Vacation Pictures - Old Boats, New Boats, Toy Boats, U-Boats

We'll start with this one, a catamaran passenger ferry from Friedrichshafen. Berthed a short distance away was the car ferry Graf Zeppelin, which docks right out in front of the museum there.

On the left, the WW1 armored cruiser Bismarck; on the right, a larger descendant. These are examples of the ship and boat models in the German Museum. I built model ships and planes as a child, and these models made me start drooling like one of Pavlov's puppies when the bell started ringing.

The latest fashion from Paris? Maybe, but no; this is a life preserver from the mid-1800s. To the left is the launch tube for a rocket that could shoot a lifeline out to shipwrecked sailors.

This sporty little number is a motorboat from the late 1800s. It's powered by a one-cylinder gasoline engine. I took detail pictures of the engine but they're not too good.

A steam-powered launch, capable of carrying about four people. Behind it is the steel hull of the tugboat Renzo that plied the harbor of Bremerhaven in the early 1900s.

It's not my boat; it's U-boat! Specifically this is the conning tower of U-1, Germany's first submarine. It's been cut open in spots (see picture below) to show its interior and engines.

This submarine is one of the WW2-era midget subs built by the Navy to attack Allied ships. Again, it's cut open to display the interior.