site.btaReconstructed Steamer Radetzky Was Launched 60 Years Ago

Thursday marks 60 years since the launch of the reconstructed historic paddle steamer Radetzky at the shipyard in Ruse (on the Danube) on May 28, 1966, as a tie-in with the 90th anniversary of the heroic death of Bulgarian revolutionary poet Hristo Botev (1848-1876).

The original passenger steamship was built at the shipyard in Obuda (now part of Budapest) in 1851 and was named after Austrian Field Marshal Josef Radetzky. It had a crew of 37 and ran between Vienna, Budapest and Ruse.

On May 16/27 and 17/28, en route to Vienna, during a voyage on the Danube between Orsova and Galati, a total of 205 Bulgarian emigrees boarded the Radetzky at five Romanian ports: Corabia, Giurgiu, Zimnicea, Turnu Magurele and Bechet. They formed a detachment led by Botev and organized for joining the April 1876 Uprising against Ottoman rule in Bulgaria. On May 18/29, Botev and his associates commandeered the ship and forced its master, Dagobert Englaender, to land them on the Bulgarian bank of the river near the village of Kozloduy. From there, the detachment headed for the Balkan Range. Contrary to expectations, very few Bulgarians joined the insurgents. The detachment fought several battles with Ottoman troops. The uprising in the Vratsa region never broke out, and on May 20 (New Style June 2), Botev was killed in circumstances that have never been cleared up. 

The Radetzky remained in service until 1918 and was scrapped in 1924.

The replica was constructed at the Ruse Shipyard in 1964-1966 on funds raised by 1,200,000 Bulgarian children. The reconstruction was based on the hull of the steam-powered tugboat Plovdiv (built in 1951 at the same shipyard as the original Radetzky) and used period blueprints, photographs and the reminiscences of the original steamer's painter Jozsef Kiraly, who donated pieces of the original vessel he had salvaged in 1918.  The new vessel was 57.40 m long and 17.50 m wide.

The initiative was implemented on funds raised by 1,200,000 Bulgarian children.

On May 30, 1966, the reconstructed ship came alongside the site near Kozloduy where Botev's detachment had disembarked in 1876.

On March 16, 1982, the Radetzky was granted a national museum status. On April 16, 2004, it became a branch of the National Museum of History.

The ship was overhauled in 1988-1994, when the main steam engine was replaced by a diesel engine. It was employed for brief tourist trips on the Danube. After yet another scheduled maintenance, it was relicensed as river-worthy and resumed its trips in 2021.

Since 2010, the vessel has been docked at a berth in Kozloduy especially built for it. 

The Radetzky is the only travelling museum ship in Bulgaria and in the Balkans.

Following is an English translation of a BTA Home News report covering the launch of the historic vessel in 1966:

"Historic Ship Radetzky Ahead of First Voyage

Ruse, May 28 (BTA correspondent Radoslav Atanasov). Bulgarian Pioneri and Chavdarcheta [members of state-sponsored organizations for communist indoctrination of children aged 7-9 and 9-14, respectively] will keep unforgettable memories of this day. The reconstructed ship Radetzky was launched. On this occasion, a large rally was held at the Ivan Dimitrov Shipbuilding and Ship-Repair Plant. Over 10,000 Pioneri from the city and the rest of the country came here, guided by their pure affection and filial love for the national heroes. They were joined by delegations from the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and the GDR, and by guests from Budapest, Vienna and other [cities abroad].

Following the solemn flourish of the fanfares, the Commander of the [Ruse] District Pioneri Headquarters, Georgi Borilov, reported how the Pioneri of the district, through deeds of labour and patriotism, had shared in the [fund-raising] emulation for the construction of the Radetzky. The Director of the Shipyard, Engr. Docho Dochev, spoke of the devotion displayed by the shipbuilders of Ruse in building the historic vessel, accomplished under the guidance of the yard’s Chief Designer, Engr. Todor Todorov.

Georgi Atanasov, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Dimitrov Communist Youth League, delivered a greetings address to the Pioneri. He credited the Bulgarian Pioneri for the highly patriotic initiative to build the historic ship. Particularly distinguished in the campaign were the Vratsa District Pioneri, who contributed 36,000 leva towards the building of the vessel, and the Ruse Pioneri, who contributed 29,000 leva, among others. More than 522,000 leva had been collected in the savings account of the National Headquarters for the Construction of the Radetzky instead of the planned 450,000 leva. During the construction of the ship, Pioneri across the country have discovered many previously unknown documents, photographs and memorabilia, and located twenty-seven sons and daughters of Botev's detachment members.

At the command of 'attention', the Pioneri of the Valentina Tereshkova Detachment from Ruse stepped upon the deck. They had won a competition for raising the flag of the Radetzky. To the sound of a mighty 'hooray!' from the thousands of Pioneri, the Radetzky once more ploughed the waters of the quiet Danube, bearing afar the glory of the heroic Bulgarian people.

***

The Pioneri of the Mitko Palauzov Troop from Vratsa, who had won a national competition for sewing the banner of Botev's detachment, presented the banner sewn by their own hands to the ship Radetzky. Nine-year-old Georgi Simov, great-grandson of Nikola Simov-Kuruto, the standard-bearer of Botev's detachment, handed the green banner to the captain of the Radetzky, Nikola Trifonov.

Alois Englaender, nephew of the master of the original Radetzky, who donated his uncle's spyglass through which Botev himself had observed the Bulgarian river bank, described the Bulgarian Pioneri's initiative as a 'splendid undertaking'. Eighty-five-year-old Kiraly Jozsef of Budapest, who had painted the original Radetzky, expressed his satisfaction at the great resemblance between the new vessel and the old one."