Paddle-Steamer “Dresden”

scale 1:100
length 69 cm
width 9 cm
height 17 cm
degree of difficulty 2
number of sheets 6.5

The passenger paddle-steamer “Dresden” was built in the shipyard in Dresden-Laubegast in 1926 and put in service on June 29, 1926 as a flagship, concert and luxury steamship. As a so-called luxury saloon steamship it provided a completely new type of passenger ship for the Upper Elbe. Its advantages were a large upper deck, a spacious lounge, panorama windows, comfortable furnishings and modern sanitary installations. The steam engine which worked with valves was robust with a power of 300 HP (200 KW). The high-pressure boiler heated the steam to 320 °C. There was also a modern steering system without a steering machine. The paddle-wheels were smaller than its precursors. The total length of the ship was 68.7 m, the width along deck was 6.90 m. Above the side paddles it was 12.90 m wide. The empty draught is 0.80 m. From 1926 to 1946 the ship registered for 1,363 persons.
The “Dresden” was used as a holiday steam-ship in the area of Saxony. It survived the Second World War with practically no damage. However, in 1946 the steamship became the victim of negligence. Carelessness caused a fire on June 18, 1946, which almost completely destroyed the ship. In 1948 the reconstruction was started, which lasted until 1949. Then the steamer could once again go into service. Nowadays the “Dresden”, as well as its sister-ship “Leipzig”, which was constructed in 1929 using similar plans are still in action on the Upper Elbe.