Name the Ship Game

[Werik]

Still looking, still looking... Is this a German vessel, and is this in the Baltic by any chance??

[st george]

Can't make out the Flag. Is it Spanish?

[jud]

The rule for a fortnight might be changed to 48 hours which should attract a different type and greater  participation. It's not the names that interest me, what I enjoy most, is pondering what the vessel was designed to do, the time and area where used. Summaries could be required after the final naming, they are interesting and often trigger further research.

jud

[Doreltomin]

Hello all,

 

@George, don't bother with the flag, I said previously that I have tampered with two easy key-points of identification: the flag and the name written high on the bulwark. Better think of the ship architecture, which will eventually led you into which period, who built the ship and for which company. Also, don't forget the clues: she had another sister-ship and were both connected to a train - certainly NOT in the Baltic!

 

And by the way, she never heard German in her life (except for some German passenger, of course) neither when built, nor when she was in service. On the contrary, she always was in the opposite side with the German-speaking world, Swiss not taken into account, of course, as they always have been neutral and have no battle fleet

 

@Jud, the same for me, I see this game in its utmost sense as a wonderful opportunity to learn stories about ships. We come from different corners of the world and what may be familiar for me is not familiar for you so it's a good opportunity to share naval stories and learn more about our pet subject!

Edited July 13, 2014 by Doreltomin

[Doreltomin]

Hmmm... still nothing? Maybe I should add another clue?

 

How about the fact that the name of the ship relates to a character from the Ancient Rome?

[Doreltomin]

Another two pictures with the ship...

 

 

Edited July 16, 2014 by Doreltomin

[amateur]

It looks a bit like "SS Regel Carol I" (apart form the fact that it has two in stead of one funnels....)

Should we look around the Donau??

 

Jan

[Doreltomin]

Hello Jan, many thanks for your input, I was beginning to fear this one was bit too hard to guess.

 

You are now very close of her.

 

At least you guessed the right owner, she is only a bit younger than the SS Regele Carol I. No, you should certainly not look around the Danube, she was an open sea vessel and, as the first and the last photo shows, was run aground and hence destroyed beyond repair, so after a delayed salvage, she was towed to Genoa and broken for scrap. And instead of being a king... make her name a bit more imperial

[Werik]

Doreltomin, sounds like it might be the Imperatul Traian, built in 1908 in St. Nazaire for the Romanian State Railways. It seems she served as a Russian auxiliary cruiser and seaplane tender during WWI, then seized by the Germans, eventually reclaimed by her original owners. In 1927 on a voyage from Alexandria she ran aground at Cape Tuzla. She apparently stayed grounded from February to September when she was refloated and eventually scrapped. 

[jud]

She did have what looks like a Cruiser hull, some of those ships had provisions to quickly install Barbette's and Gun mounts and provide for ammo storage. Think Britten went through a period of auxiliaries being quickly converted from peaceful use.

[Doreltomin]

Hi Werik, that's right, you got her!

 

But the owner was not the State Railways (CFR),  but the SMR = Romanian Maritime Service. The connection with the train come from the fact that the passengers from the famous Orient Express were brought to Constanta and from here they took one of the SMR ships (either the Imparatul Traian or the sister ship Dacia) for the final wing of the journey to Istambul. During the first World War all the SMR ships were converted to auxiliary cruisers and while in Sevastopol, this one was seized by the Revolutionary (Red) forces (see b/w photo)before being reclaimed by the former owner at the end of the war. What do you think of a small scale model of this ship?

 

Your turn!

Edited July 16, 2014 by Doreltomin

[Werik]

Doreltomin, I think a scale model of this ship would be beautiful! I nominate you as builder, I don't have the skills yet.There is an elegance about this ship and others from that time that far surpasses what is seen nowdays. I'm no nautical expert by any means, and I understand that form follows function sometimes, such as container ships. But... when I see most cruise ships, I lived in Miami for a period of time and saw them everyday on my way to work, I think of them as looking like seaborne toasters.  They lack any essence of elegance or grace. This is only my opinion of course, I'm sure that others would disagree, after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes.  This was a fun search. The enjoyment of this game is in the search and gleaning interesting information along the way. Kinda like life. I will post tomorrow.  

[Doreltomin]

Thank you Werik, actually I am dreaming of building this model, yet I do not have the proper plans, have just the below deck and above deck plan, no proper lateral view and no hull lines. So.. it's still on the "maybe" list.

 

I agree with you on the elegance of these beautiful ships compared with today's passengers, which look like a floating block of flats. I am also living in a harbour city here right now and look with interest at those big passenger ships.. they're HUGE, yet lack the elegance of yesterday's steamers!

 

Look forward your next mystery photo!

[Werik]

Ok, here's one. Not nearly as elegant as the previous vessel, and with a rather inelegant end.

 

[amateur]

which suggest a WWI torpedo victim.....

 

Jan

[Werik]

No Jan, not a torpedo victim. Perhaps you could say a victim of misuse.

[Werik]

Maybe it's time for a hint or two? She was built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, seems to have had a rather unremarkable service life until she got into the clutches of one of the Twentieth Century's worst actors.

[mtaylor]

It wasn't blown up at the end of the film was it?  Tommy Lee Jones movie as I recall.....

[Werik]

Actually, I meant bad political actors  . And she didn't blow up. BTW, I like Tommy Lee Jones, what was the movie? We can digress for a moment  . 

[mtaylor]

Actually, I meant bad political actors  . And she didn't blow up. BTW, I like Tommy Lee Jones, what was the movie? We can digress for a moment  . 

 

Yeah.. I'm having a senior moment on the title.. IRA types as I recall, bomb expert.  Had a real Rube Goldberg to blow up the freighter he was living in... 

 

Edit:   Just found it...   Blown Away.

[Werik]

Thanks, I'll look for it, should be fun. I'll post more hints tomorrow, unless someone unlocks the mystery first. Whoa... was that a hint??

[amateur]

Sorry, but you seem to see hints where there are none

 

Jan

[amateur]

SS Norlandia, perhaps (although, she had a rather 'normal' war-ending, due to a torpedo..... and not too much casulaties)

 

Jan

[st george]

USS Lake Tulare?

[Werik]

No sorry, not the SS Norlandia or the USS Tulare. Her end was not torpedo related, and there were a large number of helpless and hapless casualties. BTW, there was a hint in that posting. 

[amateur]

OK, I'll change my initial reaction: I don't see hints, even when they are there for everyone to see

Still not a clue.

A number of helpless caualties, in a cargo ship, but not a torpedo-victim.

Rapid sinking of an evacuee-ship?

 

Jan

[Beef Wellington]

Spyglass, pretty sure you have it, but lets wait for confirmation.  I still can't figure out how any of the hints get to this!

 

http://hasanskiy-dv.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7474:ostrov-karamzina-taina-gibeli-dvyh-qindigirokq&catid=58:history&Itemid=415

[Werik]

Spyglass, you have her. She was indeed the Indigirka, a Soviet Gulag prison ship. In December 1939 she ran aground near the coast of Japan. The ship capsized, and guards prevented prisoners in the holds from escaping. 28 prisoners survived of more than 700.  

[Menno]

Maybe nice to have the whole story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Indigirka

 

In that article it says:

 

 

16 December, when the Japanese rescue team then opened the hull with acetylene torches,

 Which (I think) was hinted at in:

 

 

Thanks, I'll look for it, should be fun. I'll post more hints tomorrow, unless someone unlocks the mystery first. Whoa... was that a hint??

...someone unlocks the mystery...

[st george]

Looks like a Flower class.