SS ''Saale'' was an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

for

North German Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

in the late 19th century, which was severely damaged in the 1900 Hoboken Docks Fire. On 30 June 1900, ''Saale'' was moored at the North German Lloyd piers in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

, preparing to depart on a transatlantic crossing when some cotton on a nearby pier caught on fire and spread to the ship. ''Saale'' and several other ships were soon engulfed in flames; 99 passengers and crew on ''Saale'' were killed in the fire and subsequent sinking. The ship was raised, sold, rebuilt, re-engined, and renamed SS ''J. L. Luckenbach'' in 1901–02. The ship served as a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

for the Luckenbach Line. In October 1917, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the ''Luckenbach'' came under attack by German submarine , which damaged the ship and set her cargo of cotton on fire. but the ship was able to eventually make port in France. The ship was renamed SS ''Princess'' in 1922 and SS ''Madison'' in 1923. She was

broken up Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in June 1924.

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She was assessed as . She was powered by a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

driving a single

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

. This could propel her at .

North German Lloyd career

''Saale'' was a German

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

owned by the

company of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, and was built by the Fairfield shipbuilding company in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 1886. She was launched on 21 April 1886 and made her maiden voyage on 18 August 1886. She was capable of carrying 1,240 passengers: 150 in first class, 90 in second class, and up to a thousand in

steerage Steerage is a term for the lowest category of passenger accommodation in a ship. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, considerable numbers of persons travelled from their homeland to seek a new life elsewhere, in many cases North Amer ...

. ''Saale'' primarily sailed the express route between Bremen,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

On the afternoon of 30 June 1900, ''Saale'', along with her line mates , , and , were moored alongside piers 1, 2 and 3 in

. ''Saale'' had passengers on board readying to depart for Southampton. While the ship remained alongside her pier, some cotton that was on the pier caught fire, and due to a strong wind the flames blew over to some barrels of oil and turpentine, which quickly went ablaze. The wind fanned the flames along the pier and over to the ships. ''Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse'' quickly managed to get up some steam and get away, but there was no such luck for the other ships which moved away ablaze. Passengers above decks on ''Saale'' were able to jump into the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

and swim to safety. Many others who were in cabins were trapped, and prevented from exiting the ship because the

porthole A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehic ...

s were not big enough for a person to get through, so many were suffocated or incinerated. ''Saale'' eventually sank, and when she was raised the charred remains of 99 victims were recovered. As a result of this disaster it was legislated that portholes had to be big enough for a person of reasonable size to escape.

Later career

The ship was sold to Luckenbach Transportation and Wrecking Co, New York, United States. She was rebuilt, and re-engined as a

of American registry under the name SS ''J. L. Luckenbach'' in 1901–02. On 19 October 1917, during

, ''J. L. Luckenbach'' was under fire from German submarine for three hours, and her cargo of cotton set on fire. The American destroyer arrived on the scene and drove off the attacking U-boat, helped to extinguish the fire, and make repairs to the boat. When the convoy ''Nicholson'' had been escorting caught up with the pair of vessels, the ''Luckenbach'' joined the convoy and made it safely to

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

on 21 October. In 1919, the name of her owners changed to Luckenbach Steamship Co Inc. The ship was sold to Archibald M. Ostrom of New York in 1922 and was renamed ''Princess''. She was renamed ''Madison'' in 1923. She was

in June 1924.

References

External links

Hoboken Fire of 1900
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saale 1886 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany Ocean liners Shipwrecks in rivers Hudson River Ship fires Maritime incidents in 1900 Shipwrecks of the New Jersey coast Ships of Norddeutscher Lloyd Rivers-class ocean liners Steamships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States World War I merchant ships of the United States Maritime incidents in 1917

Description

North German Lloyd career

Later career

Further reading

References

External links