STEAMSHIP "AUGUSTA VICTORIA"

Steamship "Augusta Victoria"
The steamship AUGUSTA VICTORIA was laid down for the Hamburg-America Line as the NORMANNIA by AG Vulcan, Stettin (yard #183), but was launched on 1 December 1888 as the AUGUSTA VICTORIA, after Auguste Victoria, wife of the Emperor Wilhelm II. (the error in the first name was not discovered until after the launching, and was officially changed in 1897). 7,661 tons; 140,5 (144,8) x 16,9 meters (length x breadth); straight stem, 3 funnels, 3 masts; steel construction, twin-screw propulsion, triple-expansion engines (13,500 psi), service speed 19 knots; accommodation for 400 passengers in 1st class, 120 in 2nd class, and 580 in steerage; crew of 245.

The AUGUSTA VICTORIA was the first German express steamer, and the type-ship of the Augusta-Victoria Class. 10 May 1889, maiden voyage, Hamburg - Southampton - New York. 22 January 1891, first pleasure cruise by any commercial passenger ship, to the Mediterranean and the Near East. 15 March 1894, first voyage, Genoa-New York. 2 October 1896, last voyage, Hamburg - Southampton - New York. 1897, refitted by Harlan & Wolff, Belfast: 8,479 tons, lengthened to 163,1 meters, 2 masts, name corrected to AUGUSTE VICTORIA. 3 June 1897, resumed Hamburg - Southampton - New York service. 8 April 1903, last voyage, Naples - Genoa - New York. 16 January 1904, last voyage, Hamburg - Southampton - New York. May 1904, sold to the Russian Navy, renamed KUBAN, rebuilt as auxiliary cruiser. May 1907, scrapped at Stettin.

Sources: Arnold Kludas and Herbert Bischoff, Die Schiffe der Hamburg-Amerika Linie, Bd. 1: 1847-1906 (Herford: Koehler, 1979), p. 50 (photograph c1900); Noel Reginald Pixell Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway; An Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with the New (2nd ed.; Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications), vol. 1 (1975), p. 395.