View source for SS Bremen (1896)

{{hatnote|For other ships named Bremen, see [[Bremen (disambiguation)|Bremen]].}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:S.S. Bremen.jpg|300px|SS Bremen in 1905]]
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[German Empire]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|German Empire}}
|Ship name=''Bremen''
|Ship namesake=[[Bremen]]
|Ship owner=[[North German Lloyd]]
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=Bremen
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=*[[F. Schichau]], [[Danzig]], [[German Empire|Germany]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=583
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=14 November 1896
|Ship fate=Handed to [[Great Britain]] as [[war reparations]] 4 April 1919
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}}
|Ship name=''Bremen''
|Ship owner=*[[British Shipping Controller]] 1919,
*Byron SN Co., [[London]] 1921
|Ship operator=*[[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O line]] 1919,
*Byron SN Co., [[London]] 1921
|Ship route=
|Ship acquired=1919
|Ship in service=
|Ship renamed=*''Constantinople'' 1921,
*''King Alexander'' 1924
|Ship out of service=
|Ship fate=Broken up Italy 1929
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Barbarossa|ocean liner}}
|Ship type=
|Ship tonnage={{GRT|10525}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|550|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|60.2|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|34|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[quadruple-expansion]] [[steam engine]]s, {{convert|8000|hp|abbr=on|lk=in}}
*twin [[screw propeller]]s
|Ship speed={{convert|15.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=230 First Class; 250 Second CLass; 1,850 steerage
|Ship complement=250
|Ship armament=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''SS ''Bremen''''', later renamed '''''Constantinople''''' and then '''''King Alexander''''', was a German {{sclass|Barbarossa|ocean liner}} that entered service in 1897 with [[Hapag-Lloyd|Norddeutscher Lloyd]].

==History==
The ''Bremen'' was built by [[F. Schichau]] of [[Danzig]] for the Norddeutscher-Lloyd line (NDL). She started her maiden voyage on 5 June 1897, traveling from [[Bremen]] to [[New York City|New York]] with a stopover at [[Southampton]]. In addition to the [[transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] run she also sailed from Bremen to Australia via the [[Suez Canal]].<ref name="autogenerated18">{{cite book | title = Great Passenger Ships of the World Vol 1 1858-1912 | author = Arnold Kludas | isbn = 0-85059-174-0 | publisher= Patrick Stephens Ltd | page = 18}}</ref>

On 30 June 1900, she was badly damaged in a [[1900 Hoboken Docks Fire|dockside fire]] at the NDL pier in [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]], [[New Jersey]]. The fire started in a bale of [[cotton]]. The Lloyd ships {{SS|Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse||2}}, {{SS|Saale||2}} and {{SS|Main|1900|2}} were also damaged in the fire, with the ''Saale'' sinking, whilst the ''Bremen'' ran aground. After the fire, ''Bremen'' was rebuilt by [[AG Vulcan Stettin]], lengthened to {{convert|575|ft}}, and her tonnage was increased to {{GRT|11,540|disp=long}}. She reentered service in October 1901.<ref name="autogenerated18"/>

On 20 April 1912, while sailing from Bremen to New York City, ''Bremen'' passed through the debris field left by the sinking of {{RMS|Titanic}}. A Bohemian passenger named Stephen Rehorek photographed an iceberg that matched eyewitness descriptions and sketches that had been given about the iceberg that ''Titanic'' struck. In addition, passengers and crew reported seeing hundreds of bodies floating in the water as well as many deck chairs and pieces of wood. Since there was already a ship specially chartered by White Star line to retrieve any bodies, the ''Bremen'' did not stop to recover any.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2155617.stm |title=UK &#124; Scotland &#124; Picture of 'Titanic iceberg' unveiled |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-07-28 |access-date=2017-01-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/5666/50.html?959133600 |title=Encyclopedia Titanica Message Board: S.S. Bremen's passengers view Titanic disaster |website=www.encyclopedia-titanica.org |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040109173004/http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/5666/50.html?959133600 |archive-date=9 January 2004 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/english/SinkingoftheTitanic/chap21.html |title=Sinking of the Titanic - Chapter XXI |access-date=23 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228054327/http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/hst/english/SinkingoftheTitanic/chap21.html |archive-date=28 February 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.users.bigpond.com/MSN/howardl/titanic.htm |title=Titanic |accessdate=2007-02-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103031747/http://www.users.bigpond.com/MSN/howardl/titanic.htm |archive-date=3 January 2007 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
[[File:S.S. Bremen - G. Howell-Baker - music by E. Edgar Evans.jpg|thumb|"S.S. Bremen" [[hymn]] with [[G. Howell-Baker]] and music by E. Edgar Evans]]
''Bremen'' was laid up during [[World War I]]. After the war she was given to the British [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O line]] as part of the [[World War I reparations|war reparations]]. Two years later she was sold to the [[Byron S.S. Co.]] and renamed ''Constantinople'', and operated on the [[Piraeus]]-New York City route. By 1924, she was renamed ''King Alexander''. She was scrapped in 1929.<ref name="autogenerated18"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Sue Swiggum |url=http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/greek_byron.shtml |title=National Greek Line - Byron SS Co |publisher=Theshipslist.com |date=2005-02-05 |accessdate=2017-01-25}}</ref>

== References ==

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* [http://www.shipsonstamps.org/Topics/html/bremen.htm 1858-Today: Six Passenger Ships called 'Bremen']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090313045903/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsB.html Ship Descriptions - B - theshipslist.com]
* [http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/greek_byron.shtml National Greek Line - Byron SS Co. - theshipslist.com]

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Bremen (ship, 1897)}}
* [http://www.sciencecenter.net/butlerart/htm/99-048.htm A painting of SS Bremen]

{{Barbarossa class ocean liners}}
{{Norddeutscher Lloyd ships}}
{{1900 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bremen}}
[[Category:Barbarossa-class ocean liners]]
[[Category:Ships of Norddeutscher Lloyd]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1896 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Danzig]]
[[Category:Ships built by Schichau]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1900]]
[[Category:Ship fires]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in rivers]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the New Jersey coast]]