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River
Elbe at Lauenburg, Germany
PS
Kaiser Wilhelm
Kaiser Wilhelm in August 2015. Photo by kind courtesy of Olivier Bachmann
Builders :
Dresdner Schiffswerft, Dresden
Length ; 57.2 m
Engines : Compound Diagonal
Built at the shipyard of
the Dresden based Elbe steamer concern for operation on the River
Weser in 1900
Put into operation between Hameln and Hann Munden by the Oberweser
Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft
Lengthened at its builders in 1910
Reboilered in 1954
Withdrawn in 1970 and sold for further use by the Elbe Shipping
Museum at Lauenburg on the River Elbe.
Passed by canal from the Weser to the Elbe rivers through what was
then German Democratic Republic territory
Took up special and charter sailings on selected weekends generally
upstream on the Elbe along the GDR border
Low Pressure cylinder rod broke on June 23, 2001, putting the ship
out of passenger service until September 1
Reboilered
2020, remaining coal fired and the aft section of the hull replaced in
a major restoration programme, supported by EUR 1 million of state funds
An electrical system pre-heats the boiler
A remarkable early example of operational
preservation, the Elbe Shipping Museum at Lauenburg, upstream on the
Elbe from Hamburg, acquired the last passenger steamer from the River
Weser operation based at Hameln and from 1971 put the then 71-year old
steamer to work on cruises along the former East German border. She
operates special and charter cruises on many weekends from Spring
until Autumn
Internal views of Kaiser Wilhelm by Olivier Bachmann
For more photos of Kaiser Wilhelm in 2015 by Olivier Bachmann, click here
For engines, click here
Lauenburger
Elbeschiffahrtsmuseums e.V.
Kaiser Wilhelm
Official Website
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Weser - Historical
Lauenburg / Elbe - Historical
