Identification of a paddle steamer in the Baltic Sea
On a diving expedition in August 2024 (link), we examined the wreck of a Danish paddle steamer. It turned out that the ship had not yet been identified. There were already assumptions from Danish divers, but they were wrong. Using the data we obtained while diving, we were able to not only determine the dimensions of the ship, but also completely digitally reconstruct it. Ultimately, after intensive research in literature and archives, we managed to identify the ship beyond any doubt. It is the sternwheeler Express I, built in Bremen, which was specially designed for shallow water and locks on the Weser and three of which were built. In 1940 the ships reached Danzig through rivers within Germany. In March 1945 the ship was confiscated by the military and transported wounded people near the coast. On May 8, 1945, the ship was used as an escape and sank off the Danish island of Møn.
Sinking:
It must have been a dramatic final hour for the steam-powered paddle steamer when it sank off the Danish coast in 1945. The ship, built in 1911 as a river steamer, was long, narrow and flat and therefore simply not up to the conditions of the high seas. With each wave, water passed over the deck and the movements exerted strong mechanical stress on the hull. The many soldiers on board certainly knew this too, seeing this ship as their only chance and having to accept the risk. The anti-aircraft battalion held the position in Danzig until the end, but now everything was lost. Hitler was already dead and Germany had to give up. Only on the day of the surrender were they able to leave Danzig by ship and thus avoid the dreaded imprisonment in Soviet camps. The large seagoing ships had long since left with thousands of refugees and only the two small river steamers Express I and III were available. One of the two captains refused to go on the journey and would rather try to escape to the West as a civilian than sail his ship into the stormy Baltic Sea. So he was replaced by an officer who then captained the ship. The soldiers boarded the ship via a makeshift jetty on the northern coast of the Hela Peninsula. They had to somehow make it west through the storm. Maybe they could still escape captivity. Completely overloaded and without proper navigation, they only made it to the Danish coast. With each wave the ships were stretched and bent. Not far from the island of Møn, Express I’s hull finally gave way and the ship broke in the middle. It certainly went down quickly and we don’t know how many people were swept down with it. But the survivors were picked up by the sister ship, which was now completely overloaded. Moving forward was no longer an option. The fear that she too would suffer the same fate was too great. The nearest port in a small Danish village was headed for and the soldiers fled overland in strict secrecy. Nothing is known about her fate. At first it was assumed that both river steamers had sunk. It was only months later that Express III was found abandoned and looted in Præstø harbor. When the weather was good, the ship was then transferred to Lübeck.
Survey report
Here my survey report in German and English
The dive
The conditions were fantastic. We arrived in the middle of the wreck, which had silted up so much that only the upper deck was sticking out. On most paddle steamers the paddle wheels were located amidships. I knew that from the Ville de Grasse in France, for example. But here it was different. Puzzled, I dove over the wheels, which were barely silted up. At first I couldn’t believe that the ship would end here. So I took the compass heading and scanned a large area behind the wreckage to be sure. But there was nothing more. The paddle wheels and engine actually appeared to be aft on this example. And movable shovels were originally mounted, as at least one of them was still to be found. Only after a few rounds of scanning in a zigzag course did I understand the structure of the wreck. In the front area there were loading hatches and a folded back mast. The steam boiler was also aft. All that remains of the steering position is the console with remains of the steering wheel. After just thirty minutes I had the scan in the box and still had time to take in the impressions of the unusual wreck. For me it was the highlight of this tour. Also because neither the name of the ship nor its fate was known. It was burning under my fingernails and I was already looking forward to evaluating the 3D data while I was in deco.
EXPRESS I
Three identical sternwheel cargo steamers were built by the Atlas shipyard
Year of construction: 1911
Shipyard: Atlas Bremen
Yard nr.: 67
Length: 57m
Width. 7.80m
Side height: 2.2m
Draft: 1.2m
Speed: 14 km/h
Coal bunker: 15t
Machine power: 185 psi
1911: built for Wilhelm Reese, Bodenwerder
10.1912: Hagens, Anthony & Co., Morsum
12.1912: Bremer tugboat company, Bremen
12.1939: Bremen-Mindener Tugboat Company, Bremen
10.1940: Johannes Ick, Danzig
3.1945: Haff Flotilla, casualty transport
May 9, 1945: launched from Hela and sank on the way west
