SSVaterland(1940)
 Model of how the completedVaterlandwould have looked
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Germany | |
| Name | Vaterland |
| Namesake | German for "Fatherland" |
| Owner | (planned)HAPAG |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | (planned)Hamburg |
| Route | (planned) Hamburg –Hoboken |
| Builder | Blohm+Voss,Hamburg |
| Laid down | 1938 |
| Launched | 1940 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 36,000GRTor 41,000 GRT |
| Length | 251.16 m (824 ft 0 in) |
| Beam | 30.00 m (98 ft 5 in) |
| Depth | 12.78 m (41 ft 11 in) |
| Decks | 5 |
| Installed power | 62,000shp |
| Propulsion | steam turbines,turbo-electric transmission,2 ×screws |
| Speed | (planned) 24 knots (44 km/h) |
| Capacity |
|
SSVaterlandwas atransatlanticocean linerthat was launched for theHamburg America Linein 1940 but left incomplete because of theSecond World War.AnAlliedair raid damaged her in 1943, and she was scrapped in 1948.
She was the secondVaterlandto be built for HAPAG. The first was launched in 1913, seized by the United States in 1917, renamedLeviathan,and used as a UStroop shipand ocean liner.
Background
[edit]After theTreaty of Versailleswas signed in June 1919, theAlliesseized many German merchant ships as part ofWorld War I reparations.HAPAG lost almost its entire fleet, including its three largeImperator-classocean linersImperator,Vaterlandand the uncompletedBismarck.[1]In the 1920s HAPAG re-established a fleet of transatlantic liners of intermediate size and speed, but no very large or very fast ships.[2]
HAPAG's rivalNorddeutscher Lloydintroduced the large and fastBremenin 1929 and her sisterEuropain 1930, each of which won theBlue Riband.The ItalianRexintroduced in 1932, FrenchNormandieintroduced in 1935 and BritishRMSQueen Maryintroduced in 1936 were all also large transatlantic liners that won the Blue Riband during the 1930s.
HAPAG responded by planning a set of three new liners for its Hamburg –Hobokenroute.[3]They would be smaller than their British, French, German and Italian competitors, but they would be the largest ships in the HAPAG fleet, and they would be fast enough for three ships to maintain weekly departures in both directions.
Building and loss
[edit]Blohm+Vossin Hamburg, who had launched the firstVaterlandin 1913, laid down the newVaterlandin 1938 and launched her in 1940. Her length was 251.16 m (824 ft 0 in), her beam was 30.00 m (98 ft 5 in) and her depth was 12.78 m (41 ft 11 in). Work on her was stopped because of the war. The uncompleted ship was laid up in the Kuhwerder area of Hamburg.[4]
Vaterlandwas to have berths for 1,313 passengers: 354first class,435 tourist class and 533 third class. Her projectedtonnagecould have been 36,000GRTor 41,000 GRT. She was to haveturbo-electric transmission,withsteam turbinesdrivingalternatorsto power electric motors. They would have developed 62,000shaft horsepowerand given her a speed of 24 knots (44 km/h).[4]
In 1941 the German government formed a new Deutsche Amerika Linie, based inBremen,to consolidate HAPAG and NDL's North Atlantic services.[5]When completed,Vaterlandwas to be part of this new united fleet.[4]
In July 1943,RAF Bomber Commandand theUSAAFEighth Air Forcebombed Hamburg for several days to destroy the city.On 25 JulyVaterlandwas badly damaged, with her foredeck torn back so far that it covered herbridge.She lay unrepaired until 1948, when she was scrapped.[4]
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Haws, Duncan (1980).The Ships of the Hamburg America, Adler and Carr Lines.Merchant Fleets in Profile. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN0-85059-397-2.
