Baden (ship, 1922)
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The second Baden of the Hamburg-American Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (Hapag) was the third ship of the country class and the last of the class with a passenger facility for the South America service.
The ship was shot at from a Brazilian fort on October 24, 1930 while leaving Rio de Janeiro , resulting in 31 deaths. In December 1940, the crew sank the ship itself when it was stopped by the British heavy cruiser HMS Berwick while trying to reach France, which was occupied by the Germans .
history
Hapag's first construction program after the First World War included three country-class ships that were ordered from Bremer Vulkan. With a size of 9000 GRT, the ships should have a carrying capacity of 11,500 tdw and a small number of cabin passengers and around 700 passengers in the III. Record class. The first two ships, the Bavaria and the Württemberg , were completed in 1921 and were only used on the North Atlantic.
In the South America service
Planned as the third ship in the series, the "Westfalen" was launched as Baden only six months apart on February 25, 1922 in Vegesack and was delivered on May 4, 1922. She was the second Hapag ship that was named after the German state of Baden . The first Baden (7,676 GRT) had joined the small cruiser SMS Dresden in the Atlantic in August 1914 with 12,000 t of coal from Pernambuco during the First World War and accompanied him and then the cruiser squadron to the sea battle near the Falkland Islands , where she was supported by the British auxiliary cruiser HMS Macedonia was sunk.
The new Baden , measured at 8803 GRT , left Hamburg on May 16, 1922 on her maiden voyage to the ports on La Plata . The passenger service on this line had already reopened on September 14, 1921, when Teutonia ex Habsburg had been repurchased by the Allies .
In 1922/1923, Hapag received two more ships of the state class from the Bremer Vulkan, the Sachsen and Hessen , which were also used in South America but no space for a III. Class or tween deck passengers. Initially, they could only carry 18 cabin passengers, which was later expanded a bit and were freighters with a not very small possibility of passenger transport.
Before Hapag, the Stinnes company had ordered five very similar ships from Vulkan, which were to be used on the route to East Asia. Hapag and Stinnes each ordered two very similar freighters from Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft , which came into service at Hapag as Prussia and Oldenburg and were assigned to the Länder class.
Hapag's liner service to South America was initially strengthened by two further buybacks of former ships with the Rugia and the Graecia ex Thessalia and the Sachsen, which is primarily used as a freighter . Then from January 1923 the sister ship Württemberg came on the South America route and finally in 1924 the type ship Bavaria . At the same time, however, the three old ships were withdrawn in order to set up a new Central America service.
The economic successes of the service were not overwhelming. The takeover of the overseas department of the Stinnes shipping company brought about an increase in the service, as this shipping company had also been offering freight and passenger services on the same route since 1922. Some of the Stinnes ships were flagged to the subsidiary Artus in Danzig ( Holm and Artus ), while the General Belgrano (ex Bahio Castillo , 1913 Reiherstieg shipyard , 10121 GRT) and three smaller freighters bought from Scandinavia were based in Hamburg, which initially continued to be used in South America.
The ships used were regularly modernized. The ships of the Länder class were fitted with exhaust steam turbines, which increased engine power to 5000 hp and maximum speed to 13 knots. The Artus was also converted to the General Miter (9899 BRT) and still launched in 1931. The other two former Stinnes passenger ships were sold for demolition in 1929 and 1932. In 1929 the General Osorio joined the South American service of Hapag as a new ship and in 1930 the 11,250 GRT sister ships General San Martin (ex Thuringia ) and General Artigas (ex Westphalia ) were added as reinforcements .
