Titan (steam tug 1894)

As Drente II in the service of Wijsmuller

History
Netherlands
Name| Titan
Owner|

* 1894-1919 Zur Mühlen & Co.
* 1919 Internationale Sleepdienst Maatschappij
* 1919-1935 Bureau Wijsmuller[1]

Builder| NV werf v/h Rijkee & Co., Rotterdam
Yard number| 70[2]
Launched| 13 August 1894
Maiden voyage| 3 October 1894
In service| 7 October 1894
Out of service| 19 October 1935
Fate| Grounded 19 October 1935 and scrapped in situ
General characteristics
Type| Steam tug
Tonnage| 352 grt
Length| 44.83 m[1]
Beam| 7.39 m
Depth| 3.89 m
Installed power| steam engine
Propulsion| propeller
Speed| 10 kn[1]

The Titan (later: Drente) was a steam tug that was built in 1894 and sailed for three Dutch tug companies until it was decommissioned in 1935.

## History

[edit]

At the yard, NV werf v/h Rijkee & Co. in Rotterdam, the Titan was launched on 13 August 1894. It was towed to Vlissingen where De Schelde installed the engine and boiler. In October the same year it was handed over to the company Zur Mühlen & Co., and put in service. The tug had an engine of a 1000hp and it could load 280 tonnes of coal, giving it a range of 7418 km. It was mainly active in the waters around northwest Europe, but also did assignments to the United States. In 1913 the Titan, together with the Atlas of the same company, towed a dry dock from Texel in the Netherlands to Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies. She did work for the Royal Netherlands Navy as well as for the merchant navy, towing the Gelderland in 1900 and the Evertsen in 1905.[3]

In the course of World War I Zur Mühlen got into difficulties and the company was liquidated in 1918–20. The Titan was sold to Smit International in 1919 and renamed Hudson. Smit sold it to Bureau Wijsmuller later that same year and it was put in service as Drente. For Wijsmuller the tug did much the same work as it did for its previous owners.

The Drente on the beach

On 19 October 1935 the freighter Kerkplein called for assistance. The Drente responded and tried to take the Kerkplein in tow. The towing line broke three times and ended up in the propeller of the tug the third time. Both ships ran aground near Egmond aan Zee. Because of its age decommissioning was decided for the Drente and it was demolished on the beach.[1]

## Sources

[edit]

* (in Dutch) Ship entry, bureau-wijsmuller.nl
* (in Dutch) De ondergang van de Drente (II) 1935, zeesleepvaart.com

* * *

1. ^ a b c d Ship entry, MarHisData.nl, retrieved 13 October 2015.
2. ^ Entry 5600660, Miramar Ship Index (subscription required), retrieved 23 February 2016.
3. ^ (in Dutch) Entry Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, (1900 and 1905), bureau-wijsmuller.nl, retrieved 13 October 2015.