CS STEPHAN
Built 1901 by Stettiner Vulkan
Length 391.8 ft. Breadth 48.3 ft. Depth 29.8 ft. Gross tonnage 4630
Twin screw. Triple expansion engines of 2,400 ihp, speed 14 knots.
Built for Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke. Launched on 29 December 1902 and commissioned on 1 March 1903. Four cable tanks with a coiling capacity of 98,000 cubic feet. Fitted with a double duplex machine forward, a paying out machine aft, triple bow sheaves, single stern sheave, twin dynamometers forward and a single one aft, all manufactured by Achgelis of Bremerhaven.
Kabeldampfer "Stephan" der Nordd. Seekabelwerke, Nordenham
Postcard dated 1904, courtesy
of The Postcard Album |
The following two postcards are part of a series of six cards showing various aspects of cable laying, produced for Norddeutsche by the prolific German publisher Peter Luhn.
See below for descriptions of all six postcards, each with a link for further information at the German Museumsstiftung Post und Telekommunikation.
Peter Luhn postcard Serie 3 No. 4
Cable Laying from CS Stephan May 1903 |
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Peter Luhn postcard Serie 3 No. 5
Landing of the second German-Atlantic cable Fayal (Azores) 1903 |
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Although the scenes on the cards are dated 1903, both of the above postcards have this divided back, with a vertical line separating the message and address sections. Helmfried Luers, author of the Peter Luhn article linked above, notes that divided back postcards were not introduced in Germany until March 1905, so these cards must have been published after that, most likely in 1907/8.
The original artist is Erwin Carl Wilhelm Günter (1864 - 1927) and the six cards in the series are as follows. Links on each postcard are to the catalogue entries at the German telecomms museum, which have more information and images of each card.
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Stephan was handed over to the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company as war reparations at the end of WWI. Sold for scrap in 1926.
CABLE WORK
WHEN OWNED BY NORDDEUTSCHE SEEKABELWERKE
| 1903 |
Emden, Germany - Azores |
| 1904 |
Azores - New York, USA |
| 1904 |
Menado, Dutch East Indies - Yap - Guam - Shanghai |
| 1906 |
Cuxhaven, Germany - Arendal, Norway |
| 1907 |
Moen, Denmark - Liepaja & Petersburg, Russia |
| 1908 |
Trieste - Pola - Sebenike |
| 1910 |
Trieste - Pola - Split |
| 1910-11 |
French Guinea - Liberia - Ivory Coast |
| 1913 |
Mundesley, England - Norderney, Germany |
| 1913 |
Balboa - San Elena
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| 1913 |
Balikpapan - Soerabaja, Dutch East Indies
Kema - Ternato, Dutch East Indies |
WHEN OWNED BY THE TELEGRAPH CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE COMPANY
| 1919 |
Porthcurno, England - Gibraltar |
| 1920 |
USA - Barbados - Maranham |
| 1920 |
Aden - Bombay |
| 1920 |
Malta - Alexandria 5 |
| 1921 |
USA - Cuba Three separate cables were laid on this route |
| 1922 |
Malta - Alexandria 6 |
| 1922 |
Aden - Seychelles |
| 1922 |
Aden - Suez |
| 1923 |
Waterville - Havre |
| 1923 |
Suva, Fiji - Auckland, New Zealand |
| 1923 |
Sydney - Southport, Australia |
| 1923 |
UK - Ireland |
CS Stephan and CS Electra (1) at Malta, in February 1920,
prior to the laying of the Malta - Alexandria Cable No 5. |
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