"Im Laufe der Zeit", partly fictional - anyone read this ?

[Catfish]

The author is Alex Capus. The book is about the german freight steamer "Graf Goetzen" on the Tanagnyika lake, or better Mr. Rueter and two men of the german Meyer dockyard, who are sent to Africa to assemble the ship at Kigoma.

The plan to use a freighter on the Tanganjika lake had been decided before the war, and though the ship was the biggest on the lake, it was no warship. Regarding the thoughts of the men, and their opponent Spicer-Simpson, this book is fictional, but it is well researched and a real good read. The absurdity of war, especially in the colonies, is one of the main themes.
Some events are missing, like the attempt of sinking the steamer by british seaplanes piloted by Belgians, as well there are things i never heard of - like the fact (?) the later-mounted "deck gun" was indeed a painted palm tree ... the often mentioned real gun from the sunken SMS Koenigsberg being much too heavy.
After being sunk by the very men who had just assembled the ship, it was raised later, and is still today the only big ship on the lake, its new name being "Liemba".

I do not know whether it is already translated to english - anyone ?

There is also another book, a historical report from Giles Foden: „Mimi and Toutou go forth – The bizarre battle for Lake Tanganyika“.

Greetings,
Kai