Hello

I am sure you are talking about the famous German passenger ship HERTHA (1905-1947) that was doing the route Stettin-Rüggen.After World War II, teh ship was given to Greece as part of war reparations and was named HEIMARA or HEIMARRA (the name of a Greek town of Northern Epirus, presently in Albania)

I have written numerous articles in a Greek site (most of them in English) starting here [www.nautilia.gr]


As I was saying there:

The loss of HEIMARA in 1947 was one of the most tragic maritime accident in the Greek history. It shocked the Greeks back then and, in the very last ten years, it let the new generation ponder again and reexamine the causes of the sinking. A TV show plus several (poorly written) articles by non-experts presented a view that attracted sympathy (as it should have) without analyzing the situation of the accident and especially the true capabilities of the ship involved.

First, HEIMARA was not a vessel unworthy of travel. Heimara was 42 years old when she sunk on 1947, an age that was not unusual in Greek shipping practice at that time. Many other passenger ships had traveled or would travel much longer (as for example MOSCHANTHI or GLAROS). Second, HEIMARA was built as HERTHA in Germany and was one of the sturdiest and most beloved pre-war ships in Northern Germany, mostly in Baltic Sea around Rüggen island and all the way to Bornholm, the eastern most island of Denmark.

HERTHA and her sisters belonged to the Stettin Lines in the Rueggen area.

I highly recommend to those who care, to buy the recent German book Dampfschiffe. Braeunlich, Jürgen F.: Baederdampfer auf der Ostsee (Die Reederei Braeunlich und ihre Flotte) Hamburg, Koehler 1999.

They will admire the progress of the Stettin Lines in the Rueggen area. The illustrated book comes with 214 pages that describe the pretty ships that served the area.

Odin and Hertha were the first and oldest... They were beauties... Here they are shown off Hook's Terrace in Stettin (today's Szczecin of Poland). The picture was taken from Claus Broder Hansen's book Passenger Liners from Germany: 1816-1990, (Schiffer Publishing Co, West Chester, PA, 1991). Hertha, right, was slightly bigger than Odin. Hertha provided service between Stettin and Trelleborg all the way to Bornholm. After train service reached Rueggen, Hertha remained in Ruegen service whereas Odin was ent to the East Prussian service.

Hertha's/Heimara's technical data have been described already. She was built in Stettiner Oderwerke at Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin in Poland) and was completed in June 1905. She was one of the first ships of the Stettiner DG J.F.Braunlich mbH, in Stettin, Germany. She had a tonnage of 1,257, that is a reasonable (if not big for coastal ships of those days) size. Her length was 76.3 m and her width was 10.3. Most importantly, she had a service speed of 16 knots and a maximum speed of 17.6 knots. It capacity was 625 passengers in one class (no cabins), typical of all old northern European boats that did day travel between fashionable ports and islands.

As described before, she did the trade in the old Pommeranien, mostly in Usedom and Swinemuende, and the island of Rueggen. If not familiar with this area, please see [en.wikipedia.org]. I visited this area of Ahlbeck of Ostvorpommern, Germany on the Baltic Sea, about 8 years ago. In the summer they are wonderful areas for vacation and the Germans adore to spend time there. There are dunes and wide sandy beaches, but also strong afternoon winds, even in the summer, so the ships of the Stettiner Lines were very strong...

Hertha remained in Stettin's hands from 1905 to 1942 and surprisingly enough she survived World War II ... She was then a prize of war given to England in 1945 and then to the Greek Government, that renamed her Heimara. She was brought down to Greece in 1946 and was first placed in the route Thessaloniki-Athens.

The loss of Heimara has been described rather well... Photographs of the ship as Heimara are exceedingly difficult to find as she was Greek for just one year... The only known picture is that presented in Koutouzis' Web site and repeated by all Greek newspapers in teh last few years... It does not give the complete picture.

Here are then a few photographs and postcards of Hertha/Heimara that -except for one- are unearthed for the first time.

First, a pre-World War I postcard showing her full of passengers.

etc, etc About 100 articles worth


Enjoy!