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Bremen was the first of two near
identical liners built for the North
German Lloyd Line. Her sister ship
Europa entered service the
following year. After losing all their
large ships at the end of World War One,
it had taken the North German Lloyd Line
ten years to recover enough to build
these two record breaking ships.
Bremen and Europa joined
the 32,000-ton Columbus that
entered service in 1924 to compete
against Cunard’s Mauretania,
Aquitania and Berengaria and
the White Star Line’s Olympic,
Majestic and Homeric.
Bremen was one of the first
liners to be welded rather than of a
riveted construction. Her innovative
design also featured a bulbous bow. As
well as reducing drag, this helped keep
the bow from plunging in heavy seas,
which in turn prevented the propellers
from lifting out of the water.
Bremen’s steam turbines were
so well muffled they couldn’t be
heard from any of the passenger
accommodations. Also, there were no
vibrations from her shafts or propellers,
unlike ships built before that time.
Bremen could carry 800 1st,
500 2nd and 900 3rd class passengers. She
set out on her maiden voyage from
Bremerhaven - New York July 16th 1929.
With a crossing of 4 days, 17 hours and
42 minutes, she took the Blue Riband from
Cunard’s Mauretania by
increasing the average speed from 26.25
to 27.83 knots. Bremen soon took
the eastbound record as well and held
that honor for the next six years with
her best average being 28.51 knots. As
Bremen made several world cruises
that saw her transit the Panama and Suez
canals, she held the title of the largest
ship to use the canals until
Cunard’s liner QE2 took that
record in the early 1970s.
Bremen was docked in New York
at the outbreak of World War Two. In the
early hours September 1st 1939, with all
her windows blacked out and unannounced,
she steamed out of New York bound for
Germany. To avoid British cruisers and
submarines that were known to be in the
area, her captain devised a northern
route that took them to the Russian navel
port of Murmansk before completing the
voyage to Bremerhaven.
Bremen was dazzle painted for
camouflage in 1940 before being moved to
Hamburg for conversion to a transport
ship. All available German ships were
undergoing similar work at that time in
order to take part in Hitler's
‘Operation Sea Lion’ (the
invasion of England). As the German Air
Force (Luftwaffe) were unable to defeat
the British Royal Air Force in what
became known as the Battle of Britain,
the invasion had to be postponed, this
leading to Bremen being returned
to Bremerhaven. Bremen caught fire
while berthed at Bremerhaven March 16th
1942. It is believed this was an act of
sabotage carried out by an unhappy crew
member or anti Hitler Germans. The
military had the burned out hulk of
Bremen dismantled to the waterline
so the steel could be used for munitions.
Her remains were then towed to the River
Weser to be destroyed by explosives.
Bremen on fire at
Bremerhaven
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