On this day April 14, Milwaukeeans celebrate the city they love and call home as 414 is the area code for Milwaukee. In honor of 414, today’s post is of a luxurious passenger ship which never sailed the Great Lakes but Milwaukee’s mayor and an official delegation were in attendance of her launching – the MS MILWAUKEE..
Photo at top of page: MILWAUKEE on her maiden voyage, February 1929.
On February 20, 1929, the MILWAUKEE was launched. Built in Hamburg, Germany by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard, it is believed to have been named MILWAUKEE as a good will and promotional gesture due to our large German population. Though she never made it to the Lakes, she may have received more publicity than any other vessel named MILWAUKEE, especially in the Milwaukee newspapers.
Milwaukee delegation – Mrs. Daniel Hoan center with Capt Molchin, Chauncey Yockey and William George Bruce holding his hat, February 20, 1929.
Milwaukee’s Mayor Daniel Hoan, his wife, and an official delegation from Milwaukee including Harbor Commission chairman William George Bruce were honored guests at the launching party in Hamburg, Germany. Mrs. Hoan had the honor of christening the ship.
Unknown man, Mayor Danial Hoan, Mrs. Hoan, Captain Molchin, Hamburg American Representative, February 1929.
Her owners, the Hamburg-American Line, designed her as a luxurious passenger vessel for the North Atlantic passenger trade. She sailed from Hamburg to New York and made cruises to the Canary Islands, Madeira and Spain.
She was a diesel motorship with a rated speed of 16 knots, measured 574 feet in length, had two mast and two funnels. Her passenger capacity was 270 cabins, 287 tourist and 416 third class. She also carried freight.
Launching of the MILWAUKEE, February 20, 1929
Dome in lounge area of the MILWAUKEE
From 1929 through 1939, the MILWAUKEE sailed the Hamburg-Cobh-Halifax-New York route. During World War II she was berthed at Kiel, Germany, and used as floating living quarters most likely for the workers of the Kiel Naval Shipyards.
She was bombed by the RAF to prevent her being used as an escape ship by top-ranking Nazi personnel and then seized in May 1945. Used by the US Navy as a transport ship, she was later allocated to the US but was declined as her electrical system was of the single-pole type. She was taken over by Great Britain and renamed EMPIRE WAVENEY. While in drydock at Liverpool for a refit, she caught fire on February 8, 1946. Gutted and sunk, she was refloated in May but declared to be a total loss. She was broken up in 1947.
Suzette Lopez
Photo Credit: Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.
