Vom Seezeichendampfer „Bussard“ zum Mehrzweckschiff „Neuwerk“

Summary

The replacement of sails by steam engines for ship propulsion and the economic boom in the first years of the German empire boosted marine transport and, above all, liner services. Accordingly, more safety on coastal waterways and harbour approaches was required. Navigation was made safer by additional lighthouses and better lightvessels as well by improving the fairway buoyage.

This accelerated the development of the buoy layer as a dedicated ship type. At first these were steamers with forward working deck, and with lifting gear as was commonly used on cargo ships. They were, however, used for different tasks already.

Changing state-of-the-art and operational requirements led to changes of propulsion, lifting gear, general design and of multi-purpose operation. Coal fired steam plants with simple propellers were succeeded by diesel and diesel electric drives, CP-propellers, Voith-Schneider propulsion and azimu-ting drives. Derricks and steam winches gave way to electric cranes with swell compensator and, presently, hydraulic cranes with telescopic jibs. Thus the modern successor of yesteryear’s straight forward aids-to-navigation steamer is a highly sophisticated ship type which for economic reasons must be equally suitable to fulfil a variety of special tasks.