In 1900 HAPAG established a route between Germany to the east coast of South America which at the time was served by the steamshipCanadia, which was built in 1889. At the same time, the company ordered a class of five new single-screw ships, each of about 4,600GRT, for the route, each named after a prince of the House of Hohenzollern.
Reiherstieg built Prinz Waldemar as yard number 409. She was named after Prince Waldemar of Prussia, and launched on 7 May 1902.[2] After her sea trials she was handed over to her owners on 23 August that year. She was primarily a cargo ship. She could carry 5,200 tons of cargo, for which she had eight derricks with steam winches. She also had 25 first class cabins, with berths for 60 to 100 passengers. They were all on the second deck, well above the waterline, so that ports could be kept open all the voyage except in very stormy weather. Each cabin had a heater and an electric fan. She could also carry about 560 third class passengers.[3]
After delivery Prinz Waldemar served the route between Hamburg and Brazil. On her outward trips she carried general cargo such as cheese, tea, cod, butter, cereals, wines, etc. On her return trips she carried coffee, and occasionally other agricultural products from Argentina and Uruguay, such as meat and cotton. Additionally, the ship carried immigrants to Brazil, mostly Portuguese who were embarked when she called at Lisbon. Prinz Waldemar left Hamburg on her maiden voyage on September 10, 1902, for Brazilian ports of Santos and Rio de Janeiro via Lisbon. She reached Rio de Janeiro on October 4, and continued to Santos the next day. After loading 48,622 bags of coffee she left Santos on October 22 for Europe.[5]
HAPAG added ports of call such as Dover and Boulogne on her return trips from Brazil. However, in 1906 the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company entered the competition for trade between New York and West Indies, where HAPAG ran its own Atlas Service, acquired in 1901 from the United Fruit Company.[6]Prinz Waldemar arrived in Rio de Janeiro for the last time on April 21, 1906. Late in the summer of 1906 she was transferred to the Atlas Service between New York City and the West Indies, calling at Kingston, Puerto Limón, Savanilla and Cartagena.[citation needed]
Loss
Prinz Waldemar left New York City under command of Captain Paul Wintzer on December 29, 1906, for Kingston, where she arrived on January 4, 1907. She called at Savanilla, Cartagena, and Puerto Limón. On January 14, 1907, she left Puerto Limón for Jamaica where she was due on the afternoon of January 17. At about 15:32 local time on January 14, an earthquake struck the city, destroying among other things both Plum Point and Port Royal lighthouses at the entrance to the Kingston harbor.[citation needed]
Around 02:00 on January 17, 1907 Prinz Waldemar reached Plum Point, about 10 miles east of Kingston, and tried to enter the harbor. Without the lighthouse, the Captain mistook his course and the ship ran aground on a coral reef, about half-mile east northeast of the lighthouse, at about 17°55′55″N76°46′18″W / 17.93194°N 76.77167°W / 17.93194; -76.77167. Coincidentally, this was near where the HAPAG liner Prinzessin Victoria Luise went ashore on December 16, 1906.[7][8][9] All crew and passengers safely disembarked. An attempt was made to refloat her, but on February 26, 1907, it was announced that HAPAG had abandoned salvage operations and the ship was declared a total loss.[10]Prinz August Wilhelm took 30 of her crew back to New York, where they arrived on February 29.[11]
Notes
1 2 3 Haws, Duncan (1980). The Ships of the Hamburg America, Adler and Carr Lines. Merchant Fleets in Profile. Vol.4. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp.75–76. ISBN0-85059-397-2.
↑ "Schiffahrt". Verordnungsblatt für Eisenbahnen und Schifffahrt. Vol.XV, no.51. 6 May 1902. p.1328.
↑ "Prinz Waldemar". The Brazilian Review. Vol.5, no.43. 28 October 1902. p.528.
The Wigham Richardson shipbuilding company was named after its founder, John Wigham Richardson (1837-1908), the son of Edward Richardson, a tanner from Newcastle upon Tyne, and Jane Wigham from Edinburgh.
SS Cleveland was a German transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in 1908 and scrapped in 1933. Cleveland was built for the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) as a sister ship for Cincinnati.
Prinzessin Victoria Luise was the World's first purpose-built cruise ship. She was built in Germany, and launched in 1900 for Hamburg America Line (HAPAG).
SS Fürst Bismarck was a Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) ocean liner. She was launched in Scotland in 1905. In 1914 she was renamed Friedrichsruh. In 1919 the United Kingdom seized her as World War I reparations. In 1921 Messageries Maritimes acquired her and renamed her Amboise. She was scrapped in Italy in 1935.