The Baden incident
On October 24, 1930, the Baden was bombarded off Rio de Janeiro . The ship had left Hamburg on October 4th with 169 passengers, took another 227 passengers on board in Gijón and 47 passengers in Leixões and arrived in Rio on October 24th. That day, the Brazilian military launched a coup d'état and installed the defeated presidential candidate, Getúlio Vargas (1882–1954), as the new president. The captain of the Baden therefore wanted to leave the port quickly, as there were rumors about departure bans. He received a general exit permit and was told on a handwritten note that the final decision would be made by the commandant of Fort Santa Cruz. The Baden left the port at 5 p.m. and later passed Fort Santa Cruz. The flag signal shown there was incomprehensible on the bridge of the Baden and did not seem to be related to the ship. The ship continued to run out of the harbor and passed other forts. The warning shot of a 75 mm cannon from Fort Santa Cruz was not observed on the Baden and went far off the mark. Fort Vigia has now been instructed by the fort to put the Baden a stop shot in front of the bow. The shot of the local 15-cm guns went far beyond the Baden , immediately commanded the second shot hit around 17:44 the aft mast at the height of the spreader .
The consequences of the hit were devastating. Many passengers had gathered on the quarterdeck to watch the departure from one of the most beautiful harbors in the world. The explosion caused by the hit above the passengers triggered a pressure wave, shot the shrapnel into the assembled people and caused the upper mast and the loading booms to fall into the group.
Nine people were killed instantly. The Baden doctors tried to help the many injured while the ship turned and tried to return to port. Fort Santa Cruz signaled with flags to send a boat, so Captain Rolin was waiting. When after 40 minutes still nothing happened, he slowly ran into the harbor. At 7.30 p.m., more doctors were able to be transported on board and the wounded to hospitals. The military imposed a contact ban on the ship. When this was lifted after two days, the extent of the disaster became apparent. 27 Spanish passengers as well as three men of the crew and a Spanish intern had lost their lives and another 39 seriously injured had to be left behind in the hospitals of Rio.
The German maritime administration negotiation gave the captain of the Baden complicity in the incident, as he had neither tried to decipher the note, nor questioned the unclear signal from Fort Santa Cruz, nor had he paid any attention to the Brazilian forts. The main blame was placed on the Brazilian military for failing to give clear signals and not being able to properly use their weapons.
Another service for Hapag and Endschicksal
In 1935 the Baden was converted into a pure freighter of 8204 GRT and it remained in the service of Hapag in other shipping areas during the state-enforced unbundling, since its main route on the German side was served solely by Hamburg-Süd from 1934 . When the war broke out, the ship called Santa Cruz de Tenerife , where she stayed until December 1940.
Then the Baden tried to break through to the French Atlantic coast , which was meanwhile occupied by the Germans. On December 28, she ran about 325 nautical miles northeast of Ponta Delgada in the Azores to secure the British troop convoy WS.5A under the heavy cruiser HMS Berwick , which three days earlier had a brief battle with the cruiser Admiral Hipper attacking the convoy Had led. Since the captain saw no chance to escape the British forces, he initiated the self-sinking of the ship. The flak cruiser HMS Bonaventure accelerated the sinking at the position 43 ° 0 '0 " N , 23 ° 50' 0" W by a torpedo shot.
Letter to the Foreign Office in Berlin, report from Captain Max Schaefer from the steamer "Baden" on the Hamburg-America Line from November 24, 1943:
I had already reported extensively on my trip to South America via Nordenham, Buenos Aires, Rosario de Santa Fé, Buenos Aires, Pernambuco and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This is followed by reports on the departure from Tenerife, the sinking of the ship, the capture of the entire crew and internment in England.
