Titan Floating Crane

Panama / Chilibre /
 crane (machine)  Add category
Among the largest floating cranes in the world, "Titan" was built by Hitler's Germany and claimed by the United States as war booty. Titan entered service in Panama in 1999 after having served for 50 years in Long Beach, California. The crane can be floated into the locks of the Panama Canal and is used for the heavy lifting required to maintain the doors of the locks of the canal. It can lift 350 metric tons and is one of the "strongest" cranes in the world.

The "Titan" was actually one of three built by the Germans. Of the other two, the British got one but lost it in a storm while towing it across the English channel, and the Russians got the other, but no one seems to know what ever became of it. While in Long Beach, the Titan was known as either "Herman the German", or simply the "German Crane."

www.navsource.org/archives/14/26171.htm
www.argonautics.com/Projects/Titan%20Crane%20Analysis.h... www.argonautics.com/Papers/Titan%20Article%20in%20the%2... www.argonautics.com/Papers/Article%20in%20Maritime%20Re... and www.argonautics.com/Projects/Titan%20Reassembly.htm
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_crane
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   9°6'55"N   79°42'7"W

Comments

  • I worked at Long Beach Naval Shipyard from 1976 to 1995 as a welder and was assigned to many jobs that required support from the German Crane. Your article states that no one seems to know what became of the crane that Russia seized at the end of WWII. As part of my indoctrination into the workforce at LBNS, I was told that the Russians lost their crane in a mountain pass while transporting it back to their country. It turns out that neither of these statements is accurate. The crane is currently located at the Admiralty Shipyard in Saint Petersburg. Here is a link to a news article that was posted today: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/kremlin-just-launched-claims-quietest-204149914.html The third photo near the bottom of the article clearly shows the German Crane that was salvaged by Russia.
  • Thanks Sam, great contribution. Living and Touring the Panama Canal, is frustrating hear over and over all the lies about the other "2 german cranes", the one that you know very weel is in good shape, working at the Dredging Division - Panama Canal, at gamboa town. Saludos
This article was last modified 7 years ago