One thing that always seems to puzzle is the Nazi German government’s inability to introduce a superliner to rival Rex, Queen Mary or Normandie. As it happens though, there were a number of plans in place to build a world-class ocean liner to take the Blue Riband back for Germany. This film looks at two of the designs; NDL’s Amerika/Viktoria and HAPAG’s Vaterland, both very impressive designs but never completed!
0:00 Introduction
1:04 German shipping
3:57 Amerika/Viktoria (1937)
7:00 Vaterland (1940)
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Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s great ocean liners – from Titanic to Queen Mary but not forgetting the likes of Empress of Ireland or Chusan. Join Mike Brady as he uncovers the myths, explains the timelines, logistics and deep dives into the lives of the people and ocean liner ships that we all know and love.
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Just a correction. America entered WW2 under a lease lend agreement with Britain, this was due to an attack by a German U boat that had entered New York harbour destroying shipping. The German navy found a way to fuel U boats in the mid Atlantic by using a mother ship with refueling capabilities and supplies. Say that! Your videos are fantastic!
I would have loved viktoria
In a world of rampant standardisation and banality
20th century shipbuilding is more than nostalgia for us who value individuality and innovation
One thing that must always be remembered:
Germany doesn't have a lot of resources, if the question is, 'why did blank not happen?'
It is more then likely, resources.
Do the Gustloff, Robert Lay or the Cap Arcona not count?
Trivia: when the Vaterland (II) was launched, she collided with the battleship Bismarck, slightly damaging warships aft flag staff.
Did Norr Deutch Lloyd have a passenger ship called the Vera?
Mike, you make some awesome videos on interesting topics with tons of quality. For some reason, your comment section seems to attract nit pickers. Keep doing what you're doing buddy!
A fascinating history and what a beautiful ship the "Vaterland" would have been.
I'm curious though, as to why younger commentators always refer to the "Queen Mary" and don't seem to remember the 'Queen Elizabeth" which was slightly larger
and of roughly the same speed. It is true that the latter didn't enter the Transatlantic service until after WW2 but when I was a boy, while they were often mentioned together, the "Queen Elizabeth" was possibly the best known as she was largest ship in the world for decades. Certainly they were both well remembered here in Sydney when so many Australian soldiers left for the Middle East on them.
It's also worth noticing that in 1940 Germany was in financial ruin. Nazi government only managed to develop German industry because of huge loans and bonds from public and one of the reasons for war was not having to pay off those debts.
Had those liners survived into post WW2 service, the Viktoria's fuel thirst would have doomed her, and lingering post war anti-German sentiments would have left them both with low passenger numbers, and Germans would have had little cash for the luxury of foreign travel for another ten years.
Great video and a really informative one. The ships in this video were really amazing.These designs are the ones that i would like to see. I always had a soft spot for german oceanliners in my heart, of course british oceanliners are legendary but there was something about these german oceanliners which always makes me just admire them all the time. i wish i could see all these oceanliners infront of me but thats not possible.keep up the great work and lots of support from india.
Weird how Nazi German was narcissistic but UK and France that actually built their showpiece wasn’t.
Listen to an Anglo talking about world history you’d think England is Switzerland and not the biggest and most brutal empire in history
Personally I think you should keep your opinion out of and "informational" video. But that is just me and my opinion no harm meant by this comment
This might blow your mind. It was to be named "Amerika" because it would take passengers from Europe to…. America. Just like the Horten H.XVIII 18 Flying Wing America Bomber was designed to bomb…. America.
Great vlog as always! Norway did not have the biggest, fastest or prettiest but we had the Grand old lady of the north Atlantic the S/S Stavangerfjord. She sailed from Scandinavia to Canada and the U.S between 1917-1964! Her final duty? Hotel ship for the 1964 olympics in Tokyo! If you need some more info pls let me know. My father sailed in her. Keep up the good work! Be safe!
