„Graf Goetzen“ – the German cargo - passenger steamship or SMS „Goetzen“ – German artillery ship

The "Graf Goetzen" is today the only ship in operation, that belonged to the fleet of the last German Kaiser, Wilhelm II. Its history began in 1912, when the East African Railway Company (Ostafrikanischen Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft) signed a contract with "Maschinenfabrik und Schiffswerft Joseph L. Meyer" for the construction of three small passenger and cargo steamships for the navigation on Lake Tanganyika in Africa, docked at the port of Kigoma. In February of the following year building began on the first of these, factory number 300, in the slipway of a shipyard on the Ems River, later named "Graf Goetzen" in honor of Count von Getzen, the first governor of the East African colonies. The ship had a steel single-deck hull with a central superstructure, that met the requirements of German Lloyd 100 A Class IV. Displacement was 793 GRT, gross tonnage 1,200 tons. Length - 67 m, width - 10 m, draft with 480 tons of cargo, 60 tons of coal and 10 tons of water - 2.30 m. Depth of holds - 3.40 m. The engines were delivered by the Meyer factory itself. Two three-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines with a combined rated power of 500 h. p. were installed on board, they turned two propellers and allowed a speed of 9 knots in calm weather. Steam at a pressure of 12 atm was produced by two cylindrical boilers with a total heating surface of 158 square meters, fired with coal and firewood, but they could also use gasoline at the same time. Auxiliary machinery included: a refrigerating unit, producing 3 kg of ice per hour, a 4 cubic meter refrigerator for meat products with a temperature of + 2 °C, electric lighting equipment and a ventilation unit. In addition, the ship was equipped with 2 steel masts with steel cargo booms of 2 and 10 tons capacity, 2 steam cargo winches, a steam steering engine, lifeboats, as well as a small gig and a captain's boat. The construction cost the East African Railway Company 750,000 reichsmarks. In the middle part of the ship, on the superstructure, there were passenger cabins - 6 single seats for first class passengers and 5 double seats for second class passengers, decorated with teak wood. Furniture was also made from this material. In the same place, in the middle part, there were rooms for the white attendants. The captain's cabin and navigation cabin were located on top of the superstructure. Blacks were allocated living quarters in the fore and aft of the ship (a total of 60 people). The dining room and smoking area were shared by first and second class passengers. As additional amenities, sanitary and hygienic separate rooms for travelers, as well as white and colored crew, were installed on the ship.

A moderately complex, well designed and detailed model of an early 20th century ship. The model, although small, is quite complex, but not so that, working under the supervision of a more experienced colleague, even an advanced beginner, who has glued several more complex models, could not glue it together. From the publication You can glue one of two models - the passenger-cargo steamer "Graf Goetzen" or the gunboat SMS "Goetzen". Where necessary, details are double-side printed.