SS Prinz Adalbert
{{Short description|German-built cargo liner}}
{{other ships|SMS Prinz Adalbert|Alesia (disambiguation)#Ships}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2024}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Prinz Adalbert 1902 HAPAG 2.jpg |Ship caption= {{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name= *1902: {{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}}
|Ship namesake= *1902: Prince Adalbert of Prussia
|Ship owner= *1902: Hamburg America Line
|Ship operator= *1914: {{flagicon|UK|naval}} Admiralty
|Ship registry= *1902: {{flagicon|German Empire|civil}} Hamburg
|Ship route= *1903: Hamburg – Brazil
|Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= 450 |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 21 August 1902 |Ship sponsor= |Ship completed= 12 January 1903 |Ship maiden voyage= 20 January 1903: Hamburg – Brazil |Ship identification= *code letters RMSN
|Ship fate= Sunk by torpedo, 1917 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= cargo liner |Ship tonnage= {{GRT|6030}}, {{NRT|3797}}, {{DWT|6150}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{cvt|403.3|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|49.2|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= |Ship depth= {{cvt|27.1|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship decks= 3 |Ship power= 402 NHP |Ship propulsion= *2 × quadruple-expansion engines
|Ship speed= {{convert|12|kn|km/h}} |Ship capacity= passengers: 120 × 1st class; 50 × 2nd class; 300 × 3rd class |Ship crew= |Ship armament= |Ship sensors= by 1910: submarine signalling |Ship notes= sister ship: {{SS|Prinz Oskar | 2}}
}} |
SS {{lang|de|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.
''Prinz''-class cargo liners
File:Prince Adalbert of Prussia.jpg ]]
Between 1901 and 1903, HAPAG had seven new cargo liners built, each named after a prince of the House of Hohenzollern. Two were twin-screw ships, built by Bremer Vulkan Schiffbau & Machinenfabrik in Bremen-Vegesack. {{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} was launched in 21 August 1902 and completed on 12 January 1903.{{cite web |url= http://www.titanicinquiry.org/ships/prinzadalbert.php |title=Prinz Adalbert |work=Titanic Inquiry Project |access-date=2015-05-06}} Her sister ship {{SS|Prinz Oskar||2}} was launched on 15 December 1902 and completed in 14 June 1903.
The other five formed a class of single-screw ships. Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfabrik in Hamburg built Prinz Eitel Friedrich and {{SS|Prinz Waldemar||2}}. AG "Neptun" in Rostock built Prinz Sigismund. Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft in Flensburg built {{SS|Prinz August Wilhelm||2}} and Prinz Joachim.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1904|loc=PRI}}{{sfn|Haws|1980|pp=75–76}}
{{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} and {{lang|de|Prinz Oskar}} were about {{convert|32|ft|0}} longer and {{convert|4|ft}} broader than the single-screw ships.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=76}} The pair thus forms either a sub-class or a separate class.
Description
File:Prinz Adalbert 1902 HAPAG am Kai.jpg
{{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} was named after Prince Adalbert of Prussia. Her registered length was {{cvt|403.3|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|49.2|ft|abbr=on}}, and her depth was {{cvt|27.1|ft|abbr=on}}. Her tonnages were {{GRT|6030}} and {{NRT|3797}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1904|loc=PRI}} As built, she had berths for 470 passengers: 120 in first class, 50 in second class, and 300 in third class.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=76}}
{{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} had a pair of quadruple-expansion engines to drive her twin screws. Their combined power was rated at 402 NHP,{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1904|loc=PRI}} and they gave her a speed of {{convert|12|kn|km/h}}.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=76}}
HAPAG career
HAPAG registered {{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} at Hamburg. Her code letters were RMSN.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1904|loc=PRI}} On 20 January 1903 she left Hamburg on her maiden voyage, which was to Rio de Janeiro. Later that year she sailed from Hamburg to Mexico, on a direct service that did not call at ports in the West Indies.{{sfn|Rothe|1986|p=91}}
In August 1904 HAPAG announced that from 1 October {{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} and {{lang|de|Prinz Oskar}} would serve its route between Genoa in Italy and New York via Naples. Steerage fares from New York would be $15 to Naples and Genoa, and $16 to Trieste in Italy and Fiume in Austria-Hungary (now Rijeka in Croatia).{{cite news |title=From England for $7.50. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=14 August 1904 |page=1 |access-date=12 February 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/08/14/117946092.html?pageNumber=1}} By 1905 the route included a call at Palermo in Sicily, on westbound voyages only.{{cite web |url= https://www.ggarchives.com/OceanTravel/Brochures/HAPAG-1905-AcrossTheAtlantic.html |title=Prinz Oskar and Prinz Adalbert in Across the Atlantic - Hamburg American Line - 1905 |work=Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives |access-date=23 August 2024}} By 1906 her route was between Genoa and Buenos Aires in Argentina.{{sfn|Bonsor|1983|pp=344–345, 350}}
By 1910 {{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} was equipped with submarine signalling and wireless telegraphy.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1910|loc=PRI}} At the end of 1910 she started serving Philadelphia.{{sfn|Rothe|1986|p=91}}
