Picture of S.S. Gneisenau
Michael Palmer
> I know this ship existed but I cannot find a picture or information. I
> believe the line was North German Lloyd.
There were in fact two vessels named GNEISENAU that ran for Norddeutscher
Lloyd:
The steamship GNEISENAU (I) was built by AG Vulcan, Stettin (ship #253),
and launched on 1 April 1903. 8,081 tons; 143.62 x 16,88 meters (length
x breadth); 1 funnel, 2 masts; twin-screw propulsion, triple-expansion
engines, service speed 14 knots; accommodation for 124 passengers in 1st
class, 116 in 2nd class, and 1,862 in steerage; crew of 152 to 170.
One of 11 vessels of the Field Marshal [Feldherrn] class. 2 September
1903, maiden voyage, Bremen-Suez Canal-Australia. 6 July 1904, first
voyage, Bremen-Suez-Canal-Far East (7 roundtrip voyages). Between 18
March 1905 and 3 April 1909, 10 roundtrip voyages, Bremen-New York. 29
July 1914, sailed from Bremen for Australia (17th roundtrip voyage). 31
July 1914, arrived Antwerp. 4 August 1914, seized by Belgium, who
destroyed the wireless tower and sent the crew home; briefly used as a
hospital ship. The British wished to obtain the ship, but the Dutch
refused it passage on the River Scheldt. October 1914, scuttled by the
Belgians to obstruct the Scheldt, but the current turned her lengthwise
and she settled on her side, port side out. August 1916, the Germans
(who had seized Antwerp in October 1914) begin salvage operations. 23 May
1917, towed to Antwerp. November 1918, seized by Belgium. 20 June 1919,
auctioned to the Soc. Ind. Transporti Maritimi (SITMAR), Genoa; rebuilt
by the Antwerp Engineering Co. 1920, chartered by Great Britain, managed
by C. T. Bowring. 23 January 1921, left Antwerp. 1921, renamed CITTA DI
GENOVA (Navigazione Generale Italiana, Genoa), and placed in service to
Australia. 16 October 1930, sold for breaking up while laid up at Genoa;
scrapped at Naples [Edwin Drechsel, _Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen,
1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails_, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera
Pub. Co., c1994), pp. 334-335 (photographs), no. 192; 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. 567].
The turbine ship GNEISENAU (II) was built by Deschimag AG "Weser",
Bremen (ship #893), and launched on 17 May 1935, for the Hanseatische
Schiffahrts & Betriebsgesellschaft, financed 50% by the German government
and 25% each by Norddeutscher Lloyd and HAPAG (Hamburg-America Line).
18,160 tons; 198,5 x 22,6 meters (length x breadth); 1 funnel, 2 masts;
Maier bow; turbine engines, service speed 21 knots; accommodation for
149 passengers, plus 15 children or 30 native servants in 1st class and
155 in tourist class; crew of 276.
3 January 1936, maiden voyage, Bremerhaven-Yokahama. August 1937, made 2
voyages Shanghai-Japan (with Japanese refugees from the invasion) and 1
voyage to Hong Kong (evacuating foreigners). 1-22 September 1937, one of
few ships to survive the hurricane that hit Hong Kong with winds up to 167
miles per hour. Last ship before World War II broke out to be serviced at
the Columbuskaje in Bremerhaven (almost 400 passengers and 1/2 million
eggs from China). 22 April 1940, transferred to the Kriegsmarine for
troop transport. 22 December 1941, dormitory ship at Hamburg. 1942,
intended conversion to aircraft carrier not carried out. 1943, transport
and barracks ship at Swinem"unde. 2 May 1943, hit a mine near Gedser and
beached on Lolland, on her side, until broken up by Danish wreckers after
the war.
With her sister ship the SCHARNHORST and the POTSDAM, the GNEISENAU (II)
provided luxury passenger service (primarily to British passengers) to the
Far EAst from 1935 to 1939; indeed the SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU were
considered so lavish with passenger space that it is doubtful they ever
made a profit for Norddeutscher Lloyd [Edwin Drechsel, _Norddeutscher
Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails_, vol. 2 (Vancouver:
Cordillera Pub. Co., c1995), p. 320 (photograph); Arnold Kludas, _Die
grossen Passagierschiffe der Welt; Eine Dokumentation_, Bd. 3: 1924-1935
(Oldenburg/Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling, c1973), pp. 226-227 (photograph)].
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. 160.
I am sending you, by separate e-mail, a scan of the photograph of the
GNEISENAU (I) from Drechsel's work and a scan of the photograph of the
GNEISENAU (II) from Hansen's work.
Michael Palmer
--
Michael Palmer
Claremont, California
mpa...@netcom.com