Herman the German (crane vessel)

Schwimmkran nr. 1 (Floating crane no. 1) was built by Demag AG in Bremerhaven for the Kriegsmarine.[3] It was captured along with a sister ship by British forces at Kiel.[4]

"Herman the German" (YD-171) at Long Beach Navy Yard in 1957.

"Herman the German" was seized as a war prize following the end of World War II. "Herman" was dismantled and transported across the Atlantic through the Panama Canal to Long Beach, where it subsequently served at the Long Beach Navy Yard from 1946 (following its reassembly) to 1994 (when the shipyard was closed). YD-171 was reassembled on-site by ex-Kearsarge, a former battleship converted to a large floating crane.

Following the closure of the shipyard, the crane was sold to the Panama Canal Commission and it was transported on the semi-submersible ship Sea Swan (IMO number: 8001000) in 1996 to the Panama Canal Zone, where it currently serves as the floating crane Titan. Titan retired Ajax and Hercules that has served the Panama Canal since construction in 1914.[5]

Over the years, "Herman the German" performed numerous notable heavy lifts, including:

• Refitting of the battleships USS Missouri and New Jersey in the 1980s
• Lifting the Hughes H-4 ("Spruce Goose") from its original hangar in Long Beach when it was relocated to its geodesic dome from 1980 to 1982 for tourist display by the Wrather Corporation.[6]

Animation of main and jib boom articulation

Titan is a large self-propelled crane vessel with the tip of its main boom standing at 374 feet (114 m) above the typical water line and a lifting capacity of 385 short tons (349 t).[3] In 1957, it was claimed to be the largest floating crane in operation.[7] Its rated capacity is 350 tonnes (340 long tons; 390 short tons) at up to 114 feet (35 m) from the center of rotation; the lift capacity drops to 50 tonnes (49 long tons; 55 short tons) at 210 feet (64 m) from center, and a single rotation about its pedestal takes 10 minutes.[4]

Of the four Schwimmkräne built by Demag, one was destroyed during World War II by bombs, and the remaining three were seized by the Allies as war reparations. One went to the Americans, and was transported to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard.

The crane stationed at Hamburg served in the Blohm & Voss shipyards and was presumed to be damaged beyond repair during the July 1943 Operation Gomorrah bombing raids. It was reportedly raised after the war and rebuilt with a lower capacity, eventually serving Hamburger Hafen & Logistik AG (HHLA) as HHLA III ( MMSI number: 211339980).[8]

Demag 350 ton floating crane salvaging a minesweeper scuttled by Danes, 1943

The crane eventually seized by the British was initially stationed at Gdynia, then moved to Denmark in 1943–44 to raise Danish Navy ships scuttled during Operation Safari on August 29, 1943. It was subsequently moved back to Gdynia, then Kiel, where it was seized by the British Army at the conclusion of the war. Later, it was sold to France, but it capsized and sank in the North Sea approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) off the coast of Denmark while under tow on 25 June 1951. It was being towed without disassembling the heavy mast structures.[8]

A partially-assembled crane was sent to the Soviet Union. It had been ordered by the Soviet government when the governments of Germany and the Soviet Union were friendly,[4] and was reportedly sent to Leningrad, where the Demag technicians sent with the crane to help assemble it were recalled before it could be completed. The partially-assembled structure served as an artillery spotting tower.[8] It was presumed lost after the war until it was spotted in 2015 working in the Admiralty Shipyard at Saint Petersburg ( MMSI number: 273435590).[3]