''Oheka II'' was a private

motor yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

built for German-born American

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

Otto Hermann Kahn Otto Hermann Kahn (February 21, 1867 – March 29, 1934) was a German-born American investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. Kahn was a well-known figure, appearing on the cover of ''Time'' magazine and was sometimes ...

Lürssen Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Fähr-Lobbendorf. Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Tradi ...

in 1927. Capable of 34

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

top speed, she became the blueprint for the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

Schnellboot E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...

. "Oheka" is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

of letters from Kahn's full name, Otto Herman Kahn. He had previously named his New York estate, built on Long Island between 1914 and 1919, Oheka.

''Oheka II''

Born in 1867 in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

and relocated to the United States in 1893,

was an American-based

, collector,

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, and patron of the arts. Kahn approached German boatbuilder

in 1926 to build a high-speed motor launch capable of use on holidays upon both the

River Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

and the North Sea. German boat builders at the time were used to building sleek

displacement hull A hull is the watertight body of a ship, boat, or flying boat. The hull may open at the top (such as a dinghy), or it may be fully or partially covered with a deck. Atop the deck may be a deckhouse and other superstructures, such as a funnel, de ...

cruising boats for the Rhine, which to create a smooth ride were round bottomed. However, the problem this creates is a greater depth in the water, and a resultant increase in hydro-dynamic drag, reducing speed. While on a river, this was not of concern, in a high-speed launch it would require more power. The initial design choice of Lürssen for Kahn's yacht was for a round bottomed hull, to create a smooth ride and would in turn reduce hydrodynamic drag, they reduced hull weight by forming a composite shell of wooden planks over an alloy metal frame. Finally, to counter the inefficient tendency of round hulls to "squat" stern-down in the water at high speeds, they counterbalanced it by two measures: *a hull form that flattened towards the stern, providing hydrodynamic lift where it was needed *forward positioning the engines, to counterbalance the stern drop The result was a semi-displacement hull displacing 22 tons, which was wider at the front than the rear, creating an almost perfect high-speed hydrodynamic shape. Having perfected the hull, Lürssen equipped the boat with three Maybach VL II V12 engines of each. In Lürssen speed trials the new craft consistently reached a top speed of , making it the fastest boat in its class in the world. There is no basis for the common misconception that ''Oheka II'' was a "rum runner" used for smuggling.

Schnellboot

In November 1929, Lürssen was given a contract to build a boat to the same basic design as ''Oheka II'', but all metal with two torpedo tubes on the forecastle, and a slightly improved top speed. It became S-1, the Kriegsmarine's first

and the basis for all the other S-Boats built during World War 2.

References

External links

Oheka II @ ''Die yacht'' magazine
* {{cite web , url=https://www.europeana.eu/resolve/record/08501/159D9CA18B409491CF8059BFD8FC79A14FBE9E89, title=Motoryacht "Oheka II", 1927, Werftmodell, accessdate=2013-11-07 , publisher=Europeana Motor yachts Ships built in Bremen (state) 1927 ships

''Oheka II''

Schnellboot

See also

References

External links