The steamer "bathe" left the port of Tenerife on December 15, 1940 to steam for St. Nazaire. The prescribed courses were adhered to with minor deviations. On the trip, some vehicles were spotted, which were stopped in good time. At night we drove completely dimmed. On the 11th day of travel. December 26th 9 1/2 a.m. , a plume of smoke was sighted about 1 1/2 line on the control board. After a short time the superstructure came into view and it was possible to see through a telescope that we were facing a warship. After another 5 minutes I realized that it was an English warship, a small cruiser. At that moment there were already two shots in front of the bow, whereupon the engine was stopped and the crew went into the boats. I gave orders to the engine to break the sea valves and send the crew to the boat station and make it clear to leave the ship. The order was promptly carried out by Hern Ing. Thormann. The back board side was our leeward side, so that we could bring the lifeboats into the water in peace. The second officer was instructed by me to deliver the following radio message with position. "Are attacked by English cruisers, sink the ship and go into the boats". This radio message was made several times. The approximate position of our ship was about 43 ° N. Broad and 23 1/2 ° west longitude. As it turned out later, it was the "Buenaventura" that had seen us. The cruiser came closer faster and shot the ship with machine gun bullets that went into the deckhouses and superstructures. He probably wanted to prevent us from leaving the ship and sending the telegrams. After the lifeboats were launched, the crew went into the boats. The first officer, second officer and I myself took the small workboat, which was set up as a lifeboat with air boxes. I instructed the first officer to set the ship on fire before leaving the ship. For this purpose, a 25 liter gasoline can was kept ready in the doctor's chamber. In a short time bright flames broke out of the cabin. After the first and second officers had gone into the lifeboat, I was the last to leave the ship. The secret papers were sunk by me. Unfortunately a tackle got hooked when the boat was lowered, so that the boat was full of water and the oars could not be used. We drifted clear of the ship quickly, but could no longer see anything of the other lifeboats. There was a fairly high swell and choppy sea. The "Buenaventura" had in the meantime approached quickly and steamed past the stern on the back board side of the "Baden", which stood amidships in bright flames and slowly sagged behind. The English cruiser took off and steamed out of sight. As the commander (Capt. Egerton) told me later, because of the submarine danger and great heat when passing our BB side. The "Buenaventura" was now out of sight and only appeared in sight in 2 1/2 - 3 hours to pick us up. First we were accepted in little Bott. Unfortunately, we had the mishap of capsizing the long side of the B. twice due to the high swell, but were still able to hold on to the boat and then be pulled up using lines. I myself suffered a hand injury and bruised ribs and was bandaged on board. In quick succession, the aborted lifeboats were approached and the crew picked up. All 39 crew members were rescued. The British cruiser tried to sink the still drifting "Baden" with artillery fire, but this did not succeed. A torpedo was then fired which failed; only the 2nd torpedo was successful. At around 2 p.m. the journey to Gibraltar, where the cruiser with the troops on board was destined, continued. The accommodation on board was very primitive, but the food was plentiful and good. signed Max Schaefer Captain D. "Baden" Hamburg - America Line
Fate of the sister ships
| Launched in service |
Surname | tonnage | Construction no | fate |
| 2.06.1921 23.08.1921 |
Bavaria (II) | 9014 BRT 11760 dw |
BrV No. 596 | Maiden voyage from Hamburg to New York, from March 1924 La Plata service 8899 BRT / 568 passengers III class, from 1929 exhaust steam turbine (5000 hp, 13 kn), January 1936 sold to France as Sontay , 1955 Sunlock / Panama, 1959 demolished in Japan |
