German Innovation

In 1880s, the Bremen-based Norddeutscher Lloyd Company (North German Lloyd) was the leading German shipping operation.  Several smaller lines sailed ships to North America and also to South America, Africa, and Asia, but North German Lloyd operated many of the fastest ships on the Atlantic.  Their chief competition was from the Hamburg-based Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft, better known as HAPAG.  This line, in turn, faced stiff competition in the growing emigrant trade from the Carr Line, a small mostly freight carrier that began to run passenger service under the direction of Albert Ballin.  Ballin’s genius was providing reasonable fairs and comfortable passage for the emigrants sailing on his line. HAPAG wanted this share of a steadily growing passenger trade and rather than engage in a ruthless price war and subsequently bought the Carr Line.  The merger brought Ballin to the head of HAPAG’s North American passenger division (and later as director) and provided him a platform to reshape the form of ocean travel. 

Auguste Victoria: a modern ship in 1889.  Model by Navis Neptune, M903. 1:1200 scale.

The liner Auguste Victoria of 1889 was the first ship to manifest his vision and in several key ways, it revolutionized the industry.  Named for the Kaiser’s wife (originally named Augusta Victoria, but subsequently corrected), the ship was reasonably large, 475 feet long, and fairly fast with a maximum speed of 18 ½ knots (the record in 1889 was 20.1 knots).  This liner was one of the first- along with the aforementioned Teutonic to have masts without spars for sails and twin screws for propulsion.  Ships with two propellers are capable of faster speeds and have a built-in back up in the case of mechanical failure.  Many single-screw ships suffered embarrassing delays on account of a damaged propeller.

Auguste Victoria’s design marked the start of a new era.  Gone were the clipper shaped bows, towering masts with spars, and deckhouses.  From 1890 onward, knife like prows sliced through the water, tired superstructures covered large public rooms, and funnels towered above the hull.  Inside, her public rooms were well appointed and featured electric lighting for both first and steerage class passengers.  There were even single-birth cabins in steerage- a rare option in 1889!  First class passengers were treated to covered promenade decks, a two-deck high dining saloon, a music room and a grand staircase. As we shall see, these features became even grander with each new class of ships Ballin and HAPAG introduced, but the Kaiser’s dream of luxurious and technologically innovate passenger ships (that could become armed cruisers) became a reality with Auguste Victoria and her near-sister Columbia. 

Auguste Victoria's profile was fairly balanced with three masts and three funnels.

Auguste Victoria was initially a popular ship.  By some estimates 30,000 people visited the ship before her maiden voyage to New York and she booked a steady number of passengers.  However, she proved to consume too much coal and unable to carry enough passengers or freight to offset the cost of operation.  To make the ship profitable, during the winter months when Atlantic passengers, particularly in steerage were fewer (winter crossings encounter rough weather), she was sent on cruises to the Mediterranean and the Far East. By 1900, the rivalry with Britain became more intense and passenger traffic was growing year-round.  Newer, faster, and larger ships were needed to meet the demand and HAPAG was engaged in a vigorous construction program to keep pace.  Subsequently, Auguste Victoria was sold to the Imperial Russian Navy in 1904.  Renamed Kuban she served her new owners until 1907, when she was scrapped in Stettin.  

Augusta Victoria (Auguste Victoria) built by AG Vulcan Stettin. Launched 1888, sailed for HAPAG 1889-1904.  7,661 GT, 457 feet long, two triple expansion engines geared to twin screw.  Maximum speed 18.5kn.  1,100 Passengers (1889):  400 first class, 120 second class, 580 steerage.  

Further Reading:

Burgess, Douglass R.  Seize the Trident: The Race for Superliner Supremacy and how it Altered the Great War. McGraw Hill, 2005.

Maddocks, Melvin. The Seafarers: The Great Liners.  Time-Life Books, 1978.

Miller, William H. The First Great Ocean Liners in Photographs.  Dover, 1984.