Erlangen (ship, 1929)
 The Erlangen
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The Erlangen was a German cargo turbine ship that was surprised by the outbreak of World War II in New Zealand . In a spectacular journey, she managed to escape to Chile, which was then neutral . When trying to reach Germany as a blockade breaker , the crew sank the ship on July 25, 1941 southeast of the mouth of the Río de la Plata in order not to be attacked by the British cruiser HMS Newcastle .
The Erlangen as a blockade breaker
history
The Erlangen cargo ship was built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg on behalf of Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) . She was given hull number 484, was launched on August 31, 1929, and the maiden voyage took place on November 2 of the same year. She was the third Frankfurt- class ship intended for the Australia and New Zealand service. In contrast to its predecessors, Frankfurt and Chemnitz , built by the Bremer Vulkan , which were equipped with triple expansion steam engines, Erlangen was a turbine ship . Her sister ship and the last ship of this class was the Goslar , also built by Blohm & Voss , which was sunk by the crew on the night of May 9-10 , 1940 off Paramaribo in Suriname . Because of the shallow water it never sank completely. This "iron island" can still be seen today (February 2015).
The drive to the Auckland Islands
On August 24, 1939, the Erlangen entered the port of Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand under the command of Captain Alfred Grams . A crew of 13 German officers and 50 Chinese crew members were on board. The chief engineer ("Chief") was Heinrich Wehrmeyer, who wrote a report on the escape trip. On August 26th, the Erlangen reached the QWA (radio message of extraordinary importance) with the news of imminent danger of war and the instruction to call at a neutral port in four to five days. The nearest safe harbors, however, were around 5,000 nautical miles away. There was still a coal store on board for about 1,200 nautical miles, and the existing provisions were also insufficient for such a distance. When coal was bunkered in Port Kembla, which was originally intended for this purpose, there was a risk of the ship and crew being trapped. The ship's command therefore decided to wait for further developments in Europe at a secluded anchorage that was as safe as possible before being discovered. The Chinese crew agreed to stay on board after assuring them that their wages would be paid until the new port of arrival. The Erlangen left Dunedin on August 28th . The destination port was Port Kembla in Australia, but the actual destination was the Auckland Islands, 250 nautical miles away . At first the course was kept close to the shore for the specified port of destination. When it got dark, Captain Grams first changed course to the east into the Pacific and, after leaving the steamship routes far enough, set course south. On August 29, the Auckland Islands were reached at the eastern entrance of the channel between the main island and Adams Island . Due to bad weather and the inadequate map material, it was not until the next day that they ventured into the narrow, fjord-like canal, which is referred to as Carnley Harbor in the English sailing manual. On the evening of August 30, the Erlangen anchored in the North Arm.
Stay in the Auckland Islands
The first exploration of the area revealed that there was plenty of firewood to replace the missing coal and drinking water. A lush population of wild geese and numerous mussel banks enabled the urgently needed replenishment of provisions. The found provisions depot, which was set up for the shipwrecked, remained untouched. There was a fear of risking discovery during a routine check. The calculation of the required fuel supply showed that in order to reach a Chilean port, at least 400 tons of wood would be required in addition to the coal still available. On September 10th, the news reached Erlangen that the German Reich was now at war with New Zealand as well. With the Auckland Islands only an hour's flight from Dunedin, there was now a real risk of discovery. On September 29, the New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Leander appeared in search of Erlangen in front of the entrance to Carnley Harbor. Due to the bad weather conditions and after the food depot on the Musgrave Peninsula was found untouched, the Leander did not enter the canal. The on-board aircraft of the type Fairey Seafox was not used. Therefore, the Erlangen was not discovered at her berth about 12 nm to the north. Even before this “visit”, however, it was decided to expire with a smaller amount of wood in order to reduce the idle time, as it became apparent that it was not possible to collect enough provisions and wood at the same time. To make this possible, the westerly winds prevailing in the region at this time of the year should be used. An auxiliary sails was then rigged under the direction of the first officer . The yellow chimney was blackened, the ship's name was changed to Bengal and the home port to Amsterdam. It is unclear whether this “camouflage” was also used during the last attempt to break through. On October 7, 1939, the Erlangen left her anchorage with only an additional 240 tons of firewood, heading for Chile.
