MV Liemba
The MV Liemba | |
| Career | |
| Germany (1913-1916) | KLM ensign |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom (1924-1961) | 
|
| Tanzania (1961-present) | 
|
| Builder: | Jos. L. Meyer, Papenburg, Germany |
| Laid down: | 1913 |
| Launched: | 1914 |
| Commissioned: | 1914 |
| Status: | Template:Ship fate box active in service |
| Homeport: | Kigoma, Tanzania |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,575 t |
| Length: | 70 m (232 ft) |
| Beam: | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Draught: | Unknown |
| Propulsion and power: | Diesel engine (Steam until 1970) triple expansion, 500 ihp, 2 screws |
| Speed: | 9knots |
| Complement: | 18 1st class 16 2nd class 350 3rd class |
| Armament: | 8.8cm gun and two 3.7cm revolver guns (removed 1916) originally at SMS Königsberg |
The MV Liemba, formerly the Graf von Götzen, is a passenger ferry which runs along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. The ship was built in 1913 by the Germans, and used as a war vessel on Lake Tanganyika during World War I. It was scuttled by its captain during the war, as part of a retreat from the town of Kigoma, and sank to the bottom of the lake, but it was later resurrected, taken over and renamed by the British. The ferry is now owned by the Tanzania Railways Corporation and runs between the ports of Kigoma, Tanzania and Mpulungu, Zambia with numerous stops to pick up and set down passengers in between.
The ship was the inspiration for the German gunboat Empress Luisa in C.S. Forester's 1935 novel The African Queen, and the subesquent film version. The story of the ship's sinking was recently retold in a book by Giles Foden entitled Mimi and Toutou Go Forth. The Bizarre Battle for Lake Tanganyika. In 1992 the boat featured in the travel series 'Pole to Pole' and Michael Palin stayed in one of the ship's cabins.
History
Early history
The Graf von Götzen was built in 1913 at the Meyer-Werft Shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, and named after Count Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen, the former governor of German East Africa. Soon after being built, the ship was taken apart and shipped in parts to East Africa in order to bolster Germany's military presence in the area. It arrived first in Dar es Salaam, and was then taken on the Central Line across to Kigoma, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. It was there, in 1914, that the ship was rebuilt and launched, in January 1915.
World War I
With the aid of the Götzen, the Germans had complete control of the lake in the early stages of the war. The ship was used both to ferry cargo and personnel across the lake, and as a base from which to launch surprise attacks on Allied troops. It therefore became essential for the Allied forces to gain control of the lake themselves. Under the command of Geoffrey Spicer-Simson and the Royal Navy they achieved the monumental task of bringing two armed motor boats Mimi and Toutou from England to the lake by rail, road and river to Kalemie on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika. The two boats waited until December 1915, and mounted a surprise attack on the Germans, with the capture of the gunboat Kingani. Another German vessel, the Hedwig, was sunk in February 1916, leaving the Götzen as the only German vessel remaining to control the lake.
As a result of their strengthened position on the lake, the Allies started advancing towards Kigoma by land, and the Belgians established an airbase on the western shore at Albertville. It was from there, in June 1916, that they launched a bombing raid on German positions in and around Kigoma. It is unclear whether or not the Götzen was hit (the Belgians claimed to have hit it but the Germans denied this), but German morale suffered and the ship was subsequently stripped of its gun since it was needed elsewhere.
The war on the lake had reached a stalemate by this stage, with both sides refusing to mount attacks. However, the war on land was progressing, largely to the advantage of the Allies, who cut off the railway link in July 1916 and threatened to isolate Kigoma completely. This led the German commander, Gustav Zimmer, to abandon the town and head south. In order to avoid his prize ship falling into Allied hands, Zimmer scuttled the vessel on July 26, off the mouth of the Malagarasi River.
Resurrection
The Götzen remained on the floor of Lake Tanganyika until 1924, when it was salvaged up by the British, to aid transport around the lake in the new protectorate of Tanganyika. They found that the engines and boilers were still usable and the ship returned to service in 1927 as a passenger and cargo ferry under the new title MV Liemba.
Recent history
The ferry has been operating almost nonstop since that date. After Tanzanian independence in 1961, the Tanzania Railways Corporation took over the running of the ferry, allowing them to tie in services with the Central Line from Kigoma to Dar es Salaam. In 1970, the ship underwent its most recent overhaul, in which the traditional coal engine was replaced with a diesel one and the accommodation was upgraded, allowing an increase in passenger numbers from 430 to 600.
In 1997, the Liemba was used by the UNHCR, along with the MV Mwongozo, to transport more than 75,000 refugees, who had fled Zaire during the First Congo War, back to their homeland following the overthrow of longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. The ship made a total of 22 trips between Kigoma and Uvira during this five month operation.
The African Queen
The battle of Lake Tanganyika provided the inspiration for the 1935 novel The African Queen by C.S. Forester. The German gunship Königin Luisa (referred to by hero Charlie Allnutt as the Louisa), is based on the Götzen, and to a certain extent the events portrayed in the film are based on the dramatic operation carried out by the British, but the actual events described in the book bear little resemblance to the true course of history.[1] The book was subsequently made into a film, the 1951 classic The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. The gunship used in the filming, was played variously by the Lugard II paddle-steamer, owned by East African railways, and operating on Lake Edward, and by the steam-tug Buganda on Lake Victoria, which was used for the long shots. The film still brought a certain notoriety to the Götzen/Liemba, however. Like its real life counterpart, the Luisa ended up at the bottom of Lake Tanganyika, following a collision with the 'hero boat' African Queen towards the end of the film.
Ferry operation
The Liemba runs a weekly service in each direction, running from Kigoma to Mpulungu Wednesday to Friday, and back again from Friday to Sunday. Accommodation ranges from 1st class (luxury cabin) to 3rd class (seating only).
There are docks at Kigoma, Mpulungu and Kasanga, but at all other stops, passengers must travel to the shore by way of a smaller boat. Notable stops along the route include: Lagosa (for Mahale Mountains National Park), Karema (for Mpanda) and Kasanga (for Sumbawanga).
Notes and references
- ^ Foden, Giles (2005). "Mimi and Toutou Go Forth: The Bizarre Battle of Lake Tanganyika" (p266) Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-14-100984-5
Bibliography and external links
- The Graf von Goetzen, Natural High Safaris.
- TANGANJIKASEE, A Gunboat War in Deutsch-Ostafrika, by Dennis L. Bishop and Holger Dobold.
- Former German War Ship Still Going Strong, The EastAfrican, August 3 - 9 , 1998.
- Fitzpatrick, Mary, et al (2001). Lonely Planet: East Africa (6th ed.). Victoria: Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-74059-131-3
- Shipwrecks & Salvage on the East African Coast by Kevin Patience - 2006