Oheka II
Encyclopedia
Oheka II was a private motor yacht built for German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
investment banker
Investment banking
An investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...
Otto Hermann Kahn
Otto Hermann Kahn
Otto Hermann Kahn was an investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts.-Life and career:He was born on February 21, 1867, and raised in the city of Mannheim, Germany, to Jewish parents...
by Lürssen
Lürssen
Lürssen is a German shipbuilding company based in Bremen-Vegesack.Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels...
in 1927. Capable of 34 knots top speed, she became the blueprint for the German Navy
German Navy
The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...
's Schnellboot.
"Oheka" is an anagram of letters from Kahn's full name, Otto Herman Kahn.
Oheka II
Born in 1867 in Mannheim, Otto Hermann KahnOtto Hermann Kahn
Otto Hermann Kahn was an investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts.-Life and career:He was born on February 21, 1867, and raised in the city of Mannheim, Germany, to Jewish parents...
was an investment banker, collector
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, and patron of the arts.
Khan approached German boatbuilder Lürssen
Lürssen
Lürssen is a German shipbuilding company based in Bremen-Vegesack.Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels...
in 1926 to build him a high-speed motor launch capable of use both in the River Rhine and the North Sea.
German boat builders at the time were used to building semi-gliding limousines like cruising boats for the Rhine, which to create a smooth ride were round bottomed. However, the problem this creates is a greater depth in the water, and a resultant increase in hydro-dynamic drag, reducing speed. While on a river, this was not of concern, in a high-speed launch it would require more power.
The first choice of Lürssen for Khan's yacht was for a round bottomed hull, to create a smooth ride. But to reduce hydro-dynamic drag, they reduced hull weight by forming a composite shell of wooden planks over an alloy metal frame. Thirdly, to counter the inefficient tendency of round hulls to "squat" stern-down in the water at high speeds, they counterbalanced it by two measures:
- a hull form that flattened towards the stern, providing hydrodynamic lift where it was needed
- forward positioning the engines, to counter balance the stern drop
The result was a 22.5 metres (73.8 ft) length hull displacing 22tons, which was wider at the front over the rear, creating an almost perfect high-speed hydro-dynamic shape. Having perfected the hull, Lürssen equipped the boat with three Maybach
Maybach
Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH is a German luxury car manufacturer. It was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son. The company was originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1912.Today, the ultra-luxury car brand is owned by...
VL2 V12 engines of 500hp each, which were also used to power the Zeppelins.
In Lürssen speed trials the new craft consistently reached a top speed of 34 knots, making it the fastest boat in its class int the world. There is no basis for the common misconception that Oheka II was a "rum runner" used for smuggling.