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January 22, 1891

Discussion in '"Today in History", Literature & Media Review' started by Martin Antonenko, Jan 22, 2023.

  1. Martin Antonenko A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    The first commercial cruise...!


    Since luxurious steamships were invented and built in the 1870s, they have all been in transatlantic liner services - mainly between Germany, France and Great Britain as well as North America (New York) and South America (Buenos Aires) - including the three funnel liner "Augusta Victoria", named after the German Empress, of the Hamburg-based HAPAG shipping company...:

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    But the owner of the "Hamburg-American Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft" (HAPAG), Albert Ballin, was a far-sighted man and long foresaw pleasure trips by ship for the "upper ten thousand" to particularly beautiful places.

    Although a Jew, Ballin was a close personal friend of the inveterate anti-Semite Kaiser Wilhelm II.

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    ...and saw his regular summer voyages with the imperial yacht "Hohenzollern" to the Scandinavian fjords, the so-called "Northern voyages"...

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    ...as an example that wealthy citizens would soon follow.

    So Ballin retired the "Augusta Victoria" in the winter of 1886/1887 and had it extensively rebuilt by the Northern Irish shipyard "Harland & Wolf" (which later also built the "Titanic" and her sister ships "Olympic" and "Britannic") :

    The HAPAG steamer was lengthened from 144 to 163.10 m, the central chimney was expanded and the previously open command bridge (a relic from the days of sailing ships!) was covered.

    The conversions increased the displacement of the ship from the original 7,661 to 8,479 gross register tons, the additional space gained was used to install more and the luxury renovation of the existing passenger cabins...:

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    In addition, the steamer was renamed "Auguste Victoria" as this was the correct name of the empress - Wilhelm II had insisted on this detail!

    On January 22, 1891, the "Auguste Victoria", at that time the largest ship in the world, left Cuxhaven for the first cruise in history - called "Orient Journey" at the time...:

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    The fully booked ship's pleasure voyage goes through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea (it is the largest ship to have ever passed through the Strait at the time)...

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    ... to Egypt (Port Said)...

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    ...where passengers will visit Cairo and the Pyramids of Giza via shore excursion and then on to Greece where a visit to Athens and the Acropolis will take place.

    The traveling painter C.W. First of all, the following drawing, which shows the "Auguste Victoria" disembarking the passengers in the Piraeus roadstead - because the ship was too big and went too deep to be able to enter the port...:

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    The days at sea are all jubilation, hustle and bustle...:

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    After that, Naples, the excavations of Pompeii and Vesuvius as well as a trip to Genoa are on the program...

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    ... before the steamer begins the return journey and returns to Cuuxhaven on March 21, 1891.

    The trip is generally celebrated as a "complete success", and the cruise boom that has continued unabated to this day was born!

    In 1904 the "Auguste Victoria" no longer met the expectations of cruise passengers and was sold abroad, new, larger, more luxurious and faster steamers were available.

    The Imperial Russian Navy purchases the "Auguste Victoria", armed with two 12 cm L/45 Canet guns, four 7.5 cm L/50 Canet guns, eight 5.7 cm Hotchkiss guns and two machine guns and used them during the Russo-Japanese War 1904/05 under the new name "Kuban" as an auxiliary cruiser and disruptor of trade in Japanese waters...:

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    The installation of the armament was carried out in a hurry (the war against Japan was already underway), which is why the ship in Libau in the dry dock was not sufficiently secured - and it tilted against the quay wall...:

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    Like the rest of the Russian fleet, the auxiliary cruiser "Kuban" acted completely unsuccessfully during the war and did not capture a single enemy ship!

    On December 1, 1906, the ship was removed from the list of Russian warships, sold for demolition on March 23, 1907 and scrapped in Stettin from May.

    The end of shipowner Albert Ballin, who so to speak invented cruises, is tragic:

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    On November 9, 1918, the day Wilhelm II announced his abdication and the proclamation of the Republic, Albert Ballin killed himself with an overdose of sleeping pills.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    From Cruise ship to Warship ........quite a difference

    A sad end to Albert Ballin as well

    Cheers Martin

    Nap

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