AUGUST 1956 – The cargo ship Damaskus near Bremerhaven in Germany. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
This image from the family archive was captured during a boat excursion along the Weser river and the North Sea near Bremerhaven in Germany. Here, the photographer shot the general cargo ship Damaskus at a decent speed, probably as it approaches Bremerhaven.
I like the excellent quality of the print and the dynamic of the freight ship which is underlined by the man on the left pointing his right hand to towards the ship.
What do we know about the ship then? It was put into service in Germany in 1954, just two years before this photo was captured. So it was as new as it looks on the photo, and it must have been quite impressive for the folks of the excursion.
It carried its original name Damaskus apparently until 1958 (some sources mention two additional names before it was called Damaskus, though, but they all relate to the same ship.) Several ownership changes later, it showed up as Sadan in July 1988 (!) near Istanbul, Turkey. At that time it was already 34 years old, and the photo is probably the latest available on the Net. In 1989 it was sent to breakers in Aliaga, Turkey (as per the Lloyd’s Register of Shipping.)
You will find a wealth of information when searching for IMO 5214709.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 12-AUG-1956 |
| Location | near Bremerhaven, Germany |
| Image Source | 7 x 10 cm print |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 8581 x 6068 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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