SS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm was an ocean liner for North German Lloyd (NDL) from her launch in 1907 until the end of World War I. After the war, she briefly served as USS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm (ID-4063) for the United States Navy returning American troops from France. The vessel was first chartered—and later purchased outright—by Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP) and operated under the names Empress of China, Empress of India, Montlaurier, Monteith, and Montnairn. She was scrapped in 1929.
The Barbarossa class was a class of ocean liners of North German Lloyd and the Hamburg America Line of the German Empire. Of the ten ships built between 1896 and 1902, six were built by AG Vulcan Stettin, three were built by Blohm & Voss, and one was built by Schichau-Werke; all were built in Germany. They averaged 11,000 gross register tons (GRT) and featured twin screw propellers driven by quadruple-expansion steam engines.
SS Ypiranga was a cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1908 for the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG). In 1919 the United Kingdom seized her for World War I reparations. In 1921 Anchor Line acquired her and renamed her Assyria. In 1929 the Companhia Colonial de Navegação bought her and renamed her Colonial. In 1950 she was sold for scrap, but she sank off the coast of Scotland while being towed to a scrapyard.
USS Moccasin (ID-1322) was a cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1903 as Prinz Joachim. The US seized her in 1917. In 1918–19 she was renamed Moccasin and briefly served in the United States Navy. In 1920 she was returned to US merchant service and renamed Porto Rico. She was scrapped in 1933 or 1934.
USS General W. C. Gorgas (ID-1365) was a cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1902 as Prinz Sigismund for the Hamburg America Line. In 1917 the USA seized her and renamed her General W. C. Gorgas. In 1945 she was transferred to the Soviet Union, which renamed her Mikhail Lomonosov. She was scrapped in March 1958.
USS Pretoria was a transatlantic liner that was launched in Germany in 1897 and spent most of her career with Hamburg America Line (HAPAG). She was the second of a class of four HAPAG sister ships that were built in the United Kingdom and Germany between 1896 and 1899.
Magdalena was a 17,547 GRT passenger and refrigerated cargo ocean liner that Harland and Wolff built in Belfast in 1948 for Royal Mail Lines (RML). Launched on 11 May 1948, she was the third-largest ship being built in a UK shipyard at that time.
SS Prinz Adalbert was a twin-screw cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1902 for Hamburg America Line (HAPAG). In 1914 the United Kingdom Admiralty seized her and renamed her Prince. In 1916 she was renamed Princetown. On 1917 she was transferred to the Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique and renamed Alesia. Later in 1917 a U-boat sank her.
SS Otsego was a cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1901 as Prinz Eitel Friedrich. The USA seized her in 1917 and renamed her Otsego. In 1919 she served in the United States Navy as USS Otsego (ID-1628). She spent the 1920s and 30s in merchant service as Otsego. In 1941 she became the United States Army ship USAT Otsego. In 1945 she was transferred to the Soviet Union, which renamed her Ural. In 1947 she may have been renamed Dolinsk. She was either hulked or scrapped in 1955.
SS Bulgaria was a passenger-cargo steamship built in 1898 for the Hamburg American Line ("Hapag"). During World War I, she operated as a United States Army animal and cargo ship under the names USAT Hercules and USAT Philippines, and after the war was converted into the troop transport USS Philippines (ID-1677).
Sangstad was a steam cargo ship built in 1904 by the Robert Thompson & Sons of Sunderland for A. F. Klaveness & Co of Sandefjord. She was primarily employed as an ore carrier and collier doing tramp trade during her career.
SS Reliance was one of a pair of transatlantic steam ocean liners that were launched in 1914 in Germany for the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG), sold to a Dutch shipping line in 1916, and seized by the United States as World War I reparations in 1922. United American Lines (UAL) operated her until 1926, when HAPAG bought her back.
SS Lombardia was one of a pair of transatlantic steam ocean liners that were launched in 1914 in Germany for the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG), sold to a Dutch shipping line in 1916, and seized by the United States as World War I reparations in 1922. United American Lines (UAL) operated her until 1926, when HAPAG bought her back.
SS Macedonia was a steamship that was built in England in 1912, renamed Pincio in 1922 and scrapped in Italy in 1932. She was built as an ocean liner for Greek owners, but within months of being completed she was converted into an armed merchant cruiser for the Royal Hellenic Navy. An Ottoman warship sank her in 1913 in the First Balkan War.
SS Prinz Oskar was a twin-screw cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1902 for Hamburg America Line (HAPAG). She served various transatlantic routes between Europe and the Americas until the First World War began.
SS Prinz August Wilhelm was a Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1902 and scuttled in Colombia in 1918. Her original route was between Hamburg and Mexico. From 1906 she served routes between New York and the Caribbean.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
German Empire
