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De Majesteit (ex-Prins der Nederlanden, ex-Rudesheim,
ex-Rheinland)
Above : De Majesteit at her berth in Rotterdam (Maasboulevard) on 23rd May, 2014 : Click here for more photos
In July 2013 De Majesteit appeared for sale on a ship broker's
website and a new website established by owner Klemens Key
Broker's page : http://www.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=315018
Owner's page : http://paddlesteamerforsale.com/home/1
Ship Specification brochure : http://paddlesteamerforsale.com/home...smajesteit.pdf
Ship's commercial website : http://www.raderstoomboot.nl/
Built at
Cologne in 1925 by Sachsenberg at Cologne-Deutz (hull number 900) and launched on 8/12/25
Length as built : 79.1 metres (overall), 76.0 m (at waterline) /
Breadth 8.25 m (14.9 m over sponsons). Draught : 1.0 m when fuelled
Length after 1951 rebuild : 81.32 m / Breadth 8.25 m / 15.66 m. Draught : 1.25 - 1.30 m
Airdraught : 8.90 m
Displacement : 536 tonnes when built (now 629 tonnes)
Machinery : Compound Diagonal, by Sachsenberg at
Rosslau (750 HP)
Boiler : Scotch type by builders : 291 sq m heating surface - 12.5 atmospheres pressure. Renovated in 1999.
Propulsion : 8 feathering paddle floats
Speed on Rhine : 17 km/h upstream, 27 km/h downstream - currently approx 24 km/h
Fuel : Coal until conversion to fuel oil in 1956
Originally named "Rheinland"
and used on express services on the Rhine for the the DGNM company
Entered service on May 1st, 1926. Originally certified for 2500 passengers
Wrecked and sunk by shelling on 12th March 1945 during
World War II but raised in 1947 and moved to the KD dock in Dusseldorf
Almost
totally rebuilt with slightly revised dimensions and a certified
capacity of 2300 in Cologne in early 1951, returning to service that
summer
Converted to oil firing in 1956
Renamed "Rudesheim" in 1965 when the name was given to a new motor vessel for the KD fleet
Withdrawn after the 1981 season but remained tied up at Cologne as a waiting
room and ticket office for the KD company
Sold to Klemens Key of the Netherlands in 1993 and moved to Zaandam for
restoration under the prospective name "Prins der Nederlanden"
Entered service in 1999 under the name
"de Majesteit", based at Rotterdam.
Furnished to a high degree of luxury, it is available for charter groups, special sailings and events with high-quality
cuisine and live entertainment.
Below : As Rheinland
Above : At Koblenz. Photo shown with kind permission of of Markus Graf
Above : Photo shown with kind permission of Markus Graf
.
Below : As Rudesheim, but after withdrawal and in use as a KD landing stage in Cologne in 1983 and 1988
Above : Rudesheim in 1983 : Click here for more photos from 1983 and 1988
Below : In her current guise as De Majesteit, sailing out of Rotterdam
Below : In 2019. Photo by kind courtesy of Malcolm Oliver
Below : De Majesteit at Rotterdam on New year's Eve 2015. Photos by kind courtesy of Phil Barnes
Below : De Majesteit at
the Dordt in Stoom steam transport festival at Dordrecht on 23rd May
2014. Photo by kind courtesy of Phil Barnes
Below : De
Majesteit arriving at Hellevoetsluis on 19th August 2006 after a cruise
on the Haringvliet for the Vestingdagen Hellevoetsluis festival. Photo by Hubert Kraaivanger
Below : De Majesteit in 2011. Photos by kind courtesy
of Enrico Crosti
De Majesteit :
official Website
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