SS Neckar Archival Collection
Neckar (1873) North German Lloyd
SS Neckar, 1874, of the Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen. Photo Courtesy of The Peabody Museum of Salem. GGA Image ID # 1f6f8bde78
Built by Caird & Co., Greenock, Scotland. Tonnage: 3,122. Dimensions: 351' x 40'. Single-screw, 14 knots. Compound engines. Two masts and one funnel. Iron hull. Launched, November 10,1873. Maiden voyage: Bremen-Southampton- New York, April 18, 1874. Placed in the Far East service in 1886. Made her final voyage to New York in 1895. Scrapped in 1896. Sister ships: Mosel and Oder.
Neckar (1901) North German Lloyd
Built by J. C. Tecklenborg & Co., Geestemunde, Germany. Tonnage: 9,835. Dimensions: 499'x 58'. Propulsion: Twin-screw, 14 knots. Quadruple expansion engines. Masts and Funnels: Four masts and one funnel. Services: Various. Passengers: 370 second and 3,000 third class. Renamed: (a) Antigone (1917), (b) Potomac (1920). Fate: Broken up by Dutch shipbreakers in 1928. Sister ships: Main and Rhein.
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Sailing Schedule, Bremen-New York, Bremen-Baltimore, and Bremen-Galveston, from 6 October 1903 to 13 December 1904. Ships Included the Brandenburg, Breslau, Cassel, Chemnitz, Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Friedrich der Grosse, Grosser Kurfürst, Hannover, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Köln, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Main, Neckar, Oldenburg, Rhein, and Willehad. SS Kaiser Wilhelm II Passenger List, 6 October 1903. GGA Image ID # 1ebbf5ff3c. Click to View Larger Image.
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Australian Ports and Genoa-New York, from 14 October 1903 to 16 April 1904. Ships Included the Barbarossa, Bremen, Friedrich dr Grosse, Gneisenau, Hohenzollern, König Albert, Lahn, Neckar, Prinz Regent Luitpoid, Prinzess Irene, and Zieten. SS Kaiser Wilhelm II Cabin Passenger List, 6 October 1903. GGA Image ID # 213715a8fe
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Southampton-Cherbourg-New York and New York-Plymouth-Cherbourg-Bremen, from 24 December 1904 to 18 June 1905. Ships Included the Barbarossa, Brandenburg, Breslau, Cassel, Chemnitz, Grosser Kurfurst, Hannover, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Main, Neckar, Prinzess Alice, and Rhein. North German Lloyd Bulletin, January 1905. GGA Image ID # 1eeab8ebe7
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-New York, Bremen-Baltimore, and Bremen-Galveston, from 11 May 1905 to 2 November 1905. Ships Included the Barbarossa, Brandenburg, Bremen, Breslau, Cassel, Chemnitz, Frankfurt, Friedrich der Grosse, Gneisenau, Grosser Kurfürst, Hannover, Köln, Main, Neckar, and Prinzess Alice. SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse First and Second Class Passenger List, 23 May 1905. GGA Image ID # 21087c14bc
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Australia, Genoa-New York-Genoa, Marseille-Naples-Alexandria-Naples-Marseille, from 17 May 1905 to 18 November 1905. Ships Included the Hohenzollern, König Albert, Königin Luise, Neckar, Prinzess Irene, Schleswig, Seydlitz, Stuttgart, Weimar, and Zieten. SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse First and Second Class Passenger List, 23 May 1905. GGA Image ID # 2108ac16c3
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Southampton-Cherbourg-New York, from 18 October 1906 to 13 June 1907. Ships Included the Barbarossa, Brandenburg, Bremen, Breslau, Cassel, Chemnitz, Friedrich der Grosse, Grosser Kurfürst, Main, Neckar, Prinzess Alice, Rhein, Trave, Wittekind, and Yorck. SS Bremen Passenger List, 27 October 1906. GGA Image ID # 213e1cc54d
