The SS ''Bremen'', later renamed ''Constantinople'' and then ''King Alexander'', was a German

Barbarossa Barbarossa, a name meaning "red beard" in Italian, primarily refers to: * Frederick Barbarossa (1122–1190), Holy Roman Emperor * Hayreddin Barbarossa (c. 1478–1546), Ottoman admiral * Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Un ...

class

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

commissioned in 1897 by

Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

History

The SS ''Bremen'' was built by

F. Schichau The Schichau-Werke (F. Schichau, Maschinen- und Lokomotivfabrik, Schiffswerft und Eisengießerei GmbH) was a German engineering works and shipyard based in Elbing, Germany (now Elbląg, Poland) on the Frisches Haff (Vistula Lagoon) of then- Eas ...

of Danzig for the Norddeutscher-Lloyd line. She started her maiden voyage on 5 June 1897, traveling from

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with a stopover at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. In addition to the

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...

run she also sailed from Bremen to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

via the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

. On 30 June 1900, she was badly damaged in a dockside fire at the NDL pier in

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The fire was started by spontaneous combustion of a bale of cotton. The Lloyd ships SS ''Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse'', SS ''Saale'' and SS ''Main'' were also damaged in the fire, with the SS ''Saale'' sinking, whilst the ''Bremen'' ran aground. After the fire she was rebuilt by

AG Vulcan Stettin Aktien-Gesellschaft Vulcan Stettin (short AG Vulcan Stettin) was a German shipbuilding and locomotive building company. Founded in 1851, it was located near the former eastern German city of Stettin, today Polish Szczecin. Because of the limited ...

, lengthened to 575 ft, and her tonnage was increased to . She reentered service in October 1901. On 20 April 1912, while sailing from Bremen to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, SS ''Bremen'' passed through the debris field left by the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic''. A Bohemian passenger named Stephen Rehorek photographed an iceberg that matched eyewitness descriptions and sketches that had been given about the iceberg that ''Titanic'' struck. In addition, passengers and crew reported seeing hundreds of bodies floating in the water as well as many deck chairs and pieces of wood. Since there was already a ship specially chartered by White Star line to retrieve any bodies, the ''Bremen'' did not stop to recover any.

''Bremen'' was laid up during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war she was given to the British P&O line as part of the

war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. History Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history. R ...

. Two years later she was sold to the Byron S.S. Co. and renamed ''Constantinople'', and operated on the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

route. By 1924, she was renamed ''King Alexander''. She was scrapped in 1929.

References

Bibliography

1858-Today: Six Passenger Ships called 'Bremen'

National Greek Line - Byron SS Co. - theshipslist.com

Citations

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bremen Barbarossa-class ocean liners Ships of Norddeutscher Lloyd Passenger ships of the United Kingdom 1896 ships Ships built in Danzig Ships built by Schichau Maritime incidents in 1900 Ship fires Shipwrecks in rivers Shipwrecks of the New Jersey coast