They would have been the ribbon holders until the united states would have been constructed
Thanks for uploading this intresting tidbit of oceanliner history.
you are doing a great work in filling in the gaps .
👍👍👍👍👍👍
Why was Vaterland not converted into a warship?
As a general rule of thumb, totalitarian states usually produce ugly ships, and Germany was never known for creating beautiful ships. The interiors and the staff were never warm and inviting as was the case on English ships. Just as on Lufthansa, the staff comes across as humorless, cold and distant, but very, very efficient. From everything I've heard, on French ships the staff was cool and aloof, just as they are today on Air France. Service on American liners was neither good nor bad, just OK, as was their ships.
Nice and informative video.
I think the Vaterland was a neat design and the Viktoria had design flaws in regard of the engines.
Maybe you should have a look at Germany's saddest cruise ship the Wilhelm Gustloff.
….what about the german kdf and its cruisers🤔
Excellent, it does beg the question though, wit Europa and Bremen, were more liners needed?
That tank looked insane. 🤯
Really cool to see you do a video on these two liners that never were, as they're among the most fascinating. To give my thoughts on them:
Viktoria – whose name I now understand to be German for "victory" and not in reference to Her Majesty the Queen – was easily my favorite of the two and is one of the greatest liners proposed. It's a shame she was never built in some way, shape or form. She looked a bit odd – guess that single giant funnel was just throwing me off a bit – but oh boy she would've been a beast. She almost certainly would've given the United States a run for her money.
Vaterland, I'll admit, I'm not really a fan of. Similar reason as to why I'm not crazy about the America either, even though that one was a fine ship and I have the utmost respect for her. The ship was just too small and stout for my liking, and in my opinion, not the best choice to bear the German name for "fatherland" after the original 950' leviathan. On one hand, she and her two sisters (I'm inclined to think they would've been referred to as males like their predecessors, but since I don't know that I'll just stick with she) probably would've been very successful, providing a steady, economical service between Germany and America. But on the other hand, not being world beaters, I doubt they would've stood out against the likes of superliners such as the two Queens and the Normandie. I guess I know what side I'd be on if faced with whether to build a pair of smaller liners or a single superliner.
Nonetheless, it was a huge shame she was never completed, especially since she was actually launched. So close. I'd love to see an alternate timeline on what if either one or both ships were built. Preferably Viktoria though. You ought to cover more unbuilt liners like the Super-Oceanic or Theodore Ferris' twin Leviathans someday. 😀
That was great. I always love how you well-dressed in your videos.
Honestly, Italian ocean liners are some of my favorites. Absolutely beautiful ships like the Rex and Andrea Doria will basically live forever with how gorgeous their lines were
Were they cancelled for tooting something racist and pro Nazi on Twitter?
Great history lesson. Thank you for your in-depth research.
Germans did have a liner,the Russians sank it killing around 6 thousand people.do your research before you open your mouth .
Someone seams to forgot that the Germans think The Future.
Once the Zeppelin company landing it's 100th crossing, (to satisfy the US Congress) America was going to open it's Helium reserves to the World, and Zeppelin/Good Year had plans for 4,000 Graf/Hindenburg sized Zeppelins to move people, and another 8,000 to move freight.
Why build 19th Century (1800's) tech, when you want to lead in the future?
Why go port to port, when you can go directly from city to city.
So i kinda wanted to talk in here on the intro. Specifically about the P-1000. It is still up to debate on if this things design really was anything more than just a few engineers being high at best. And knowing how the germans liked using meth as a way to stay up and energized during the time… its not hard to see why. The reason we dont think its a real… actual proposal is because the proportions of this thing make no sense. The turret of the tank makes up like… 60% of the tanks weight. Not the 2 submarine engines or the hull of the tank. The fucking turret. Which means either this design was a joke concept or engineers heavily underestimated the weight of the thing. In most tanks turrets make up about 40% of the weight to the hulls 60%