Our pilot identified Titan, located in Gamboa, as “Herman the German.” Any idea why?
She’s a floating crane, docked along the Canal but still in service. She was one of four built in Germany for the Kriegsmarine in 1941. From 1946 until 1994, she worked in Long Beach as YD-171. And in 1997 she was moved to the Panama Canal. According to this technical site (with good photos) she has lifting capacity of 350 tons.
Near the Balboa train station I saw Bucyrus steam railway crane, No. 64, one of the originals from the 100+ year ago construction.
I took this photo from a bus while passing land side of the Balboa container port.
At several of the locks, Ohio cranes stand at the ready. Maintenance on gates and valves is performed while traffic is passing; hence the crane on the lock.
All photos by Will Van Dorp.
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March 23, 2018 at 11:46 am
Mike
Herman the German is one of three port cranes built by the Nazi’s claimed as war prizes by the Allies. The US, UK and Soviets each got one. The British crane sank under tow in the English Channel, the Soviets took theirs up to Murmansk and the US stationed theirs at Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Even though it was renamed Titan, the nickname “Herman the German” stuck.
March 23, 2018 at 1:09 pm
George Schneider
I’ve never seen any record of the German name or designation for this crane. However, in some personal notes from a crewman at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, in 1954 they were referring to her as TITAN, something I’ve never seen in any respected documents. I wonder if her name in Panama is a return to her original name.
March 27, 2018 at 7:42 am
tugster
comment by Seth Tane: “Yup, She was renamed Titan, and among many other cabs and control stations I built for the Canal Commission equipment and vessels, they wanted an all-new composite & aluminum cab for this one. Somewhere I still have all the drawings. Impressive machine self-propelled by multiple steerable thrusters. At the time they decided to hold off on the project, so I’m glad to see she’s still lifting her weight…”
April 1, 2018 at 2:36 pm
tugster
Here’s a site I just stumbled upon with many types of ACP vessels: http://madaboutpanama.com/mad-about-panama/panama-canal-cruise/what-you-will-see/acp-ships-and-boats/