SS Fürst Bismarck (1890)

The first SS "Fürst Bismarck" was an ocean liner built in 1890 by AG Vulcan for the Hamburg America Line. A steamship of 8,430 gross tons, it was assigned to transatlantic crossings between Hamburg Germany and New York, USA. A fast ship for her era, "Fürst Bismarck" usually made the trip in five to six days.

A booklet released by the company in 1896 described "Fürst Bismarck" and her sister ships in the following terms:

What first strikes the observer are the graceful lines which run from the sharp, straight, stem to the well-rounded stern. Three funnels rise from the hurricane deck, which, although of huge dimensions, only serve to bring out the symmetry of the whole. The "COLUMBIA" has three masts, the "AGUSTE VICTORIA", "FURST BISMARCK" and "NORMANNIA" two, which are low and without yards, so as to offer the least resistance. So beautiful are the lines of these ships that it is difficult for the spectator to realize their immense size. These leviathans have a length of 465 to 525 feet, a width of 56 to 58 feet, and a depth of 38 to 40 feet; are of 7 578 to 8 874 tons register, and their engines develop the force of 23 000 to 16 000 horses. They have five decks, constructed solidly of steel and teak wood, the upper decks ending in strong turtle-backs at the bow and stern. These steamships are the largest and fastest ships of the German merchant marine. The first consideration which the builders had in view was that of absolute safety, and they have built ships which are practically unsinkable. Many novel features have been introduced to bring this about, of which the principal ones are here set forth.

The new vessels have their whole working machinery duplicated. There are two distinct sets of boilers, two engines, two shafts, and two screws, both sets working independently of each other, and separated by a longitudinal bulkhead dividing the vessel into two non-communicating halves, each of which is fully equipped to propel the ship. This is the great principle of twin-screw steamships and the extraordinary degree of safety secured by this system is obvious, for an accident to one side of the ship can in nowise affect the other, whose machinery will continue to work and propel the ship with perfect ease and at a high rate of speed.

Each side of the ship is again subdivided into numerous watertight compartments, which do not communicate with each other. The hull of the ship has a double bottom, the space between being divided into chambers, which can be filled with water or emptied by means of automatic pumps, thus increasing or decreasing the draught at will, and guarding against accidents from grounding. The enormous engines [are] of 6 000 to 8 000 horsepower each. The screws are of manganese bronze, with three or four blades. [ [http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_shiplist.asp?co=haaml Hamburg America Line] , Norway Heritage website.]

In 1905, the ship became an auxiliary cruiser named "Don" in the Russian Navy. In 1906 she was assigned to the Russian Volunteer Fleet with the name "Moskva". The vessel was seized by Italy during the First World War, rebuilt and renamed "San Guisto". She was scrapped in Italy in 1924.

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=furbi SS ""Fürst Bismark"] , Norway Heritage website.