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-New York and Bremen to Baltimore, From 10 October 1906 to 29 August 1907. (Note: Bremen-New York Is for 1907, a Continuation From Previous Schedule). Ships Included the Barbarossa, Brandenburg, Bremen, Breslau, Cassel, Chemnitz, Darmstadt, Frankfort, Friedrich der Grosse, Grosser Kurfürst, Halle, Hannover, Köln, Main, Neckar, Prinzess Alice, and Rhein. SS Bremen Passenger List, 27 October 1906. GGA Image ID # 213e5f2762
Sailing Schedule, Genoa-New York-Genoa, from 5 October 1906 to 24 May 1907. Ships Included the Barbarossa, Friedrich der Grosse, Kaiser Wilehlm der Grosse, König Albert, Königin Luise, Neckar, and Prinzess Irene. SS Bremen Passenger List, 27 October 1906. GGA Image ID # 2141608721
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Southampton-Cherbourg-New York and New York-Plymouth-Cherbourg-Bremen. Mediterranean Service: Genoa-Naples-Gibraltar-New York and New York-Gibraltar-Naples-Genoa, from 1 November 1906 to 23 April 1907. Ships Included the Brandenburg, Breslau, Cassel, Chemnitz, Friedrich der Grosse, Grosser Kurfurst, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Main, Neckar, Rhein, Wittekind, and Yorck. North German Lloyd Bulletin, December 1906. GGA Image ID # 1eebb9208d
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Southampton-Cherbourg-New York, New York-Plymouth-Cherbourg-Bremen, Genoa-Naples-Gibraltar-New York, and New York-Gibraltar-Naples-Genoa, from 9 December 1908 to 23 July 1909. Ships Included the Barbarossa, Berlin, Brandenburg, Chemnitz, Friedrich der Grosse, Gneisenau, Grosser Kurfurst, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Koenig Albert, Koenigin Luise, Kronprinzessin Cicilie, Main, Neckar, Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm, Prinzess Irene, Rhein, Yorck, and Zieten. North German Lloyd Bulletin, January 1909. GGA Image ID # 1f519dd3c6. Click to View Larger Image.
Proposed Sailings, Bremen-New York and New York-Mediterranean Services, from 10 November 1911 to 13 September 1912. Ships Included the Baarbarossa, Berlin, Bremen, Breslau, Chemnitz, George Washington, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Koenig Albert, Koenigin Luise, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Main, Neckar, Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm, Prinzess Irene, and Rhein. North German Lloyd Bulletin, December 1911. GGA Image ID # 1e304c62cd. Click to View Larger Image.
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Baltimore Line, Bremen-Philadelphia Line, and the River Plate Line, from 3 February 1912 to 25 December 1912. Ships Included the Brandenburg, Breslau, Chemnitz, Coburg, Eisenach, Frankfurt, Giessen, Gotha, Hannover, Javorina, Köln, Main, Neckar, Norderney, Rhein, Sigmaringen, and Wittekind. SS Berlin First and Second Cabin Passenger List, 20 January 1912. GGA Image ID # 20d81054a8. Click to View Larger Image.
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Boulogne-Southampton-New York and New York-Plymouth, Cherbourg-Bremen, from 11 October 1913 to 7 February 1914. Ships Included the Barbarossa, Bremen, Friedrich der Grosse, George Washington, Grosser Kurfürst, Hannover, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Kaiser Wilhelm II, König Albert, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Kronprinzessin Cecilie, Main, Neckar, Prinz Friedrick Wilhelm, Rhein, and Scharnhorst. SS Grosser Kurfürst Passenger List, 8 November 1913. GGA Image ID # 1f66b98b01. Click to View Larger Image.
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Philadelphia, from 18 September 1913 to 2 April 1914. Ships Included the Brandenburg, Breslau, Chemnitz, Frankfurt, Main, Neckar, Seydlitz, Willehad, and Wittekind. SS Grosser Kurfürst Passenger List, 8 November 1913. GGA Image ID # 1f682ff461
Sailing Schedule, Bremen-Baltimore-Bremen, from 9 October 1913 to 8 April 1914. Ships Included the Brandenburg, Breslau, Cassel, Chemnitz, Frankfurt, Main, Neckar, Rhein, Willehad, and Wittekind. SS Grosser Kurfürst Passenger List, 8 Novmeber 1913. GGA Image ID # 1f6888ea56
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Luncheon Menu for 5 May 1901 on the SS Neckar. It Featured Boiled Plaice with Caper Sauce and Melted Butter, Roast Goose, Cherries, Salad, Vanilla Ice Cream, and Pastries. GGA Image ID # 1f6cbc48b7
Luncheon Menu for 10 May 1901 on the SS Neckar. It featured Salmon in Shells, Roast Mutton, Plum Compote, Semolina Flammeri, and Fruit. GGA Image ID # 1f6c850f73
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Immigrants on Board the North German Lloyd SS Neckar With Their Belongings Preparing to Disembark at the Immigration Station at Pier 9 in the Locust Point Area of Baltimore, Maryland. Photo by George R. Luckey, 14 June 1904. GGA Image ID # 20dc7bc685
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Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen 1857-1970, Volume One, History -- Fleet -- Ship Mails
🌍 Transatlantic Titans: The Rise of Norddeutscher Lloyd and the Transformation of Ocean Travel (1857–1918)
Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen, 1857–1970, Volume 1 by Edwin Drechsel is a meticulously researched chronicle of the origins and golden age of the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL), one of the most important steamship lines in global maritime history.
The book covers:
- The founding of NDL in 1857 by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann
- The transition from sail to steam, paddle to screw propulsion
- The increasing demand for transatlantic mail and passenger service
- The NDL’s competition with British lines for speed, prestige, and the Blue Riband
- The line’s crucial role in transporting millions of emigrants to North America
- Its involvement in global mail and freight services
- The impact of World War I on German shipping and commerce
Volume 1 concludes just before or during the war years that halted NDL’s rapid rise.
Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen 1857-1970, Volume Two, History -- Fleet -- Ship Mails
Winds of Change: Norddeutscher Lloyd and the Final Era of Ocean Travel (1920–1970)
The second volume of Edwin Drechsel’s monumental work Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen, 1857–1970 picks up in the aftermath of World War I, tracing five tumultuous decades through:
🌊 Postwar decline and slow recovery
🚢 The interwar years and the Blue Riband triumph of the Bremen (1929)
📉 The Great Depression’s toll on ocean travel
🌍 The transformation of global shipping under the shadow of WWII
🧱 Postwar reconstruction and the decline of passenger liners
📦 The pivot to container freight and the 1970 merger with HAPAG
Drechsel, drawing on his personal ties (his father was a North German Lloyd captain), maritime journalism background, and deep expertise in ship mails and German liner history, delivers a book that is both richly detailed and profoundly human.
Passenger Ships of the World - 1963
🎓 “A Global Voyage Through Steamship History for Historians, Genealogists, and Maritime Enthusiasts”
Eugene W. Smith’s Passenger Ships of the World – Past and Present (1963) is a masterfully curated encyclopedic reference that charts the rise, peak, and transformation of ocean-going passenger ships through nearly two centuries. Expanding upon his earlier Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific works, Smith offers a global maritime panorama that includes ships serving the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Oceania, as well as Canal routes and California-Hawaii shuttle lines.
🧭 This book is an essential resource for:
- Maritime historians seeking design evolution and fleet data
- Genealogists tracing voyages and shipping lines
- Educators and students studying transoceanic migration and tourism
- Ship modelers, naval architects, and enthusiasts interested in dimensions, tonnage, and speed
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Advertisement: Norddeutscher Lloyd Australian Service, 1901. Present Australian Fleet: Grosser Kurfürst 13,182 Tons; Königin Luise 10,566 Tons; Bremen 10,526 Tons; Main 10,000 Tons; Prinz Regent Luitpold 6,288 Tons; Stuttgart 5,048 Tons; Oldenburg 5,006 Tons; Weimar 5,000 Tons; Stettin 2,200 Tons; Barbarossa 10,769 Tons; Friedrich der Grosse 10,531 Tons; Rhein 10,000 Tons; Neckar 10,000 Tons; Karlsruhe 5,057 Tons; Darmstadt 5,012 Tons; Gera 5,005 Tons; München 4,556 Tons; etc. Inset Image: Grosser Kurfürst 9,700 HP, 13,182 Registered Tonnage. GGA Image ID # 214507b392
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