Model of a steamship ERBGROSSHERZOG FRIEDRICH FRANZ

• iron screw steamer with schooner rigging
• Scale: 1:50
• length: 120 cm

The ERBGROSSHERZOG FRIEDRICH FRANZ was the first ship (construction number 1) from the newly built shipyard and machine works of Zeltz and Tischbein in Rostock and also a technological innovation: the ship was the first seaworthy iron screw steamer in Germany, albeit it with additional schooner rigging. The maiden voyage was to London. In 1853 the ship belatedly joined the liner traffic from Rostock – Saint Petersburg due to an ice drift. The ship met all expectations. The second voyage was also to London in April 1852 and the ship was loaded with wheat and seeds. It was not until May that the Neva was free from ice and the first voyage to Saint Petersburg could be undertaken.

The operators of the ship and its sister ship, the GROSSFÜRST CONSTANTIN (1), were unable to make a profit. The operating results were not satisfactory. In May 1852 the ERBGROSSHERZOG collided with a Norwegian ship. In June it became stranded off Gotland. In 1853 the passenger capacity was increased by 4 spaces. From June 1854 until September 1854 it was used to deliver supplies for the British-French blockade fleet in the Eastern Baltic Sea. Both ships were sold in 1855 to a Dutch shipyard. In December 1857 it became stranded near Lemvig / west Jutland, and both the ship and its cargo went missing.