| August 5, 1921 October 30, 1921 |
Württemberg (II) | 8895 BRT 11660 dw |
BrV No. 597 | Maiden voyage from Hamburg to New York, from January 1924 La Plata service 8899 BRT / 588 passengers 3rd class, from 1929 exhaust steam turbine, December 1935 sold to Erste Deutsche Walfang-Gesellschaft / renamed Jan Wellem , sunk in Narvik on April 13, 1940 , lifted and repaired in July 1940, demolished in Scotland in 1947 |
| June 3, 1922 September 5, 1922 |
Saxony (II) | 8109 BRT 11465 tdw |
BrV No. 599 | Maiden voyage from Hamburg to La Plata, June 1923 West coast, October 1926 East Asia service, 1936 sold to Hamburg-Süd, 1937 renamed La Plata , beached on October 4, 1943 after heavy bombing in Bodø , scrapped after the end of the war |
| 14.04.1923 06.02.1923 |
Hesse | 8116 BRT 11430 tdw |
BrV no.600 | Maiden voyage from Hamburg to New York, La Plata, West Coast and East Asia service, sold to URAG in 1935 / now Fechenheim , sunk in the Båtsfjord by a Soviet submarine on February 12, 1943 , lifted after the end of the war and scrapped in Great Britain |
| April 12, 1922 October 11, 1922 |
Prussia (II) | 8116 BRT 11958 tdw |
FSG No. 361 | Maiden voyage from Hamburg to East Asia, East Asia Service, 19 July 1941 on the way from Naples to Libya sunk by British aircraft near Pantelleria |
| 02/20/1923 06/20/1923 |
Oldenburg | 8116 BRT 12057 tdw |
FSG No. 362 | Maiden voyage from Hamburg to East Asia, La Plata-, West Coast and East Asia Service, December 28, 1943. Stadlandet by British submarine HMS Seadog sunk |
| Stinnes | ||||
| October 26, 1920 January 31, 1921 |
Arthur | 7879 BRT 12335 tdw |
BrV No. 592 | Artus-Reederei, maiden voyage from Hamburg to La Plata, 1924 conversion to a combined ship / 700 passengers III class, 1927 modernization at the Deutsche Werft, 9871 GRT, 95 passengers II class, 630 passengers III class, / now General Miter , September 1935 sold to Italy / Sannio , dropped in tow on the way to demolition in 1950 |
| 1921 | Oliva | 7885 BRT 12057 tdw |
BrV No. 593 | Arthur shipping company, East Asia service, sold in 1931 |
| 1921 | Hindenburg | 7880 BRT 12086 dw |
BrV No. 594 | East Asia Service, November 17, 1942 after a mine hit by a Soviet submarine mine sunk in tow off Utö |
| 1921 | Ludendorff | 7892 BRT 12086 dw |
BrV No. 595 | East Asia Service, renamed Mecklenburg in 1927 , scuttled near Sable Island in 1939 |
| 1921 | Tirpitz (II) | 7970 BRT 12096 tdw |
FSG No. 356 | East Asia Service, July 23, 1941 sunk after a mine hit in the Mediterranean Sea |
| 1921 | Havenstein | 7973 BRT 12096 tdw |
FSG No. 357 | East Asia Service, sold to Japan in 1940, renamed Teisho Maru , sunk off Taiwan in autumn 1944 |
literature
- Arnold Kludas : The ships of Hamburg-Süd 1871 to 1951 . Gerhard Stalling Verlag, Oldenburg 1976, ISBN 3-7979-1875-5 .
- Arnold Kludas: The history of the German passenger shipping volume IV: Destruction and rebirth 1914 to 1930. (Writings of the German Maritime Museum, Volume 21). Kabel, Hamburg 1989, ISBN 3-8225-0047-X .
- Arnold Kludas: The History of the German Passenger Shipping Volume V: An era comes to an end from 1930 to 1990. (Writings of the German Shipping Museum, Volume 22). Kabel, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-8225-0041-0 .
- Claus Rothe: German ocean passenger ships 1919 to 1985 . Steiger Verlag, 1987, ISBN 3-921564-97-2 .
- Reinhardt Schmelzkopf: German merchant shipping 1919–1939 . Verlag Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg, ISBN 3-7979-1847-X .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kludas, Vol. IV, p. 52.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Kludas, Vol. IV, p. 142.
- ^ Kludas, Vol. IV, p. 178.
- ↑ after Kludas, pp. 145f.
- ↑ melt head, pp. 138f.
- ↑ Rothe, p. 52.
- ↑ Rothe, p. 53.
- ↑ a b Kludas, Vol. IV, p. 162.
- ↑ Fall of the Prussians
- ↑ Fall of the Oldenburg
- ↑ Rothe, p. 49.
- ^ Fall of the Hindenburg
- ^ Downfall of the Tirpitz
- ↑ Operations of the Havenstein