''Stettin'' is a steam

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

built by the shipyard

Stettiner Oderwerke Oderwerke or Stettiner Oderwerke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Stettin. History Oderwerke was founded on January 28, 1903, and built 154 ships prior to World War I. During World War II Oderwerke built two German Type VII submar ...

in 1933. She was ordered by the Chamber of Commerce of Stettin (until 1945

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 ...

, since 1945

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). The economy of the city of Stettin strongly depended on the free access of ships to and from the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. Therefore, icebreakers were used to keep the shipping channels free from ice during the winter.

Design

For the first time in Germany, the construction was characterized by a new bow design called Runeberg-bow. This new bow design broke the ice using a novel method. It was not broken by the weight of the ship but by a sharp cutting edge. Future development of icebreakers was influenced by this bow form. Although diesel-engines were already in wide use by 1933, ''Stettin'' was equipped with a steam engine. Unlike diesel engines, steam engines can be reversed within a very short period of approximately 3 to 4 seconds. This was important during manoeuvres of the ship under icey conditions in order to liberate the ship if it were to get stuck. With the special hull design and an engine power with a maximum horsepower of 2200, measured at the cylinders, ''Stettin'' was able to break ice up to a thickness of half a meter, at a constant speed of one to two knots. Thicker ice could only be broken by boxing, a process in which the ship ran several attacks until the ice gave way.

Operational history

The icebreakers of Stettin were handled by the Braeunlich shipping company, which ran a seaside resort ferry service along the coast during the summer. Its other ships had similar engines, so a single technical staff could be employed year round. ''Stettin'' was run by a crew of 22 men. This system was in place until the end of

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 ...

. From 1933 to 1945, ''Stettin'' was used in German Navy (

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi 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 military branch, branche ...

) service on the

Oder River The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through west ...

between Stettin and Swinemünde, as well as on the Baltic Sea. On the night of 8 April 1940, ''Stettin'' participated in the capture of Copenhagen by participating in a surprise landing of German troops in Copenhagen together with the railway ferry/minelayer . ''Stettin'' is one of two or three surviving vessels of the east Prussia evacuation fleet. From 1945 on, she was used by the waterway and navigation authorities in Hamburg on the river

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

Preservation

In 1981, ''Stettin'' was slated to be scrapped due to uneconomic costs. However, with the establishment of a development association, thousands of working hours, and support by generous sponsors, the ship was saved. Today, she is a technical culture monument. Her homeport is the museum port of Oevelgoenne in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany. During summertime, ''Stettin'' cruises with invited guests on occasions like "Hamburg port birthday," "Hansesail Rostock," and "

Kieler Woche The Kiel Week () or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is considered to be one of the largest sailing events globally, and also the largest summer festivals in Northern Europe, ...

," and is also used as a charter vessel. Dampfeisbrecher Stettin HS 99.jpg Eisbrecher stettin 1892.jpg Dampfeisbrecher Stettin HRO 3.jpg Hamburg.oevelgoenne.Stettin.wmt.jpg 2012 09 06 Stettin Brücke DSCI8933 kk.JPG Okretowa maszyna parowa1.jpg Stettin 1905-0553.jpg Eisbrecher Stettin IMG 1562.JPG Telegraf maszynowy mostek.JPG Rura głosowa.JPG Koło sterowe.JPG 17 Dampferrennen.JPG

External links

Website of Hansesail
*
German site about the Stettin

collection of videos on Stettin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stettin (1933) 1933 ships Ships built in Stettin Merchant ships of Germany Steamships of Germany Icebreakers of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Troop ships of Germany Merchant ships of West Germany Steamships of West Germany Museum ships in Germany Icebreakers of West Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine