SS Sierra Ventana (I)
 German hospital ship Sierra Ventana
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Builder | Bremer Vulkan AG, Vegesack |
| Yard number | 559 |
| Launched | 12 October 1912 |
| Commissioned | 21 December 1912 |
| Maiden voyage | 18 January 1913 |
| In service | 1912–1936 |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1936 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 8,262 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length | 140.00 m (459.32 ft) |
| Beam | 17.00 m (55.77 ft) |
| Draught | 10.82 m (35.5 ft) |
| Propulsion | Two four-cylinder triple expansion engines, twin screws |
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h) |
| Capacity |
|
| Complement | 160 crew |
Sierra Ventana was a steam ship originally built for North German Lloyd in 1912, but requisitioned for use as a hospital ship during the First World War. She was then given to France as war reparations and sailed under two further names before being scrapped in 1936.
History
[edit]Sierra Ventana was built at the yards of the German company Bremer Vulkan at Vegesack for North German Lloyd, one of the four-ship Sierra class for the South America run,[1] and was launched on 12 October 1912.[2] She set out on her maiden voyage from Bremerhaven to La Plata on 18 January 1913.[3] Sierra Ventana was chartered by the German Admiralty on 26 August 1914 and converted into a hospital ship.[3][4] On 19 November 1918 she was returned to the North German Lloyd.[3] On 5 February 1919, she was impounded at Cherbourg while transporting former prisoners,[2] and on 26 January 1920, transferred as reparations to France; she was operated by the Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique of Bordeaux as Alba.[3][5] In 1926 she was purchased by Chargeurs Réunis and renamed Amérique; she operated on the mail run to Africa.[2] In 1936 she was scrapped at Blyth.[2][3]
References
[edit]- ^ Georg Bessell, Norddeutscher Lloyd, 1857–1957: Geschichte einer bremischen Reederei, Bremen: Schünemann, [1957], OCLC 3187889, p. 107 (in German)
- ^ a b c d Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857–1970: History, Fleet, Ship Mails, volume 1 Vancouver: Cordillera, 1994, ISBN 978-1-895590-08-1, p. 398.
- ^ a b c d e Arnold Kludas, Die Geschichte der deutschen Passagierschiffahrt volume 3 Sprunghaftes Wachstum, 1900 bis 1914, Schriften des Deutschen Schiffahrtsmuseums 20, Hamburg: Kabel, 1988, ISBN 978-3-8225-0039-2, p. 91 (in German)
- ^ Bessell, p. 131.
- ^ Bessell, p. 210.
External links
[edit]- Sierra Ventana 1913 at Maritimes Archiv (in German)
- Photograph at U.S. Naval Historical Center