4928 x 3264 px | 41,7 x 27,6 cm | 16,4 x 10,9 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
23 août 2013
Informations supplémentaires:
The steam tug "Renzo" was built in 1931 by A. Lucchese's shipyard in Venice and was one of the innumerable tugs, which procured transport of punts and lighters in ports and on inland waterways. It was equipped with a two-cylinder 122 HP (90 KW) expansion steam engine that had been already built in Genoa in 1912. Later the coal firing of "Renzo" was changed to the more comfortable oil burner. Above all the tug was a propulsion unit consisting of a boiler and powerful machine enclosed by a hull. This function determined the ship's design, which replaced the variety of traditional regional forms of sailing ships. Contrary to the multicolored cargo sailing ships of the Venetian Lagoon or the sharp-edged Ewer of the North Sea, the uniformly black, bulgy steam tugs billowing black smoke were the "coolies" of the industrial age. The hook had to be attached as deeply as possible and in the ship's centre in order to avoid capsizing with lateral pull and securing manoeuvrability of the tug. Therefore the rear half of the hull was low without superstructures, which is a characteristic feature of all tugs and distinguishes them from other ships on long distance by their silhouette. The last alteration during the long service time of "Renzo", a change of its steam engine to a Diesel engine, was planned about the year 1975, but never accomplished. Probably in the meantime the ship and its owner were too old. However, its still complete engine with all auxiliary machines predestined "Renzo" to serve as a witness of formerly typical ship machine equipment in the museum. Together with the Ewer "Maria" the tug embodies the two substantial epochs of sail and steam navigation.
