Congo paddlesteamers

[Hankwilliams]

Hallo, friends and neigbors,

a very interesting site I found today: www.stanleyville.be
Most you will find historic photos about buildings, places, streets, hotels and so on in former Stanleyville, now Kisangani.

There are also many photos of river navigation in past and present times.

For example a huge sternwheeler "Reine Astrid" (seems as big as "Delta Queen").
Further a mississippi type sternwheeler with two stacks side by side you`ll find .

I visited Kisangani in 1990. The run down colonial buildings with the rotten boulevard presentet a surrealistic note.

[greateastern]

Thanks for the link. Interesting looking at the paddlers but I have to say that  from a "design" standpoint, they leave much to be desired. Functional they certainly seem to be, and that was all that was necessary I'm sure, for the river and cargo transportation.

[Hankwilliams]

Doubtless these paddlers were constructed after functional criteries - and therefore we consider a lack of the beauty of the European and north American paddlers.

I tried to find some more informations about the vessels, like builder date, dimensions, plans and books, but it seems as good as impossible.
Only one thin booklet I got in the past: Abbe Gudenknauff, "Congo mail and passenger steamers 1896 - 1940" with tiny rather blurred photos.

Thomas

[greateastern]

Denny, among other builders, built a lot of these export paddlers, and when I get a minute, I'll do some checking in the "Denny List (4 vols). . also, I seem to remember putting out a few drawings from elsewhere on Congo sternwheelers. Maybe a year or so ago here in research section.
dave

[Michel52]

Bonjours de France !
je connais ce lien mais toujours pas trouvé de documentation sur le bateau Adjame

Michel

[Hankwilliams]

Bonjour Michel,

Thank you for the plan!
Do you have some further informations about builder, builder date and dimensions?

Would be a nice live steam model.

Thomas

[Michel52]

Désolé , rien depuis 2 ans!
Michel
 

[Michel52]

 
un lien sur forum Français :
http://forum-naval.star-ac.org/t1875-bateau-a-roue

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's........that is an interesting WEB site Michel52...it also translates OK too......thankyou.....it also displays the deck level plan view of the vessel

Most of the construction arrangement of the is clear, however I cannot see where the galley or eating area is?......

Later thought, it is possible that eating was on the lower deck on one of those four tables, but elfresco..............as shown??.........Derek

http://forum-naval.star-ac.org/t1875-bateau-a-roue
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Lapin44 Fri 16 Mar 2012 - 9:11


 Hello
 Find in an old German book of 1920, a boat has wheel for the African and southern rivers American, I guess that these boats were built in Germany and brought on-site in spare parts, in the early 1900s


 There is no plan of forms, it is a flat barge, 27.50 m long, by 5.50 m wide, a low of 1.10 m and a draught of 0.60 m
 1/25 long 1.10 m, this would be a fun,.
 Some time ago I saw a documentary series on the Belgian Congo, one could see a ship of this kind, the Marines magazine had an article about the history of these boats under french flags in Africa
 Michel

.
Revenir en haut

[Hankwilliams]

Hallo friends and neighbors,

the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg (Liemba) made also some sternwheelers  prior 1914 for colonial Deutsch Ostafrika.

I have the list, in 1908 the sternwheeler "Tomondo" was sendet in pieces to D.O., from its dimensions it could be the pictured ship. Unfortunately there is no picture.
May be interesting, I will add a plan of sternwheeler "Ulanga" from 1898, made by Meyer`s and two pictures of sternwheeler "Robert Lenthall", she was build by Meyer`s as late as 1939  for the United Fruit Companie for river Niger.

[greateastern]

The ship stamp society
http://www.philateliemarine.fr/phil_mar_e/SSS.htm
 had some sort of article on it as you can see from the website posting.

[Tomas Krejci]

hi,
        here is also a plan for the same boat .. but presumably direct copies of original drawings, which are quite different from the above plan .. However, it seems to me that the plans for Lulonga River quarterwheeler could have originated just here ...

 http://forum-naval.star-ac.org/viewimage.forum?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnsa21.casimages.com%2Fimg%2F2012%2F03%2F28%2F120328070825849253.jpg

http://forum-naval.star-ac.org/viewimage.forum?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnsa21.casimages.com%2Fimg%2F2012%2F03%2F28%2F120328071148323813.jpg

[Hankwilliams]

hi Tomas,

typical African river boat with quarter wheel propulsion and good extensive proportion.
Would be a nice life steam model. May be, that this plan are the origin of the Lulonga plans. The problem of the Lulonga  paddler is in my opinion, that the proportions are not correct.
When we compare this exact plan with the Lulonga plans it is obviously that Lulonga is much too short and stumpy, what impairs the appearance.
I tried to find out in the web anything about the huge Congo sternwheeler "Reine Astrid", but it`s not easy to find any
essential information.

Thomas

[Hankwilliams]

Interesting page about Congo boats I found today: otraco-unatra.be/Boten/rivierboten-otraco.html

[Hankwilliams]

I will try to copy a site of past Congo navigation, there are interesting paddlers.