The ''Jura'' was a wooden,

flush deck In naval architecture, a flush deck is a Deck (ship), ship deck that is continuous from stem to stern. History Flush decks have been in use since the times of the ancient Egyptians. Greco-Roman Trireme often had a flush deck but may have also ha ...

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

, originally built for service on

Lake Neuchâtel Lake Neuchâtel ( ; ; ) is a lake primarily in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The lake lies mainly in the canton of Neuchâtel, but is also shared by the cantons of Vaud, Fribourg, and Bern. It comprises one of the lakes in th ...

, but which was sold after seven years to work on

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

, and sank in 1864 after a collision with the '' Stadt Zürich''.

History

The ''Jura'' was built in 1854 by the Maschinen Fabrik Escher-Wyss in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. On 7 September that same year the ship was placed in service by the Lake Neuchâtel Steamboat Society (''Société des Bateaux à vapeur du lac du Neuchâtel'') on

. In 1861, the ship was put up for sale and purchased by the

Lindau Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...

Steamship Navigation Inspectorate (''Lindauer Dampfschiffahrtsinspektion'') as a replacement for the '' Ludwig'' which had sunk after a collision. For its transportation to

, the ship was dismantled and moved on horse-drawn carts. The ship had a total length of 46.30 metres; its length at the waterline being 41.30 metres, and it had a beam of 10.25 metres draught of about 90 centimetres. The ''Jura'' was powered by a 45-horsepower steam engine, which gave it a top speed of 18.5 km/h. It could carry up to 400 passengers.

Sinking

On 12 February 1864, the ''Jura'' set sail on a routine service from

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

via

Romanshorn Romanshorn is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Arbon (district), Arbon in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Romanshorn was probably settled in the 7th century, and is first menti ...

to Lindau. Around 11 a.m., and despite having a fog

lookout A lookout or look-out is a person in charge of the observation of hazards. The term originally comes from a naval background, where lookouts would watch for other ships, land, and various dangers. The term has now passed into wider parlance. ...

, signal horns and an attempt at taking avoiding action, it could not prevent a collision with the ''Stadt Zürich'' off Münsterlingen. The bow of the ''Stadt Zürich'' ripped the ''Jura''’s

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

off. The person manning the fog lookout of the Bavarian ship was crushed and a ship’s boy had his arm torn off. Within just four minutes, the ''Jura'' sank. The rest of the ship‘s

crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...

and

passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

s were rescued by the ''Stadt Zürich''. Because the ''Stadt Zürich'' had sunk the ''Ludwig'' in a collision less than three years before, and, only a few months after sinking the ''Jura'', had collided with the '' Stadt Lindau'' in Lindau Harbour, the ship was especially unpopular in Bavaria.

Discovery of the wreck

In February 1953, Ludwig Hain was looking for a crashed

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

aircraft in the lake off

Bottighofen Bottighofen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History There was a small, prehistoric lake-front settlement near the village. The modern village of Bottighofen is first mentioned in 830 ...

when he chanced upon the wreck of the ship at a depth of about 39 metres. After that, the wreck was forgotten until, in 1976, it was rediscovered by Hans Gerber. The ship, which has since become known by

scuba diver Scuba, originally SCUBA, often expanded to scuba set, is any self contained underwater breathing apparatus, a source of breathing gas used for underwater diving which is carried by the diver. Scuba may also refer to: * Scuba diving Scuba ...

s as the "best known freshwater wreck in Europe" lies almost upright on its

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

on the lake bed. The bow of the ship is covered in

mud Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

which was dumped at this spot after

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

work for the harbour at

Kreuzlingen Kreuzlingen () is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second-largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 22 ...

. From the wreck of the ''Jura'' were salvaged the 47-kilogramme ship's bell, bottles, a manometer and the name of the ship.

Recovery plans and industrial monument

A recovery of the ship would be attractive because the ''Jura'' is the oldest surviving steamship in the world. It would make available a ship of the late Biedermeier period, an era from which there are hardly any surviving technical monuments. The Lake Constance Historical Navigation

stiftung A Stiftung () (properly ''Stiftung'', pl. ''Stiftungen'') is an institution or foundation that, with the aid of a property, pursues a purpose determined by the founder. A ''Stiftung foundation'' exists to give effect to the stated, non-commercial ...

(''Historische Schifffahrt Bodensee'') with its headquarters in the Swiss village of

Tägerwilen Tägerwilen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. Geography Tägerwilen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 47.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 37.4% is forested. Of the r ...

has plans to recover and restore the ship. The cost is estimated at around 3.5 million euros, because the ship’s wooden hull and folding chimney are in a poor condition. Sports divers are partly to blame, as is the aforementioned dumping of mud on the wreck, damage as a result of regular shipping and fishing, and, of course, the passage of time. On 7 December 2004, the governing council of the

Canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

declared the ''Jura'' as an "Underwater Industrial Monument", placed it under protection and empowered the Office of

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Frauenfeld Frauenfeld (Alemannic German, Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Thurgau, Thurgau in Switzerland. The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) Swiss Standard Ge ...

to look into the possibility of a recovery operation or an archaeological investigation of the wreck. The ship was to be protected from further damage through a cooperation of the Office of Archaeology, the sports diving clubs of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and the ''

Wasserschutzpolizei The (, WSP - literally translated "Water Protection Police" in German language, German) is the river police that patrols the waterways, lakes and harbours of Germany around the clock. The WSP are part of the (State Police). The Federal Po ...

''. The restored or even reconstructed ship, together with the '' Hohentwiel'' built in 1913 and the steamship '' Gustav Prym'' built in 1916 would be used to show the development of shipping on Lake Constance. This fleet of classic ships will be enhanced by the ''

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

'', built in 1928 and therefore the oldest European car ferry on an inland waters.

Exhibitions

* 31 August 2016–present: ''Geschichten vom Seegrund. The Dampfschiff Jura.'' at the .The Maritime Museum in Kreuzlingen
/ref>

References

External links

* ttps://www.pro-taucher.com/dive-sites/europe/switzerland/thurgau/lake-constance-jura/ Diving site description and photographs {{Recreational dive sites, wresit 1854 ships 1864 in Europe Heritage sites in Switzerland History of Baden-Württemberg History of Bavaria History of Thurgau Lake Constance Lake Neuchâtel Paddle steamers Passenger ships of Germany Ships of Switzerland Shipwrecks of Switzerland Steamships Wreck diving sites