Ship model steamer ROSTOCK

• scale: 1:100
• length: 105 cm

From a series of 3,000 tonne cargo ships with the eponymous KOLOMNA type of ship for the USSR the Deutsche Seereederei Rostock (DSR) took over, in 1954, the ROSTOCK and WISMAR steamers for service in the Levant. They were the first newly constructed ships for the DSR that was founded in 1952 and, after the VORWÄRTS was taken out of service in April 1954, also the only ships in the DDR trade fleet.

The ship had four cargo holds and could carry around 3,000 tonnes of goods. The cargo gear consisted of ten 5 tonne light good booms and a 15 tonne and 35 tonne heavy lift derrick. There were 13 one-man rooms, 17 two-man rooms and a six-man cabin. In spite of the mechanisation the crew size of 48 people was exceptionally high but, in contrast, the cruising radius of 3,000 nautical miles was too small.

Additional coal was often stored on deck to increase the cruising radius. Yet this had the major disadvantage of high fuel consumption. The supply industry in the GDR was at the very start of its development when it came to equipping the ship. Frequent damage to the boiler and coaling facility was repaired by personnel on board with a great deal of effort. During its second journey to Alexandria – its actual shipping route – in winter 1954 the ROSTOCK was the first ship from the GDR to pass through the North Baltic Channel, the English Channel and Gibraltar. After 10 years of service the ROSTOCK and WISMAR were sold to a Greek shipping company in 1965. The ROSTOCK was renamed the LION OF SHARONEA in 1968 and moved to Piräus in 1978. In April 1984 the ROSTOCK was scrapped on the Greek island of Salamis.