Drive to Chile
First, course south was steered to avoid the steam routes; the more southern latitude was gained, the weaker the winds became. Therefore Erlangen had to steam north again to reach the " Roaring Forties ". In the calculations, Captain Grams assumed an average speed in combined steam / sailing mode of 12 knots. This would have meant a travel time of 17 days. However, the actual travel time was 35 days due to unfavorable weather conditions. The provisions were stretched out by the Chinese crew members, who were both resourceful and capable of suffering, so that they lasted until the end of the journey. However, as a result of this malnutrition, a Chinese stoker died of beriberi . The engineers succeeded in reducing fuel consumption through various measures. One example is steel tubs, made to lock the fire door when the boiler is being charged and thereby reduce the loss of heating power. At the end of the voyage, it was still necessary to burn 210 tons of the wood used in the ship. On November 11th at 7 am the anchor was cast in the roadstead in front of the port of Ancud . The Erlangen had loud log 4,826 on this trip miles traveled, of which only the sails were used on 1,507 nautical miles, the average speed was 5.7 knots .
Stay in Chile
The Erlangen left for Puerto Montt on the same day , where the next NDL agency was also located. She reached the port on November 12, 1939, where she stayed for the next year and a half. During this time, the crew was looked after by the German community, some of them also worked in agriculture. In May 1941 the order came from Berlin to load the ship with essential raw materials, including molybdenum and tungsten , and to try to break through to Germany as a blockade breaker. The Chinese crew members, who had meanwhile been signed off, were replaced by seamen from German ships lying up in Chile (e.g. from the sailing ship Priwall ), as well as by Chile-Germans . The first destination was the Argentine port of Mar del Plata , 2,700 nautical miles away , where the cargo as well as provisions and coal were to be taken on board. The port was reached on June 3, 1941, without the Royal Navy having discovered the ship. This changed after entering the port and the British government then tried everything to prevent the Erlangen from continuing . The railways of Argentina were owned by British shareholders, so coal and cargo had to be delivered by truck. The phase-out date was therefore delayed until the end of July. A total of around 1,000 tons of coal and around 5,000 tons of cargo were loaded. An airplane chartered by a German merchant examined the La Plata estuary and the adjacent sea area, but found no evidence of the presence of British warships. On July 23, 1941, the Erlangen left Mar del Plata in thick fog for Germany, with a crew of 56 seamen and officers on board.
The failed breakthrough
In the meantime, the British cruiser HMS Newcastle was scheduled for the Erlangen . Due to the failure of the radar system and the poor visibility conditions, the Newcastle was unable to intercept the Erlangen directly. The ship's command of the Newcastle assumed that the Erlangen would first sail east into the Atlantic and then turn north. Obstructed by heavy fog, the Newcastle steered course to the possible interception point, the board aircraft of the type Supermarine Walrus sighted Erlangen on the morning of July 25th. Captain Grams ordered the crew into the boats and detonated the prepared explosive charges to sink the ship. The exact procedure after the evacuation of the ship is unclear. The official naval war history of the Royal Navy speaks of "energetic attempts to force the crew to return on board to save the ship", they wanted to raise the precious prize . According to former crew members, the Newcastle opened fire on the boats with light weapons, killing three seamen. The Erlangen sank only after 12 hours and after an unsuccessful tow attempt; the survivors were only taken on board as prisoners of war by the Newcastle in the evening .
Travel data
- Voyage from Dunedin to the Auckland Islands, August 28 to August 30, 1939; Distance approx. 350 nm
- Stay in Auckland Islands North Arm, August 30 to October 7, 1939.
