Two Million Pounds Goes Up In Smoke

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 690, 15 June 1929, Page 18

Two Million Pounds Goes Up In Smoke

which has ever overtaken a great liner in the course of construction has overwhelmed tJJ&A the Europa, the gigantic vessel which, it was hoped, would ! bring back to Germany the honour of possessing the fleetest ocean grey-' hound. While lying at her mooring-place in a Hamburg shipyard the huge vessel. on which already more than £2,0(»0,000 had been expended, suddenly caught fire. All efforts to subdue ihe outbreak were in vain, and the vronderful ship is now almost a total loss. At 3 o’clock in the morning the watchmen on board noticed that a lire lad broken out. They immediately summoned the shipyard fire brigade, which arrived quickly, but proved to be inadequate. Hamburg was then alarmed, and responded at once. But when the first firemen arrived with their engines, they found the huge vessel enveloped in flames and burning like a gigantic torch. The atter part could still be approached, but the wind drove the flames all along and athwart the rest of the ship, and these flames, with the dense smoke, prevented the firemen from getting near enough to work at all effectively. Firemen in Baskets la a few minutes, however, single firemen, with hosepipes, were lowered in baskets by the yard-crane on to the after part. But they wrere helpless in the face of such a roaring and hissing volcano. Finally the volume of water in the hold gave the vessel a list, and for a time it was believed that she would overturn, but this did not happen. It was decided that nothing more could be done, save to pump water on to the sides of the vessel to keep the fire away from them. Her interior could only be left to burn itself out. The fire continued to be fed by the explosion of casks of varnish and other inflammable matter on board. It Is hoped that the hull will be saved to be something more than a hulk, but it is doubtful if it can be used again, for it will have lost much of its elasticity through being subjected for such a long time to such an intense heat. The ironwork inside the vessel is twisted in ail directions and will, at the best, become scrap. Origin Unknown How the fire originated is not known. Perhaps a thoughtless workman dropped a burning cigarette on the newly-laid linoleum.

On the other hand, there are rumours that the disaster is the work

of Communists, for the fire spread so rapidly that it seemed as if it might have broken out in several places at once.

Communists have been -working hard among the fitters and outfitters on the vessel to persuade them to commit acts of sabotage, but there is no proof that this is their work. Launched last August, the 46,000ton Europa was nearing the end of her complete outfitting in the shipbuilding yard of Messrs. Blohm and Voss at Hamburg. She had been in construction for two and a-half years, and was to make a maiden voyage in August next. Acme of Luxury This majestic sea palace was to be the pride of her owners, who intended that she should be the last word in transatlantic liners,, and hoped that (with her new sister ship, the Brenien) she would attract the best-pay-ing travellers between Europe and America. An Acme of luxury, the Europa was being fitted and equipped with every possible modern comfort, convenience and amenity. The cost of the vessel when completed would have been about £2,500,000. It is calculated that well over £2,000,000 has already been spent on her. So far the loss falls on the ship’s builders, whose property the vessel is until she is handed over to the owners. But it is understood that Messrs. Blohm and Voss are fully insured, the amount being distributed among a

large number of Insurance companies in Germany and abroad. Nearly 4,000 .men, who were working on tbe ship, are thrown out of employment. Secret of Speed

Both the ill-omened Europa and her surviving sister-ship Bremen were built under conditions of great secrecy.

It was at first confidently anticipated that they would both be faster than any British liner built or building, and would set up new records for travel across the Atlantic.

Both ships were designed and engined to run at a nominal 26J knots and it was predicted that they would do a steady 27 knots with ease. Recently, however, the Cunard Line sprang a surprise on this German ambition.

It was revealed that the Mauretania had been specially refitted to give an astonishing increase in her sped—a leap from 254 knots to 28 knots, and possibly beyond this. The Mauretania’s own engineers expressed the belief that, with favourable sea conditions, they could retain a steady speed of even 30 knots.

Such was the secrecy observed in regard to the building of the Europa that for many months the yards in which she was being constructed were closely guarded, and no one without credentials was allowed to approach her.

Germany lost the “blue-riband” of the Atlantic 21 years ago, when the Mauretania snatched the speed honours from the Deutschland.