Wednesday 17th July 2019
I had an early breakfast in the hotel, packed a few bits into a tiny rucksack for the day, and set off back down to the water and FREYA.
FREYA was built in 1905 in the Netherlands and then sold on in 1933 to a shipyard and then on again in 1935 for use as a bunkering station. Bought again in 1988, restoration started in 1989 with a second-hand compound steam engine dating from 1926 and boiler dating from 1967. In 1990 she was in service as DE NEDERLANDER for charters around Rotterdam Docks, and then sold again in December 1999 to start operations for the 2000 season in the 'nostalgia' market. She has been fitted out in 1920s style and made available for charter with a regular sailing schedule. Re-named FREYA, she was to revive the tradition of paddlers serving the North Sea resorts of Germany, from her base at the offshore sand-bar resort island of Sylt. FREYA now sails mostly on the Kiel Canal and on the Elbe river from Hamburg. She is 52 metres long, with a beam of 11 metres, and can do 8.6 knots at speed.
This is just a little of the information I read about FREYA on http://www.paddlesteamers.info/Freya-DeNederlander.htm, which tells me it is the internet's leading database of Paddle Steamers past and present.
It was another cool and cloudy day but I was going through the Kiel Canal, and Following in Father's Footsteps again, with copies of some of Father's photographs in my bag, taken back in 1931 as he sailed through the Canal.
I walked along and down the now-familiar route between my hotel and the Central Station,
and this morning I was soon at the quayside and FREYA. A coach load of German pensioners arrived and were allowed on board first. The rest of us were checked off on a list and welcomed by the Purser/General Manager and each escorted to our individual table. I had a small table to myself up on the top deck starboard side, right at the front, with beautiful china and linen; other tables seated 4 and were soon filled. A flask of hot coffee was on each table and everyone was invited to go down to the lower deck and get a pastry to have with the coffee. This was a good start as the ship prepared to depart at 10 a.m.
The small vessel LABOE prepared to leave the small harbour where we were berthed and so part of the small pedestrian bridge was closed and part of it raised for her to enter the main waterway and then it was our turn to go through. Immediately on our right (starboard side) was the Norwegian ship COLOR MAGIC (see blog for 2008) and on our port side was the Swedish STENA SCANDINAVICA.
The FREYA Captain was on the Bridge above us and next mentioned that a German submarine was being tugged into the Naval Dockyard on the starboard side; she had been away for about a year and had returned for an overhaul.
the submarine was the German U 34 = Nato-Code S 184, escorted by the tugs Robbe ( ahead) and Holtenau (backside)
I found that several other passengers standing near me out on the forward deck were happy to translate into English for me, which was kind, and aided them practising their English too.
I noticed a small ship ALKOR on our port side, which was pointed out to us from the Captain on the Bridge. ALKOR is a research and survey vessel employed in German and European marine research, built in 1990, at 1322 gross tons.
One man told me he was particularly interested in steam trains, but enjoyed ships too. When I mentioned that I had several photographs taken in 1931 by my Father during a transit of the Kiel Canal, he and several people were keen to see them and that started several discussions about the bridges in my photos. That also seemed to answer one or two polite questions about why I was on the FREYA.
I explained that Father worked as a Junior Engineer on the Blue Star Line cruise ship ARANDORA STAR from 1930, and I have a Blue Star Cruising Programme for 1931 which shows that the ship entered the Kiel Canal on Monday 31st 1931 at 7 a.m. at Holtenau like us. They sailed the 115 miles to Brunsbuttel, passing there at 3 p.m. and sailed the 36 miles to Hamburg, arriving there at 6 p.m.; they stayed there for 34 hours before heading for Rotterdam. Father took several small photographs during the transit, so he must have fitted them around his Watch-keeping; the one I find fascinating of course is of him and a couple of fellow engineers sitting inside the rim of the stern funnel of ARANDORA STAR!
Another photo shows the other working funnel, and others show several Canal bridges.
Just to add to my non-family-history thoughts at present, as we arrived at Holtenau and the entrance to the Kiel Canal, I remembered a small book I own, published in 1896, and called "Log of the Tantallon Castle". It records in beautiful detail the occasion that Sir Donald Currie, who founded the Castle Mail Packets Company (yes, of course I have to mention Union-Castle Line), invited many distinguished friends and guests to sail on his seventh Fairfield Shipping Company-built vessel to the Baltic to be present in Kiel 'at the opening of the Canal that links by a fresh bond the Baltic with the North Sea'.
They left Tilbury in the UK on Wednesday 12th June 1895 and, after calling at Hamburg, they travelled to Copenhagen, before arriving at Kiel to take part in the ceremonies for the opening of the Canal. They had to anchor about 4 miles outside Kiel (probably here at Holtenau) amongst a whole fleet of ships of all nations; on 20th June 1895 the weather was glorious and everyone was awaiting the coming of the Emperor, making the first transit of the Canal.
The illustrations and descriptions in this little book are fascinating and the guest list makes absorbing reading too. Having the Right Honourable W. E. Gladstone M.P. on board pleased Sir Donald too, as well as the Royalty that visited the ship or invited him and his guests to functions ashore. They left Kiel and then travelled to Gothenburg, rather than going straight back to the UK, which by coincidence will be part of my own explorations during this trip.
Back to the present in 2019 and my own transit of the Kiel Canal, starting at Holtenau near Kiel - where we entered the Canal behind a couple of other big ships, and I watched the gate close behind us.
Ships seen:Freya, Bussard, Bulk, Stena Scandinavica, Color Magic, Laboe, Stadt Kiel, Alkor, submarine,
To be continued...
