Floating Crane

The Titan Crane, among the largest floating cranes in the world was originally built by Germany in 1941, moved to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1948 and finally sold to Panama Canal and put into service in 1999. The Tital 'floating' crane is used to maintain the canal locks, the tip of the main boom towers 114m (374 ft) above the water and can lift 350 metric tons! Among the largest floating cranes in the world, "Titan" was built by Hitler's Germany and claimed by the Unites States as war booty. Tian entered service in Panama in 1999 after having served for 50 years in Long Beach, California. The crane can be floated into the locks on the Panama Canal and is used for heavy lifting required to maintain the doors of the locks of the canal. It is one of the strongest in the world.

The Titan was actually one of three built by the Germans. Of the other two, the British got one but lost it in a storm while towing it across the English Channel, and the Russians got the other, but no one seems to know whatever became of it. While in Long Beach, the Titan was known as either "Herman the German," or simply the"German Crane."