TO commemorate the Leipzig Spring Fair of 1957 the East German Post Office issued two stamps one of which shows the Frieden—or a similar member of the growing "Typ-IV-Schiff' class of which three vessels have already been completed and delivered. The Frieden herself, the first completed, was launched at the Warnow shipyard, Warnemunde—the largest shipbuilding yard in East Germany—on January 14, 1956, completing her trials on May 2, 1957. Her maiden passage was to Novotossisk after which she returned to Weimar (Wismar), East Germany.
The entire class is to number 14. They will all be of approximately 10,000 tons deadweight on an overall length of 517 ft. with a beam of 66 ft. and 27 ft. draft. Gross tonnage will be about 6,500. All are all-welded twin-screw motorships designed for general cargo duties carrying a crew of 54 with accommodation for 12 passengers. There are six holds with four hatches having the latest type of cover and served by 14 light lift derricks, a 50-ton heavy lift derrick and two deck cranes. Propelling machinery comprises four oil engines which provide a speed of 16.5 knots.
The programme for the construction of these vessels was begun in 1956 and it is hoped to complete it by 1960. One of the vessels in the class, the Zeromski, was the second ship to be finished and handed over to the Polish Ocean Line and is now running to East Asia. The third ship, the Freundschaft was completed last November and delivered to the Deutsche Seereederei, the East German Lines, owned by the State which also placed the order for the Frieden.
Recently the Freundschaft became the first East German vessel to call at Shanghai. Other ships of the class now building are the Solidaritat, Berlin and Dresden and will be completed by the end of the summer. SG E295 Sea Breezes June 1958. also E373, E2417