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This model cruise ship
is hand-crafted
from hard wood with planks on frame construction and then painted with
colors like the original real ship. Model is fully assembled and
ready for display.
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Item Code |
Specifications |
Packing
Volume |
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CS0043P |
52L x 9W x 26H (cm) |
20.47L x
3.54W x 10.23H (inch) |
0.036 m³ = 1.27132
ft³ |
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HISTORY
Today's
post is a tribute to a real veteran - "D/S
Oster". The ship is an example of
the archetypical coastal steamer that sailed along the coast of Norway
in the late part of the 19th century and well into the 20th.
Oster had its base in Bergen
and was for many years the largest of the vessels that connected the
Northern part of the county of Hordaland with the city of Bergen. The
two first pictures show the ship moored at the quay in a small place
called Bjørsvik.
The ship was built in 1908 and is thus 100 years old this year - a
fact that will be heavily celebrated. It was built at Christiansands
Mæk. Værksted (in Kristiansand in the Southern part of Norway) and had
initially these specification:
Length: 106,1 feet
Width: 21.7 feet
Deep-draught: 9,7 feet
Gross tonnage: 167
Passengers: 265
Engine (coal): Christiansands Mek. V. trippel expansion 54 nom. hp.
It was also built more or
less like an ice-breaker, since the fjords in the inner part of the
county always froze in the winter and the people became isolated. In
1915 it was extended, so that the length became 118,6 feet, the gross
tonnage 191, and the number of passengers it could carry was increased
to 312.
The ships carried all sorts of goods - from cows to cereal and post to
planks. It (and is smaller siblings) represented the main artery for
the whole area. Along the coast of Norway all connections had been via
the fjords. However, by 1964 the time had caught up with
"D/S Oster". New and more
modern ships, and not the least - more modern roads, cars and buses
had taken over much of the work that "Oster"
had done. Despite a large local action (including the song "Dar kjem
dampen" by Ivar Medaas, which became a classic Norwegian song), the
ship was sold off, rebuilt as "M/S
Vaka" and disappeared from history - for a while.
However, in 1996 some enthusiasts managed to get hold of the old ship
and have since then done a marvelous job with the restoration. They
had to get a "new" steam engine from England (alas, not coal) and they
are steadily getting closer to the look the ship had when it was a
"proper" steamer. |
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