Barbarossa-class ocean liner
SS Bremen in port in 1905
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Barbarossa class |
Builders |
|
Operators |
|
Built | 1896–1901 |
In service | 1896–1935 |
Completed | 10 |
Lost | 1 sunk in service |
Scrapped | 9 |
Preserved | None |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ocean liner |
Tonnage | 10,525–12,335 GRT |
Length | 152.18–160.19 m (499 ft 3 in – 525 ft 7 in), LBP |
Beam | 18.29–18.99 m (60 ft 0 in – 62 ft 4 in) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 15–16 kn (28–30 km/h; 17–18 mph) |
Passengers: | 2,026–2,392, consisting of:
|
Crew | 171–250, depending on season and ship |
Notes | two funnels, two masts |
The Barbarossa class was a
History
Early career
The first four ships of the class,
The latter six ships, two for NDL and four for the Hamburg America Line (German: Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft or HAPAG) were launched between June 1899 and November 1901. NDL's two liners, König Albert and Prinzess Irene were launched a year apart in June 1899 and June 1900, respectively, and were used on Far East and North Atlantic routes. Beginning in 1904 they were mainly used on the Italy–New York route.[7]
Of the four HAPAG liners, two, Hamburg and Kiautschou, were launched in November 1899 and September 1900 for the Far East mail routes that HAPAG and NDL shared.[8] Displeased with the Far East service, HAPAG withdrew and transferred Hamburg to North Atlantic service and traded Kiautschou to NDL for five freighters in 1904.[9] Kiautschou, renamed by NDL to Princess Alice, became the only Barbarossa-class ship to sail for both of the major German passenger lines. She stayed on the Far East mail route until 1914.
The last two Barbarossa ships were
World War I
At the outbreak of
As Italy, the United States, and Brazil successively joined the war, each seized the interned Barbarossa ships (along with all other German and
- Barbarossa became USS Mercury (ID-3012)[3]
- Friedrich der Grosse became USS Huron (ID-1408)[2]
- Prinzess Irene became USS Pocahontas (ID-3044)[13]
- Hamburg became USS Powhatan (ID-3013)[10]
- Princess Alice became USS Princess Matoika (ID-2290)[14]
These five ex-German transports carried over 95,000 American troops to France before the
Postwar service
At the conclusion of World War I, war reparations permanently assigned the eight seized ships to the nations that held them. Further, Königin Luise and Bremen, safely laid up in Germany during the war, were assigned to the UK.[12] Apart from those two, only two other Barbarossa-class ships changed national registry after the war. Brazil sold Leopoldina (the ex-Blücher) to the French Compagnie Générale Transatlantique which operated her under the name Suffren.[10] Pocahontas (the ex-Prinzess Irene) was laid up in Gibraltar after mechanical failures and was purchased by NDL in 1923. She became the only member of the Barbarossa class to resume sailing under the German flag. First renamed Bremen and later Karlsruhe (to free the name Bremen for a newer ship), she sailed primarily on the Bremen–New York route.[13]
In 1922, City of Honolulu (the ex-Friedrich der Grosse), sailing on her first roundtrip on the
Ships
Ship | Tonnage | Builder | Original Operator |
Launch | Fate | Later names |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Friedrich der Grosse[16] | 10,531 GT | AG Vulcan | NDL | 1 August 1896 | Sunk after fire, 1922 | Huron, 1917 City of Honolulu, 1922 |
Barbarossa[12] | 10,769 GT | Blohm & Voss
|
NDL | 5 September 1896 | Scrapped, 1924 | Mercury, 1917 |
Königin Luise[16] | 10,566 GT | AG Vulcan | NDL | 17 October 1896 | Scrapped, 1935 | Omar, 1921 Edison, 1924 |
Bremen[17] | 10,525 GT | Schichau-Werke | NDL | 14 November 1896 | Scrapped, 1929 | Constantinople, 1921 King Alexander, 1924 |
König Albert[11] | 10,643 GT | AG Vulcan | NDL | 24 June 1899 | Scrapped, 1926 | Ferdinando Palaciano, 1915 Italia, 1922 |
Hamburg[10] | 10,532 GT | AG Vulcan | HAPAG | 25 November 1899 | Scrapped, 1928 | Powhatan, 1917 New Rochelle, 1920 Hudson, 1921 President Fillmore, 1922 |
Prinzess Irene[18] | 10,881 GT | AG Vulcan | NDL | 19 June 1900 | Scrapped, 1932 | Pocahontas, 1917 Bremen, 1923 Karlsruhe, 1928 |
Kiautschou[19] | 10,911 GT | AG Vulcan | HAPAG | 14 September 1900 | Scrapped, 1934 | Princess Alice, 1904 Princess Matoika, 1918 President Arthur, 1923 City of Honolulu, 1926 |
Moltke[20] | 12,335 GT | Blohm & Voss
|
HAPAG | 27 August 1901 | Scrapped, 1925 | Pesaro, 1919 |
Blücher[21] | 12,334 GT | Blohm & Voss
|
HAPAG | 23 November 1901 | Scrapped, 1929 | Leopoldina, 1917 Suffren, 1923 |
Notes
References
- ^ Drechsel, p. 165.
- ^ a b c Drechsel, pp. 167–68.
- ^ a b Drechsel, pp. 168–69.
- ^ Drechsel, p. 170.
- ^ Drechsel, pp. 170–71.
- ^ Drechsel, p. 166.
- ^ Bonsor, Vol. 2, pp. 563, 566.
- ^ Bonsor, Vol. 1, pp. 408, 410.
- ^ Drechsel, p. 338.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bonsor, Vol. 1, p. 410.
- ^ a b Bonsor, Vol. 2, p. 566.
- ^ a b c Bonsor, Vol. 2, pp. 559–60.
- ^ a b Drechsel, pp. 231–32.
- ^ Drechsel, pp. 338–39.
- ^ Gleaves, pp. 246, 248.
- ^ a b Bonsor, Vol. 2, p. 559.
- ^ Bonsor, Vol. 2, p. 560.
- ^ Bonsor, Vol. 2, p. 563.
- ^ Bonsor, Vol. 1, p. 408, Vol. 2, p. 566.
- ^ Bonsor, Vol. 1, pp. 407–08.
- ^ Bonsor, Vol. 1, p. 408.
Bibliography
- Bonsor, N. R. P. (1975) [1955]. North Atlantic Seaway, Volume 1 (Enlarged and revised ed.). OCLC 1891992.
- Bonsor, N. R. P. (1978) [1955]. North Atlantic Seaway, Volume 2 (Enlarged and completely revised ed.). OCLC 29930159.
- Drechsel, Edwin (1994). Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen, 1857–1970: History, Fleet, Ship Mails, Volume 1. Vancouver, British Columbia: Cordillera Pub. Co. OCLC 30357825.
- OCLC 976757.
- OCLC 46732396.
- Matthias L. Trennheuser: Die innenarchitektonische Ausstattung deutscher Passagierschiffe zwischen 1880 und 1940. Verlag H.M. Hauschild GmbH, Bremen, Bremen 2010, ISBN 978-3-89757-305-5.