SS TAORMINA, Hamburg>NY 1889 (was: Look up request)
Michael Palmer
> I am looking for information and a picture of "Jaasmina." She sailed
> from Hamburg to New York, leaving Hamburg 4 April 1889 under Captain
> Koch. The ship name is written in Old German Script so it is difficult
> for me to read. I have a *.jpg file of the page from the Hamburg ship
> lists but didn't think attachments were such a good idea in the lists.
> I will gladly e-mail the photostat to anyone that can help.
As the subject header of this message indicates, the vessel in question is
the Sloman Union Line steamship TAORMINA, Capt. G. W. Koch, which arrived
at the Bar to New York Harbor at 11 AM on 20 April 1889, from Hamburg 4
April, with merchandise and 340 passengers.
The TAORMINA was built by Alexander Stephen & Sons, Glasgow, for Robert M.
Sloman's Australia Sloman Linie AG, and launched on 12 March 1884. 2,528
tons; 97.55 x 11,82 x 7,82 meters (length x breadth x depth of hold);
straight stem; 1 funnel, 3 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion,
double-expansion engines, service speed 11 knots; accommodation for 600
passengers in steerage.
Although built for Sloman's Australia service, the TAORMINA made only two
voyages to Australia in 1884. In 1886, Norddeutscher Lloyd, with a
substantial subsidy from the German government, introduced an express mail
service between Bremen and Australia, and Sloman, feeling that there was
room for only one German line on the route, withdrew his ships. To keep
his vessels, including the TAORMINA, employed, Sloman entered into an
arrangement with his nephew, Edward Carr (who since 1880 had run a freight
and steerage passenger service between Hamburg and New York), to form the
"Union Line", in which each man had a 50 per cent interest. The Union
Line was a holding company, and never owned any vessels. 14 July 1886,
first voyage, Hamburg-New York. 28 December 1888, from the Australia
Sloman Linie AG to the firm of Rob. M. Sloman & Co. 18 January 1901,
after the death of Sloman, to the new firm of Rob. M. Sloman jr. 13 March
1901, last voyage, Hamburg-New York; freight service only. 17 January
1911, sold to L. E. Conti in Genoa; renamed TAORMIN. 18 January 1917,
torpedoed and sunk 60 miles from Fowey, Cornwall, by German submarine U16
[Ernst Hieke, _Rob. M. Sloman Jr., errichtet 1793_, Ver"offentlichungen der
Wirtschaftsgeschichtlichen Forschungsstelle e.V., Hamburg, 30 (Hamburg:
Verlag Hanseatischer Merkur, 1968), pp. 162 (reproduction of painting),
385, 392, 396; Walter Kresse, ed., _Seeschiffs-Verzeichnis der Hamburger
Reedereien, 1824-1888_, Mitteilungen aus dem Museum f"ur Hamburgische
Geschichte, N. F., Bd. 5. (Hamburg: Museum f"ur Hamburgische Geschichte,
1969), vol. 1, p. 104; vol. 2, p. 220; 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. 3 (1979), pp. 1163, 1166.]
I attach a scan of a rather murky reproduction of a painting of the
TAORMINA from Hieke's work. For a photograph of the TAORMINA, contact in
the first instance the following institutions
Museum f"ur Hamburgische Geschichte
Holstenwall 24
D-20355 Hamburg
Germany
http://www.hamburgmuseum.de
Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum
Hans-Scharoun-Platz 1
D-27568 Bremerhaven
Germany
http://www.dsm.de
It is also possible that the records of the builders, Alexander
Stephen & Sons Ltd, Glasgow, may include plans, photographs, or other
pictorial representations of the TAORMINA. The primary archive of
Alexander Stephen & Sons, including plans from 1883 and photographs from
1900, is held by the
Glasgow University Archives and Business Records Centre
13 Thurso Street
Glasgow G11 6PE
Great Britain
Other plans, including those for most vessels built by the firm from the
1870's to the 1940's, are held by the
Centre for Maritime Research
Manuscripts Section
National Maritime Museum
Greenwich
London SE10 9NF
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/cmr/index.html
If, but only if, none of the institutions above has a photograph of the
TAORMINA, contact the successor firm of
Rob. M. Sloman
Baumwall 3
D-20549 Hamburg
Germany
Michael Palmer
--
Michael Palmer
Claremont, California
mpa...@netcom.com
Attachments:
D:\Scans\Steam\Taormina.jpg
---
Michael Palmer
Claremont, California
mpa...@netcom.com
John Hartman
Hello-
I've been gently interrogating Mom who's 91 years old about her family who left
Kreis Wirsitz in 1907- Her father, August Mueller(miller) and Mother-Anna
Markowska, and sisters Martha and Agnes. They traveled on the ship 'Batavia",
but that's all Mom remembers. At her age, that's pretty good..
Can anyone help with any further details about the ship...etc?
Gratefully,
John