Elmshorn (ship, 1910)
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The Elmshorn of the German-Australian Steamship Company (DADG) in Hamburg was a standard freighter for the shipping company built in 1910 by the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) for the Australian service.
In 1914 the ship was assigned to the old cruiser SMS Geier for support. At the end of August 1914 she was released to neutral Manila . There it was confiscated in 1917 and launched as the Casco Transporter between the USA and France in 1918 .
In 1922, DADG bought back the Elmshorn , which was available in the USA , and renamed it Mannheim . In 1925 the ship got its first name back. In 1926 the Elmshorn was merged into the possession of the Hamburg-American Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (Hapag). In 1933 the Elmshorn was scrapped.
Building history and operations until 1914
The Elmshorn was one of a series of four 5000 GRT freighters with a load capacity of less than 9000 tdw that were ordered by the DADG in 1910. She was completed as the second ship in the series in autumn 1910 by the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, which had previously delivered the Rendsburg to the DADG. The model ship of the series was the Hamm completed by the Reiherstieg shipyard in June 1910 . The other two ships in the series were the Wismar, supplied by AG Neptun in Rostock , and the Esslingen built by Blohm & Voss .
In November, the Elmshorn began her maiden voyage to Australia, where she arrived at the end of January 1911. She was regularly used in Australia until 1914.
Support of the SMS Geier
From July 25 to 29, 1914, the old cruiser Geier was cared for in Singapore , which was on the way from German East Africa to its new station in the South Pacific and was supposed to go to the cruiser squadron in Yap . The Elmshorn (Captain Peter Kiel) on the way back and the slightly larger DADG freighter Bochum (6161 GRT, Captain J. Orgel) were sent with 1700 t of coal to support the vultures , with which they were off the island on August 5th Flores met and delivered coal to the cruiser. The Elmshorn was released in order to procure more coal in the Dutch East Indies, while the old cruiser marched on with the Bochum , whereby it had to be towed from the Bochum more often .
On August 23, the Elmshorn , which had received only 800 t of coal in Dutch ports, as their authorities interpreted the neutrality rules very strictly and had received no coal in Makassar and on the coal island Pulo Laut near Borneo, hit the Malakol port on the island of Angaur back to SMS Geier . Elmshorn gave their coal to the Bochum and was released to Manila . The vultures later also released the Bochum to Manila. Supported by the steamer Tsintau (1685 GRT, NDL, Captain Heyenga), which had supplies for the cruiser squadron on board, and from mid-September also by its sister ship Locksun (1675 GRT, Captain Gerlach), the cruiser went into the area of the German protected areas. Since the Geier had considerable problems with the machinery, the commander decided to march via Honolulu to South America, perhaps to equip a German steamer there as an auxiliary cruiser. The old cruiser reached Honolulu, Hawaii , on October 15, 1914 , from eight German merchant ships lying there, some of which had supplied the cruiser squadron, with the machine still running at most 8 knots, partly under sail or towed by the Locksun that was still accompanying her received. However, it was not possible to continue the journey because Japanese ships immediately blocked the port.
Elmshorn stay in Manila
Allegedly the Elmshorn is said to have tried again in 1914 to leave Manila with a load of coal. The Elmshorn remained in Manila until 1917, where 17 other German ships had also sought refuge, including the Bochum and DADG's sister ship Esslingen .
Used as USS Casco (ID-1957)
The 1917 in USA entered the war from the United States Shipping Board seized in Manila Elmshorn was in Casco renamed and from 8 November 1917 by the 12th Naval District of the US Navy tested for military uses and at the Navy Yard in Brooklyn , New York City for the Use prepared. So she was armed with a 102-mm cannon and a 76.2-mm gun.
On January 8, 1918, she entered service as the transporter USS Casco (ID-1957). The new name referred to Casco Bay on the Maine coast . She belonged as a freighter for supplies to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and made four round trips from New York to France from January 20 to December 4, 1918 . her last trip to support the American troops in France was in January 1919 from New York to Lisbon with supplies and a large amount of material for the International Red Cross , from which she returned to New York on March 3, 1919. On March 22, 1919, the ship was decommissioned by the USN and returned to the United States Shipping Board.
Again under the German flag
In 1922, the DADG acquired the Elmshorn from the US Navy Department and put it back on the road as Mannheim . In 1925 it was given its old name again and on March 29, 1926 the Elmshorn left Antwerp for its first post-war voyage to Australia.
As a result of the merger of the shipping companies, the Elmshorn came into service with Hapag at the end of 1926 . She continued to be deployed to Australia and the Dutch East Indies. As one of the oldest ships of the shipping company, she was sold for demolition in 1932, like many other surplus ships.
Fate of the sister ships of the 1910 DADG order
| Launched in service |
Surname | tonnage | shipyard | fate |
| April 8, 1910 June 4, 1910 |
Hamm | 4598 BRT 7659 tdw |
Reiherstieg shipyard building no. 428 |
Australian service, confiscated in Cape Town in 1914, Aghios Marcos / GR in 1922 , demolished in 1933 |
| 28.04.1910 06.11.1910 |
Rendsburg | 4639 GRT | Flensburger SG building no. 288 |
Australian service, 25 March 1919 delivered to / Mont Kemmel / F, August 1934 Dimitrios Chandris / GR, 1947 Wasa / SF, 1953 demolition |
| 1910 1910 |
Wismar | 4868 GRT | AG Neptun building no. |
Australian service, launched in the Dutch East Indies, delivered to / Truro City / GB in 1919 , to Ferdinand Laeisz / Pilot in 1927 , demolished in 1933 |
| December 14, 1910 January 21, 1911 |
Esslingen | 4902 GRT | Blohm & Voss building no. 204 |
Australian service, launched in Manila in 1914, confiscated in 1917 / Nyanza / US, 1923 Commercial Guide / US, 1936 Paolina / I, sunk after being hit by a mine on August 28, 1942 |
Fate of the other two buybacks by the DADG
| Launched in service |
Surname | tonnage | shipyard | fate |
| April 8, 1910 June 4, 1910 |
Worms from 1922: Harburg (II) |
4486 GRT | Swan Hunter construction no. 782 |
Australian service, sunk by Russian destroyers off the Swedish coast, lifted, formally delivered to Great Britain in 1919, repurchased in 1922, demolished in 1932 |
| 1914 .04.1914 |
Freiberg from 1923: Lüneburg (II) |
5811 GRT | Tecklenborg building no. 261 |
Australian service, launched in Surabaja / Dutch East Indies, delivered in 1919 to / City of Sydney / GB, 1923 repurchase, 1940 Sperrbrecher 9 , July 1, 1944 self-sunk off Brest |
The Bremen Roland-Linie / NDL bought six former DADG freighters, such as the former Canstatt , from 1925 to 1928
literature
- Carl Herbert: War voyages of German merchant ships . Broschek & Co, Hamburg 1934.
Web links
- USS Casco (II)
- Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: SS Casco (American Freighter, 1910). Originally the German steamship Elmshorn . Served as USS Casco (ID # 1957) in 1918-1919
- Truro City ex Wismar
Individual evidence
- ↑ Herbert, p. 101ff.
- ↑ Five new Steamers . English. In: The Sydney Morning Herald, May 3, 1910. Online at trove.nla.gov.au.
- ↑ Splendid Cargo Liner . English. In: The Sydney Morning Herald, January 28, 1911. Online at trove.nla.gov.au.
- ↑ a b c Herbert, p. 101
- ↑ Herbert, p. 102
- ^ Coal For Enemy . English. In: Warwick Examiner and Times, November 16, 1914. Online at trove.nla.gov.au.
- ^ Fall of Paolina