[1][2][3][4][5] The imperial shipyard Wilhelmshaven needed a powerful and high lifting crane to help complete battleships before the outbreak of the World War I.

The crane was completed in 1915 and originally was known as the Grosser Schwimmkran, but was christened Langer Heinrich.

It was so famous in its day that it used to be pictured on some German bank notes, Deutsche Marks.

Instead, as part of the war reparation, similar cranes were built for Portsmouth, England in 1920 and Brest, France in 1935.

When the SS Bremen was built in 1928, the Langer Heinrich lifted the boiler plant into the ship's hull.

During World War II air raids on Bremen, the Langer Heinrich received minor damage and was subsequently moved to Nordenham for safe storage.

After the surrender of the Nazi Germany, the United States Navy confiscated the crane in 1945.

Under the designation BD-6000 she was used until November of 1947 in Bremen and Bremerhaven for the American maritime service group, to lift sunk ships in the harbors.

In 1985 the crane was sold to an Italian company that moved her from Bremerhaven to Sardinia, she was renamed Maestrale for a short time.