922, renamed CITY OF LOS ANGELES. 11
September 1922, after extensive rebuild, first voyage, Los Angeles-
Honolulu. 17 August 1923, purchased by the Los Angeles Steamship Co for
$100,000. 23 November 1923, began $106,000 rebuild: turbines, new
boilers, renovated passenger quarters: 12,642 tons; 408 passengers in
1st class, 80 in 3rd class; crew of 231. 27 July 1928, $50,000 fitting
out for line's first South Pacific Cruise. 8 October 1930, Los
Angeles-Around South America cruise. 1 January 1931, Los Angeles Steamship
Co purchased by Matson Navigation Co. 2 August 1932, laid up in Los
Angeles Harbor; from 7 July 1933, in San Diego. 1935, during the
California International Exhibition in San Diego, served as a casino,
night club and hotel named "Show Boat". 24 March 1937, sailed from San
Diego for Osaka (arrived 29 April); scrapped.
Sources: Edwin Drechsel, _Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970;
History, Fleet, Ship Mails_ (2 vols.; Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co.,
c1994-c1995), vol. 1, pp. 232-234 (photographs); Arnold Kludas, _Die
grossen Passagierschiffe der Welt; Eine Dokumentation_, Bd. 1: 1858-1912
(2nd ed.; Oldenburg/Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling, c1972), pp. 26-27
(photographs); Noel Reginald Pixell Bonsor, _North Atlantic Seaway; An
Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with
the New_ (2nd ed.; Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications),
vol. 2 (1978), p. 563.
Also pictured in Clas Broder Hansen, _Passenger liners from Germany,
1816-1990_, translated from the German by Edward Force (West Chester,
Pennsylvania: Schiffer Pub., c1991), p. 48. I am sending you, by
separate e-mail, a scan, in .JPG format, of this photograph.
Michael Palmer
--
Michael Palmer
Claremont, California
mpa...@netcom.com