- Voyage from the Auckland Islands to Ancud, October 7 to November 11, 1939; Distance 4826 nm
- Journey from Ancud to Puerto Montt, 11. – 12. November 1939; Distance approx. 70 nm
- Stay in Puerto Montt, November 12, 1939 to May 1941.
- Trip from Puerto Montt to Mar del Plata, May to July 3, 1941; Distance approx. 2700 nm
- Journey from La Plata to the place of self-immersion, 23. – 25. July 1940; Distance approx. 350 nm
Total distance approx. 8,300 nm total travel time August 28, 1939 to July 25, 1941, 697 days
technical description
hull
- Hull type: three-island type
- Hull shape: falling bow, steamer stern
- Construction: steel hull, transverse frame construction
capacity
- Load capacity: 9,690 dw
- Measurement: 6,040 GRT
- Passengers: 6 cabin passengers
machine
- Main machine: 1 set of geared turbines , manufacturer B&V
- Power: 3,800 PSw
- Propulsion: a fixed pitch propeller
Rigging, rigging and sails
- Rig: auxiliary rig on the journey from the Auckland Islands to Chile
- Rigging: two pole masts (existing loading masts), two yards made from the loading booms
- Sails: two square sails , several staysails , approx. 1700 m² sail area
Trivia
The American author Andrew Greer published the novel Sea Chase in 1949 , which was inspired by the voyage of the Erlangen . In 1955 this was filmed with John Wayne as Captain Ehrlicher, the German title is Der Seefuchs . The voyage of the run-down tramp carrier Ergenstrasse and its sinking off Norway has little reference to the historical model. On the Auckland Islands you can still see the places where the wood was felled, these are called "Erlangen Clearing" by the New Zealanders.
literature
- Captain Rolf Reinemuth: Erlangen, escape under sails. 1971, OCLC 257664252 .
- Schiffclassic magazine: Daring Escape. Geramond, edition 3/2014.
- Mare magazine: The secret of Erlangen. Mareverlag, issue no.73.
- Heribert Treiß: Rudis Weltenfahrten 1936–1948: A ship engineer before, during and after World War II. (= Contemporary witnesses of everyday life. Volume 76). Verlag Maritimbuch, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-046416-4 .
- Arnold Kludas : The ships of the North German Lloyd. Volume 2: 1920 to 1970. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford 1992, ISBN 3-7822-0534-0 .
- Hans Jürgen Witthöft: Built at Blohm + Voss. Volume 2: 1920 to 1970. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-7822-0911-7 .
- Helmut Grams, Frank Müller: The legendary escape of the steamship Erlangen: a myth. 2017, ISBN 978-3-00-055238-0 .
- Heinrich Wehrmeyer: The escape trip of the Erlangen. In: Wolfgang Wehrmeyer (Hrsg.): Against forgetting: Three grandfathers tell stories from 185 years of a north German family. 1st edition, Pressel Digitaldruck und Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-937950-69-3 pp. 239-282. - Can be viewed online at die-fahrt-der-erlangen.de
Web links
- mare online : The secret of Erlangen
- Captain Rolf Reinemuth : Erlangen, escape under sails
- die-fahrt-der-erlangen.de - Report by the chief engineer Heinrich Wehrmeyer
Footnotes
- ↑ Actually nominal crew of 50, but on the long journeys as a tramp ship the crew increased for up to two years. Source: Rudis Weltenfahrten 1936–1948: A ship engineer before, during and after World War II. (= Contemporary witnesses of everyday life. Volume 76). and the magazine Schiffclassic: Daring Escape . Geramond, edition 3/2014.
- ^ Heinrich Wehrmeyer: The escape journey of the Erlangen . In: Wolfgang Wehrmeyer (Hrsg.): Against forgetting: Three grandfathers tell stories from 185 years of a north German family .
- ↑ a b c d Captain Rolf Reinemuth: Erlangen, escape under sails
- ↑ a b c magazine mare: The secret of Erlangen . mareverlag, edition No.73
- ↑ SCHIFFCLASSIC magazine: Daring Escape . Geramond, edition 3/2014.