Westphalia 1868
This is the ship that John August Grenzig Sr. and his family took to NYC from Berlin, Germany in June of 1870.
Photograph of the WESTPHALIA after her rebuild of 1877/78, at the Petersenkai in Hamburg. Source: Arnold Kludas and Herbert Bischoff, Die Schiffe der Hamburg-Amerika Linie, Bd. 1: 1847-1906 (Herford: Koehler, 1979), p. 28.
The steamship WESTPHALIA, the first of three vessels of this name owned by the Hamburg-America Line, was built by Caird & Co, Greenock (yard #144), and was launched on 24 June 1868. 3,158 tons; 103,70 x 12,35 x 10,18 meters (length x breadth x depth of hold); straight stem, 1 funnel, 2 masts; iron construction; screw propulsion, inverted engine, service speed 12 knots; accommodation for 90 passengers in 1st class, 120 in 2nd class, and 520 in steerage; crew of 120.
Master:
1868-1869 – H. H. D. N. I. Trautmann
1869-1873 – H. F. Schwensen
1873-1874 – W. L. Stahl
1874-1875 – C. Ludwig
1879-1882 – H. F. Schwensen
1882-1883 – C. Ludwig
1883-1886 – H. Barends
1883 – C. Hebich
1883 – F. Bornmüller
1884 – N. C. Franzen
1886 – C. Dröscher
1886 – E. Kopff
Voyages:
1868-1869 – New York (11 x)
1869 – Leith
1870 – New York (4 x)
1870 – Bremerhaven-Leith
1871-1875 – New York (32 x)
1875-1879 – laid up in Hamburg; rebuilt
1879-1886 – New York (56 x)
16 September 1868, maiden voyage, Hamburg – Southampton – New York. 28 April 1875, last voyage, Hamburg – Havre – New York; laid up. 1877/78, rebuilt by Blohm & Voss; engines compounded; 2 funnels. 30 July 1879, resumed Hamburg – Havre – New York service. 13 November 1882, at night, during a storm, collided with the Belgian steamship ADRIEN DAVID, which burst into flames and sank with the loss of all 25 crewmen, before the boat from the WESTPHALIA could reach her. 19 December 1886, last voyage, Hamburg – Havre – New York. 1887, sold to Armstrong/Mitchell, Newcastle, probably in partial payment for the ASCANIA and COLONIA. 1887, ATLANTICA (H. F. Swan, Newcastle). 1888, PROVINCIA DI SAO PAULO (Gazzo & Schiaffino, Genoa). 1889, MENTANA (C. Schiaffino di Marcello, Genoa). 1890, SUD AMERICA (La Veloce, Genoa). 1901, scrapped at Genoa.
Sources: Walter Kresse, ed., Seeschiffs-Verzeichnis der Hamburger Reedereien, 1824-1888, Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, N. F., Bd. 5. (Hamburg: Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, 1969), vol. 1, p. 192; Arnold Kludas and Herbert Bischoff, Die Schiffe der Hamburg- Amerika Linie, Bd. 1: 1847-1906 (Herford: Koehler, 1979), p. 28 (photograph); Noel Reginald Pixell Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway; An Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with the New (2nd ed.; Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications), vol. 1 (1975), p. 390.
Voyages:
Hamburg-America Line steamship WESTPHALIA, Capt. Schwensen, arrived at New York on 5 July 1881, from Hamburg 22 June, via Havre 23 June; passenger manifest dated 6 July 1881.