A still floating chain bucket excavator from 1895
Posted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 3:39 pm
Hi everyone,
On my trip to a museum ship from the GDR, I discovered some gems besides the freighter. Next to the "Langer Heinrich" swim crane, which was used fitting out at least one world famous german ship, and the "Capella" concrete freighter, I found a rotten, yet still afloat chain bucket excavator from 1895. I was so amazed, that I litterally needed to jump over the closed-off gangway and step on it. This thing was built when pre-dreadnoughts were the newest naval craze and the ships of the german High Seas Fleet, which took part in the battle of Jütland/Skagerrakschlacht, were as futuristic as a successor of the space shuttle. It gave me shivers to board it.
I have to stop myself here and get to the point - The excavator had been built in Lübeck at the Baltic Sea in 1895, possesses a riveted hull and a 2-flue fire tube boiler, meaning a Scotch boiler of course. That thing was only still afloat because it had been modified into a salvage barge during the days of the GDR. As you will see qhen I load up the photos, it has half a dozen steam engines on deck for all the steam winches. I will upload the eye candy in a couple of hours.
On my trip to a museum ship from the GDR, I discovered some gems besides the freighter. Next to the "Langer Heinrich" swim crane, which was used fitting out at least one world famous german ship, and the "Capella" concrete freighter, I found a rotten, yet still afloat chain bucket excavator from 1895. I was so amazed, that I litterally needed to jump over the closed-off gangway and step on it. This thing was built when pre-dreadnoughts were the newest naval craze and the ships of the german High Seas Fleet, which took part in the battle of Jütland/Skagerrakschlacht, were as futuristic as a successor of the space shuttle. It gave me shivers to board it.
I have to stop myself here and get to the point - The excavator had been built in Lübeck at the Baltic Sea in 1895, possesses a riveted hull and a 2-flue fire tube boiler, meaning a Scotch boiler of course. That thing was only still afloat because it had been modified into a salvage barge during the days of the GDR. As you will see qhen I load up the photos, it has half a dozen steam engines on deck for all the steam winches. I will upload the eye candy in a couple of hours.