A full model of the turbine steamer which announced the return of the glorious North German Lloyd Line in 1928, a company which established itself in 1858. BREMEN's first taste of fame came on her maiden voyage from Bremerhaven to New York, earning the blue ribbon on an average speed of 27.83 knots, breaking the 20 year record held by the Cunard Line's MAURETANIA. She would win it again in 1933 after her sister, EUROPA, won it in 1930 for a westward crossing.
The 92:1 scale model is masterfully complete, with the configuration showing the 1933 lengthening of her funnels. This refit allowed the engineers the opportunity to correct the engines driving the quadruple screw turbines. Measuring a fit 938'L x 101'B, the ship weighed in at 51,656 tons. The 102 inch model is only slightly less in its brass, glass and wood case. The multiple decks are devoid of people but full of miniature details such as the companionways and davit-held lifeboats and launches.
It is interesting to note the floatplane on the suspension catapult at the mid-deck. A German innovation which very few ships of any type were able to carry, the boom would swing and extend to launch the plane. This aircraft would have been used for mail service to the shore and as a spotter plane on watch for enemy ships once war was underway. Beneath the aviation launch are the cutaways of the name, backlit with the port and starboard running red and green lights, which are hard wired and functional. Variable sections of the cabin portholes and deck lights work as well. The upper deck fittings are 22-karat gold plate and in exacting position. Note the sheer number of signaling stations to communicate with the engine room and pilot house.
BREMEN, the fourth such liner to carry this name, was in New York harbor at the time of the onset of World War II. Leaving without passengers, the ship skirted the Norwegian coast and made her way safely to her home port of Bremerhaven. With plans underway for it to be used as a German troopship in an offensive move against the United Kingdom it is reported that a Junior crew member, upset over being disciplined, set fire to the ship on March 18th, 1942. A total loss, she was finally broken up in 1953.
