list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . october 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message hamburg s damerikanische dampfschifffahrts gesellschaft the container ship cap san antonio heading to the port of hamburg april 2014 type private industry transport founded 1871 headquarters hamburg germany key people dr. ottmar gast chairman of the executive board peter frederiksen heino schmidt frank smet arnt vespermann members of executive board products shipping freight distribution others revenue 5.470 billion 2012 number of employees 4 512 2012 website www.hamburgsud.com hamburg s d is a shipping line on the north south ocean trade routes . it is part of the oetker group a family owned german conglomerate . 1 contents 1 history 2 roles in war 3 corporate takeovers 4 humanitarian aid 5 see also 6 notes 7 references 8 external links and references history edit oetker tanker richard kaselowsky in 1960 in 1871 hamburg s damerikanische dampfschifffahrts gesellschaft note 1 hamburg south america steam shipping company or hamburg south america line was established by a conglomerate of 11 hamburg based merchant houses . 2 three steam ships totalling 4 000 grt provided a monthly shipping service to brazil and argentina . 2 by 1914 the company was operating over 50 ships totaling approximately 325 000 grt . world war i culminated in the loss of all hamburg s d s vessels and the company was forced to begin again by chartering vessels . the early 1950s saw the company embark on tramp shipping and tanker shipping and large growth of refrigerated cargoes . in 1955 the dr. august oetker company took the company over and began rapid expansion of the liner and passenger services . the takeover of deutsche levante linie in 1956 saw the company commence its first foray into the mediterranean . 1957 saw liner services begin between north america and australia new zealand with the columbus new zealand being the first container ship to ply trade lanes in the region in 1971 pioneering containerization in the pacific . roles in war edit the cap trafalgar was a brand new passenger liner having been completed only on march 1 1914 and had commenced her maiden voyage only on march 10 1914 . germany had lightly armed the vessel with two 10.5 cm guns and 6 heavy machine guns and had removed one of the three steam funnels and re coloured the vessel to disguise it as a british liner . the vessel encountered the british fully armed ex steam liner carmania about 700 miles east of the brazilian coast near the island of trindade at 9 30 a.m. on september 14 1914 . after a heated exchange of fire between the two ships the cap trafalgar began listing to the left then sunk bow first . the cap arcona initially the most beautiful citation needed passenger liner in its time was converted to serve the kriegsmarine german navy as a converted transport vessel in 1940 . at the end of 1944 it was then commandeered as a troopship primarily transporting refugees and prisoners of war along the baltic sea . loaded with 4 500 prisoners at l beck bay it was attacked by royal air force typhoons in an air raid . the cap arcona remained capsized in l beck bay until 1950 and was then taken apart by divers over a period of years and scrapped . the wreckage was registered and photographed in detail by rolls royce who had produced the raf s rockets to assess their effectiveness . corporate takeovers edit container vessel monte sarmiento hamburg s d also owns brazilian operator alian a and spanish operator ybarra sud . it has taken over many companies over the years including ellerman kien hung south seas steamship deutsche nah ost linie royal mail line pacific steam navigation company swedish laser lines rotterdam zuid america lijn rzal havenlijn and the inter america services of crowley american transport . in the past parts of hamburg s d has been known as columbus line . since 2004 the services of columbus line are directly integrated into hamburg s d. the current container fleet of dry boxes has a distinctive red color with a huge flag and white hamburg s d logo on the side . the refrigerated boxes are white with the flag and navy blue lettering . humanitarian aid edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message hamburg s d supports international aid organisations with in house shipping facilities . in the shortest possible time relief supplies and technical or medical equipment are transported where needed typically after natural disasters such as hurricanes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions . hamburg s d maintains a long term relationship to sos children s villages supporting their projects in different countries . hamburg s d also supports various initiatives in the fields of education and culture including the united buddy bears exhibitions . see also edit containerisation top intermodal container companies list notes edit the triple f is correct ; it is from a misspelling in the company s original registration in germany . citation needed references edit career training & internships at hamburg s d a b pein james cooper arnold kludas joachim 1989 . the hamburg south america line reprinted 1990 ed . . kendal cumbria world ship society . p. 11 . isbn 0905617509 . external links and references edit wikimedia commons has media related to hamburg s d. official site rudolf a. oetker kg official site alian a official site retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title hamburg s d & oldid 736062622 categories shipping companies of germanycontainer shipping companiescompanies based in hamburgdr . oetker1871 establishments in germanycompanies established in 1871hidden categories all articles with unsourced 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