On 15 April 1912 she was in the North Atlantic when her chief steward photographed an iceberg. He wrote that "On one side red paint was plainly visible, which has the appearance of having been made by the scraping of a vessel on the iceberg." At the time, no-one aboard {{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}}' was aware that on the night of 14–15 April RMS Titanic had struck an iceberg and sunk.{{cite news |title='Titanic iceberg' photo to be auctioned |publisher=BBC News |date=17 October 2015 |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-34559777 |access-date=1 June 2019}}
By 1913 {{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}}{{'}}s wireless call sign was DDZ.{{sfn|The Marconi Press Agency Ltd|1913|p=241}}{{sfn|The Marconi Press Agency Ltd|1914|p=374}} By 1914 she and {{lang|de|Prinz Oskar}} served a North Atlantic route between Hamburg and Philadelphia, sometimes with an intermediate call at Emden.{{cite web |url= https://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/hapag.htm |title=Hamburg-American Line |work=marine timetable images |publisher=Björn Larsson |access-date=5 February 2024}}
On 3 August 1914 Germany declared war on Belgium and France, and the next day the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. {{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} was in Falmouth, Cornwall at the time. Her Master was advised to put to sea,{{clarification needed|reason=Advised by whom?|date=February 2024}} but he chose to keep his ship in Falmouth,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Prize Court: Two German liners condemned |date=24 March 1916 |page=3 |issue=41123 |column= }} where the Admiralty seized her.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Fate of Merchantmen |date=7 August 1914 |page=6 |issue= 40597 |column= }}
Allied career
{{lang|de|Prinz Adalbert}} was renamed Prince, and on 17 December 1914 became a accommodation ship at Invergordon, Scotland. Later she was renamed Princetown and was converted into a repair ship.{{harvnb|Warlow|2000|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2024}} According to one source, in 1915 she was returned to merchant service, with Gellatly, Hankey & Co of London as her managers.{{cite web |url= https://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/174.html |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |title=Alesia |work=uboat.net |access-date=5 February 2024}}
It was not until March 1916 that a prize court declared Princetown to be a prize ship. She was paid off on 20 October 1916 and disposed of for sale on 23 December 1916.
On 17 January 1917 Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique (CNSA) of Marseille bought her at auction in a damaged condition. CNSA had her reconditioned in England, and renamed her {{lang|fr|Alesia}},{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Prize Liner Sold |date=18 January 1917 |page=6 |issue=41379 |column= }}{{sfn|Bonsor|1983|pp=405, 413}} after the town of Alesia in ancient Gaul.
In September 1917 {{lang|fr|Alesia}} left Bordeaux for Cardiff carrying coal and general cargo. On 5 September {{SMU|UC-69||2}} torpedoed her {{convert|40|nmi|km}} northwest of the island of Ushant in Brittany. {{lang|fr|Alesia}} was damaged but stayed afloat. The next day, still off Ushant, {{SMU|UC-50||2}} torpedoed her, sinking her at position {{coord|48|49|N|05|00|W|display=inline,title}}.
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Bonsor |first=Noel RP |year=1983 |title=South Atlantic Seaway: an illustrated history of the passenger lines and liners from Europe to Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina |place=Jersey |publisher=Brookside Publications |isbn=0-905824-06-7}}
- {{cite book |last=Haws |first=Duncan |year=1980 |title=The Ships of the Hamburg America, Adler and Carr Lines |series=Merchant Fleets in Profile |volume=4 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |isbn=0-85059-397-2}}
- {{cite book |year=1904 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers. |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1905ST/page/n716/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1904}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1910 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers. |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1911ST/page/n840/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1910}} }}
- {{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |author-link=Marconi Company |year=1913 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The St Katherine Press}}
- {{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |year=1914 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd}}
- {{cite book |last=Rothe |first=Klaus |year=1986 |title=Deutsche Ozean-Passagierschiffe 1896 bis 1918 |series=Bibliothek der Schiffstypen |language=de |place=Berlin |publisher=VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen |isbn=3-344-00059-4}}
- {{cite book |last=Warlow |first=Ben |year= 2000 |title=Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy: being a list of the static ships and establishments of the Royal Navy |edition=2nd |place=Liskeard |publisher=Maritime Books |isbn=0-907771-73-4}}
{{September 1917 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prinz Adalbert}}
Category:Maritime incidents in 1917
Category:Ships of the Hamburg America Line
Category:Ships built in Bremen (state)
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I
Category:Steamships of Germany
Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom
Category:World War I merchant ships of France