A century ago in 1924 the shipyard Joh. C. Tecklenborg AG in Bremerhaven completed SEEFALKE, at that time the largest ocean-going salvage tug for W. Schuchmann Reederei. She was powered by two 900 hp Diesel engines that were later upgraded by turbo chargers to 1200 hp each but replacedby two 1500 hp engines in 1942.

As soon as 1926 Schuchmann acquired themajority of Hamburg-based Bugsier-, Reederei- und Bergungs-AG and in 1927 SEEFALKE joined the Bugsier fleet. She was sunk during an air raid at Kiel in April 1945 just before the end of WW2.

While under strictAllied sanctions the wreck was secretly repositioned by Bugsier staff later in 1945 to the outer bay at Kiel and was thus preserved until therestrictions were lifted.

In 1950 SEEFALKE was raised, repaired and she returned to service for another 20 years. Finally in 1970 Bugsierdonated the iconic vessel to the German Shipping Museum at Bremerhaven where she remains as one of the top exhibits!

Photo/text : Martin Lochte-Holtgreven