Wacht am Rhein

In 1848 around 25 tugs were operational on the river Rhein. These were all side wheelers with a draught of around two meters. Because of the shallows in the middle Rhein it was impossible to use ships of a deeper draught. Rhein tugs were therefore lengthened to create more space for longer steam boilers, bigger engines, bunker and crew accommodation.

About 1880 the first propeller driven tugs appeared on the Rhein which developed more speed and needed less crew.

The "Wacht am Rhein VIII" was built in 1893 as a Rhein tug by the P. Boele Shipyard at Slikkerveer in Holland. She was a tug powered by a coal fired boiler,a compound engine developing 300 IHP and was designed specially for the middle part of the river Rhein which has lots of bends and very strong currents. Her hull design is long and narrow to suit these conditions.

The steering and control gear is behind the funnel giving very little view forward but with a much better view of the ships which she tows. In 1894 the ship was taken into service under the name "Wacht am Rhein VIII" by J Huttner in Wesel-Buderich. This company was established at an outstanding location on a bend of the Rhein where in addition to towage they ran a hotel-restuarant. To date (1993) this hotel-restaurant was still managed by the Huttner family although the shipping operation was sold off many years ago.

Around the turn of the century the ship came under the control of the Johann Knipscheer Shipping Company who were the first firm who dared to attempt to tow a ship upstream to Basel on the Swiss border. The ship was renamed "Direktor Johann Knipscheer". In 1919 she was renamed "Speculant". Between 1924 and 1957 a number of major alterations were made to her power plant and superstructure.

Today: In 1972 she was renamed Pieter Boele, after her original builder and in 1987 handed over to the Prins Hendrik Maritime Museum in Dordrecht where she has been kept in service by volunteer enthusiasts.

Details of the kit

Scale 1/35 Length 965mm Beam 180mm Sailing weight 2.2kgs

The model is based on a glassfibre hull with full plating, freeing ports, bulwarks and port detail moulded into the hull. Computer generated plastic printed in 6 colours is used for the decks and superstructure to give quick and crisp assembly.

Vacformed plastic mouldings supply the ships boat hull, engine casings, skylight

A full set of fittings in cast light alloy and plastic give the finishing touch to the model adding the vital clutter that is so much part of the "TUG" appeal. As in all of the Deans kits a set of running gear is included, consisting of the propshaft, tiller and full instructions keyed to a FULL SIZE plan to assist in the construction of the model.

Painting instructions are part of the construction notes with tips for using the latest car spray ACRYLIC paint which gives a fast and hard wearing finish.