Sean Haydon Griffin's Family Tree

SS OMAR-edison-1924-s

Narrative

KÖNIGIN [KOENIGIN] LUISE (1896)

OMAR [1921]

EDISON [1924]

[Right] Photograph of the EDISON ex KÖNIGIN LUISE. Source: Arnold Kludas, Die grossen Passagierschiffe der Welt; Eine Dokumentation, Bd. 1: 1858-1912 (2nd ed.; Oldenburg/Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling, 1972), p. 21. To request a larger copy of this scan, click on the picture.

The steamship KÖNIGIN [KOENIGIN] LUISE was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd by AG Vulcan, Stettin (yard #232), and was launched on 17 October 1896. 10,566 tons; 168,3 x 18,3 meters (length x breadth); 2 funnels, 2 masts; twin-screw propulsion, quadruple-expansion engines, service speed 15 knots; accommodation for 148+70 passengers in 1st class, 138+44 in 2nd class, and 1,970 in steerage; crew of 231.

The KÖNIGIN LUISE was one of the "Barbarossa" class of Norddeutscher Lloyd steamships. 22 March 1897, maiden voyage, Bremen - Falmouth (arrived, unscheduled, 29 March, with a broken rudder, her passengers being transferred a few days later to the FRIEDRICH DER GROSSE; departed 22 April) - New York. 17 November 1897, first voyage, Bremen-Suez Canal-Australia. 1902, bridge enclosed; 10,711 tons; accommodation for 148 passengers in 1st class, 138 in 2nd class, 1,940 in steerage. 25 February 1904-25 May 1911, Genoa - Naples - New York. 1910, rescued 19 persons from the sinking British sailing vessel HARVARD QUEEN. 25 October 1911, last voyage, Bremen-Australia (10 roundtrip voyages). 1912, surveyed at 10,785 tons. 16 March 1912, resumed Bremen-New York service. 18 April-25 June 1914, 3 roundtrip voyages, Bremen - Philadelphia - Baltimore. August 1914, laid up at Bremen. 10 April 1919, surrendered to British Shipping Controller at Southend, first of three German liners to be managed by the Orient Line. 4 September 1920, first voyage for the Orient Line to Australia; surveyed at 11,103 tons. 8 September 1920, in Lisbon, collided with and sank the British steamship LOUGHBOROUGH. 1920, fractured a shaft, flooding the hold. 29 January 1921, purchased by the Orient Line and renamed OMAR. July 1924, sold to the Byron Line (the London branch of the Embiricos Brothers) and renamed EDISON. 16 October 1924, first voyage, Piraeus - Patras - Naples - New York. August 1928, registered in the name of the National Greek Line (a sister concern of the Byron Line). 29 December 1932, last voyage, New York - Boston - Piraeus. 30 July 1935, arrived at Genoa for scrapping.

Sources: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), pp. 60-61 (photograph); Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), p. 170, no. 98 (photograph); Arnold Kludas, Die grossen Passagierschiffe der Welt; eine Dokumentation, Bd. 1: 1858-1912 (2nd ed.; Oldenburg/Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling, c1972), pp. 20-21 (2 photographs); 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. 2 (1978), p. 559.

References