Cimbria-Ship of War? A Small Maine Seaport has an Unheralded Guest: an Ocean Liner with Passengers of a "Military Mien" by Stephen A. Schoff When the sun burned through an earl y morning fog one day in the late spring of 1878, res idents of South west Harbor, Maine, were astoni shed to see, riding quietl y at anchor in the ir roadstead, the we ll -known German tran s-Atl anti c passenger liner Cimbria. Built by Caird & Co. in Greenock, Scotl and , Cimbria, gross tonnage 3025, was 330 fee t in length with a 40 foot beam. Brig-ri gged with a single screw engine generating 500 horsepower, she had a maximum speed of 11 - 12 knots. Manned by a crew of 120, her accommodati ons housed 58 first class passengers, 120 second class and 500 third cl ass. Cimbria left Hamburg on her maiden voyage on 13 April 1867, bound for Southampton and New York. Over the next decade she remained on thi s route. How, then, did th is popul ar German vessel appear unheralded in a small Maine port far to the northeast of her usual American destination? Earlier in 1878, Czari st Russia and Ottoman Turkey signed the Treaty of San Stefano. Turkey agreed to pay a very large indemnity, cede parts of Armenia and Dobruja to Russia, recogni ze the independence of Rumani a, Serbia and Montenegro, and make Bulgaria an autonomous principality. These terms materi all y modified the prov isions of the Treaty of Pari s of 1856, which ended the Crimean War, between Russia and a European coaliti on headed by England and France. The signatori es of the Treaty of Pari s were outraged at the great increase in Russ ian influence in southeastern Euro pe brought about by her new treaty. War between Russia and England in concert with other European nati ons became a distinct poss ibility. If landl ocked South west Harbor was indeed a strange port-of-call for a German ocean liner, the passengers of "guttural speech and military mien" were even stranger, fo r they were almost 700 officers and men of the Russian Imperial Navy. Cimbria was under charter to the Emperor of Russ ia. With cables ready to slip, she lay at anchor, seeking no other port, awaiting word that war had been decl ared between England and Russia. The " passengers" would then convert Cimbria into a Russian military vessel to prey upon the commerce of England 46
along the American and Canadian coasts. It was rumored Hammonia had left Hamburg on a simil ar mi ss ion for some other Ame ri ca n port a nd th e Thurin gia, Fra nconia and other liners, under simi lar charters, were soon to fo ll ow. Closer inspection of Cimbria reinfo rced these fo rebod ings . The reporter fro m Frank Leslie' s Illustrated Newspaper, having been ferried to Cimbria by Mr. Clarke, a deputy custom-house officer, noted that her warlike appearance be-
"The deck was holystoned to a nicety while every yard, block and rope told a tale of deft and skillful handling. Never did we behold a vessel whereupon there was less appearance of passenger work. Again did the man-o-war appearance smite us mightily." spoke stem discipline. "The deck was holystoned to a nicety while every yard, block and rope told a tale of deft and skillful handling. Never did we behold a vessel whereupon there was less appearance of passenger work. Again did the man-o-war appearance smite us mightily." June busted o ut all over Mt. Desert
Island. The " passengers" came ashore in libe rty parties of 100. The Russian officers hired whatever transport they co uld locate and made hastily for Ell sworth or Bangor. The enlisted men went for walks in the woods, played strange card games and overwhelmed Southwest Harbor's tiny post office with outgoing mail. Perhaps they also engaged in other activity. Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, the US Navy 's foremost historian and this writer's favorite author, in The Story of Mt . Desert Island, speculated that some of the members of these shore parties may have made a few amorous conquests and that there might be some Russian bloodlines on the " backside" of Mt. Desert. Admiral Morison classified Cimbria as an auxiliary Russian cruiser which he declared to be the last warship to reple nish her water supply at Man-0War Brook. Meanwhile, the Congress of Berlin was convened with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck mediating as "honest broker." Only after war had been repeated! y threatened did Russ ia agree to modify the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano more to the liking of England, France, Austri a- Hun gary a nd Italy . Alek sandr Gorchakov signed the Treaty of Berlin on behalf of Russia and Lord Beaconsfield , Benjamin Di srae li, for England ; England also managed to acquire the island
C imbria , enjoying one of her pleasant sailing days as a passenger liner. Illustration
courtesy Hapag-Lloyd AC , Hamburg with the assistance of Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum .
SEA HISTORY 67 , AUTUMN 1993