SS Havel Archival Collection
The North German Lloyd Steamer SS Havel. (The English Illustrated, April 1893) | GGA Image ID # 227e080f1e
Havel (1890) North German Lloyd
Built by "Vulkan", Stettin, Germany. Tonnage: 6,963. Dimensions: 463' x 51'. Propulsion: Single-screw, 18 knots. Compound engines. Masts and Funnels: Three masts and two funnels. Iron hull. Passengers: 244 first, 122 second, 460 third. Maiden voyage: Bremen-Southampton-New York, February 2, 1891. Note: The last Atlantic single-screw express steamship to be built. Refits: Quadruple expansion engines installed in 1898. Sale: Sold to Spanish Government in 1898. Renamed: (a) Meteoro (1898), (b) Alfonso XII (1899). Fate: Scrapped in Italy, 1926. Sister ship: Spree.
1892-09-13 SS Havel Passenger List
Voyage of Dignitaries, Scholars, and Sisters: The SS Havel's Journey from Bremen to New York, September 1892
Steamship Line: Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd)
Class of Passengers: Cabin
Date of Departure: 13 September 1892
Route: Bremen to New York
Commander: Captain Th. Jüngst
On Tuesday, 13 September 1892, the SS Havel of the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) line departed Bremen, Germany for New York, under the command of Captain Th. Jüngst. This voyage occurred during the final years of Castle Garden immigration and just months before Ellis Island would open as the primary gateway for millions. The Havel, a product of late 19th-century German steam engineering, catered to upper-middle-class professionals, American elites, and European religious orders making transatlantic crossings.
1896-06-30 SS Havel Passenger List
Voyage of Scholars, Scientists, Diplomats, and Dames: A Distinguished Atlantic Crossing Aboard the SS Havel – 30 June 1896
Steamship Line: Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd)
Class of Passengers: Cabin
Date of Departure: 20 June 1896
Route: Bremen to New York via Southampton
Commander: Captain Th. Jüngst
The 30 June 1896 voyage of the SS Havel was more than a crossing; it was a microcosm of transatlantic society at the dawn of the 20th century. With professors from Berlin, physicians from California, nobility from St. Petersburg, and elite travelers from Cambridge and New York, this passenger list reflects a time when ocean liners were not merely vessels—but floating salons of science, society, and diplomacy.
Illustration of Steerage Passengers and their Living Quarters, Possibly Representative of the Conditions on the Norddeutscher Lloyd Steamship SS Havel. (The English Illustrated, April 1893) | GGA Image ID # 227e4d8770
Express Steamer SS Havel of the Norddeutscher Lloyd. (Guide Through North and Central America, April 1898) | GGA Image ID # 1de03ffe9b
North German Lloyd SS Havel and SS Spree Longitudinal sections of the two largest and the smallest Lloyd steamer in the same scale. (Der Norddeutsche Lloyd, 1892) | GGA Image ID # 227e020a76. Click to View a Larger Image.
The inimitable Mark Twain, in one of his happy moments, has aptly and deservedly added his invaluable testimony to the sterling worth and inestimable working capacity of the North German Lloyd in the following private letter to a friend:
Testimonial Written by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) on Board the SS Havel, 19 June 1892, Page 1 of 2. (NDL Guide Through North America, April 1898) | GGA Image ID # 227adb1e21
Testimonial Written by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) on Board the SS Havel, 19 June 1892, Page 2 of 2. (NDL Guide Through North America, April 1898) | GGA Image ID # 227b30dc08
Advertisement (1893): Norddeutscher Lloyd German Express Mail Steamship Connections Promoting the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. | GGA Image ID # 227ffc1844
I. Bremen and New York via Southampton.
Sailing twice a week of the magnificent express steamers: Havel, Spree, Lahn, Trave, Aller, Saale, Ems, Elbe.
The express steamers of die Norddeutscher Lloyd, universally known for die comfort of their accommodations, elegance in their fitting up. as well as for die reputation of their excellent cuisine, compare in speed with those of any other line. The express steamers - Havel- and - Spree- make the trip from New York to Scilly Islands in 6½ days, the -Lahn-, - Saale-, -Trave- and - Aller- in 7 days, and the -Ems- and -Elbe- in 7½ days. Sailings: From Bremen: Tuesday and Saturday. From Southampton: Wednesday and Sunday afternoon. From New York: Tuesday and Saturday.
II. Genoa and New York via Gibraltar.
Regular sailing (2-3 times a mouth) of the express steamers: Werra, Fulda and Kaiser Wilhelm II between New York and Genoa via Gibraltar.
With the comfort and elegance of the steamers is combined on this line the comfort of travelling in the southern ocean and the beauty of the islands and coasts which the steamers pass on this trip. The voyage is first to the Azores, then along the coast of Portugal. southern Spain and Africa. In Gibraltar the passengers are given opportunity of going on shore for a few hours, or also to remain 8—14 days in southern Spain or Tangiers and then continue the voyage to Genoa by one of the following steamers of the Norddeutscher Lloyd without additional fare.
The quickest and most comfortable connection between New York and Europe for visiting the Riviera and Switzerland, as well as Florence, Rome and Naples.
From Genoa connections every fortnight to Egypt in the one direction and to London, Southampton. Antwerp and Bremen in the other direction per the imperial mail steamers of the Norddeutscher Lloyd.
Sailings: From New York: Saturdays. — From Genoa: Wednesdays.
III. Bremen and Baltimore.
Weekly by the comfortable mad steamers (about 5000 tons).
Dresden, München, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart Darmstadt Gera, Oldenburg, Weimar.
Extra steamers during the Exposition.
For passage apply to the Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen.
Spree and Havel
These ships are about six years old. They are now 463 feet long, 51 feet 10 inches beam, and 37 feet deep. An additional 65 feet will be built in amidships,bringing the length up to 528 feet.
A more radical change, however, will be the substitution of two sets of engines driving twin screws for the single engines and screw of each vessel. The present engines are of the five-cylinder, three-crank, triple-expansion type, indicating about 11,500 horse power.
The new engines will be four-cylinder, four-crank, triple-expansion, each vessel having about 18,000 horse power. Three new boilers will also be fitted in each vessel. An extra knot and a half is expected as a result of the alterations.
These vessels were built and engined by the Vulcan Company of Stettin, some seven years ago. The engines were of the five- cylinder, triple-expansion type, and the speed and economy of the steamers have never been questioned.
But the single screw was adopted in the case of these vessels and it was a mistake which the directors of the company now frankly and wisely admit and seek to remedy. The last argument, feeble as it is, is now taken away from those British Mail Companies which, in pursuance of a penny-wise policy, continue to turn out single-screw ships.
They said that the fact that the North German Lloyd built the Spree and Havel on this principle justified them in their continuing to build their ships in the same way. The many recent vessels which North German Lloyd have added to their fleet have all been twin-screws, and that, of course, showed that the company had realized its mistake.
But the intention to alter these modern vessels is a very strong accentuation of their belief in the absolute necessity of duplication of machinery in mail and passenger steamers.—“ Marine Engineer.”
"Merchant Steamers: Spree and Havel," in Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Washington, DC: R. Beresford, Printer, Vol. X, No. 1, February 1898, p. 283