Fulda (ship, 1924)
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The second Fulda of Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) was a combined ship for the service to East Asia. She was the third and largest motor ship of the NDL upon completion and the only motor ship of the six Weser- class ships .
Their passenger facility, tailored to the East Asian service, was reduced in size in 1935 when more modern ships were available.
The ship, which had been lying up in Dairen since the beginning of the war , was handed over to Japan in September 1940. As Teikai Maru , she was lost in a bomb attack in the Philippines in December 1944.
history
The AG Weser in Bremen - Gröpelingen manufactured the six ships of the Weser class for North German Lloyd from 1922 , four of which were to handle the combined passenger and freight service to East Asia. The first two ships in this series were, however, intended for the South America service and had a larger passenger facility for emigrants and seasonal workers. The type ship Weser opened the German post-war passenger service to East Asia with its maiden voyage on November 11, 1922, followed by the Werra with its maiden voyage and the Weser with a second voyage, before these two ships were transferred to the South America service and with the Saarbrücken in November 1923 the first East Asia ship came into service.
As with the freighters of the Minden class , which were all built at a shipyard ( Stettiner Vulcan ), various propulsion concepts were also tested on the ships of the Weser class. The fourth ship in the series, the Koblenz , received a turbine drive and the following Fulda diesel engines. The last ship Trier then received a conventional steam engine again. All four were placed in the East Asia Service by January 1925. In addition, from January 1924, the old Reichspostdampfer Derfflinger , which had been bought back, was used to East Asia, to which the old Yorck also joined from October 1926 .
In the East Asia Service
The Fulda was launched on August 12, 1924 at AG Weser. She was the second Fulda of the NDL after the express steamer of the river class , which had been in service with the NDL from 1883 to 1899. It was named after the Hessian city of Fulda and not the second source river of the same name of the Weser.
In terms of its external dimensions, it was identical to its sister ships with other drives. She had space for a little more passengers than the other East Asian ships and, thanks to the motor drive, a slightly smaller crew. She was the third and largest motor ship of the NDL that had little experience with this propulsion system.
The NDL had received its first motor ship in June 1923 from the Stettiner Vulcan with the cargo ship Erfurt (4,201 GRT) of the Minden class, which had received a 6-cylinder diesel engine with 1,800 hp produced by the shipyard.
The cargo ship Königsberg (6,465 GRT), which AG Weser had delivered to the NDL in September 1924 shortly before the Fulda , was the second motor ship of the NDL. The Königsberg had a two-screw drive and two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines of the MAN type of 1600 hp manufactured at the shipyard , which could be reversed directly. Their auxiliary machines were operated electrically and three diesel gensets were available to generate electricity.
The Fulda , which was accepted on November 30th , also had this electrification of all auxiliary machines and had three 400 HP units for power generation. Two six-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines of the Sulzer type served as the main drive . Their waste heat and exhaust gases were used to generate hot air via a hot water boiler, with this heating system also being used for ventilation in the tropics. Two oil-fired auxiliary boilers were still available for heating in ports when the main engines were switched off. The machine system required only 26 machine personnel, which reduced the total crew compared to the sister ships.
The Fulda started on her maiden voyage to East Asia on December 14, 1924 and, after a successful voyage, arrived back in Hamburg on April 23, 1925. On the outward journey, the engines had to be stopped briefly on the starboard side and twice on the port side due to minor disruptions. From then on, they ran the entire trip without any problems. The travel report emphasized that the ship had not required tug assistance in most of the ports and that the length of stay in the ports was very short.
Despite the praise for the diesel engines, the NDL was reluctant to procure motor ships in contrast to Hapag , which continuously procured a large number of motor ships and became the largest motor ship shipping company in the world, although they remained in the minority. Of the fifteen express freighters that came into service from 1926, only three (see Trave ) were equipped with diesel engines. In 1931, when the "Ozean-Linie" was taken over, the first motor-driven overseas passenger ships in the world, the Rio Bravo and Rio Panuco, came into service with the NDL. It was not until 1933 that the NDL procured, with the exception of the three large East Asia express steamers ( Scharnhorst , Potsdam , Gneisenau ), only motor ships as newbuildings.
The Fulda, which was deployed to East Asia , was temporarily occupied by Chinese insurgents in Shanghai in July 1927, as were other German ships ( Münsterland , Bertram Rickmers , Helene Rickmers ). On April 16, 1932, she collided slightly with the American freighter Bayou Chico in the Scheldt off Antwerp . She then had another collision with the Ceuta on the Weser in January 1934 .
Other liner services
The great shipping crisis of the early 1930s made the existing overcapacity of the NDL clear. For this purpose, the NDL planned the use of newly built, large East Asia express steamers. With the help of the imperial government, three of the now superfluous Weser- class ships were sold to Italy. The Fulda was rebuilt like other combined ships of the NDL (see Crefeld ) and the Hapag (see Baden ). However, she was not a pure freighter, but still kept cabins for 24 passengers. In 1935 it was used in the "West Coast Service" as far as Chile, where it was used until 1937 alongside the new combi ships coming into service (see Dresden ).
On March 14, 1937, the Fulda collided again in the Scheldt with Hapag's Oldenburg . While the Fulda was able to continue its journey, the Oldenburg suffered such severe damage that it had to be put on the ground.
On August 22, 1939, the Fulda , who had returned to East Asia, left Tianjin for her homeward journey to Bremen. When the Second World War broke out, the captain turned around and ran back to Dairen in Manchukuo , where the ship was laid up. On August 13, 1940, the Fulda was sold to Japan.
Fate in war
Renamed Teikai Maru in autumn 1940 , Fulda was assigned to the army in February 1941 and converted into a troop transport. The first military deployment took place from December 18, 1941 as part of the transport of the 14th Japanese Army of Lieutenant General Homma Masaharu to attack the Philippines. This was followed by transports to Korea, Shanghai and, in March 1942, the transport of an air group to Mako ( Pescadores ). Troops were brought to Indochina and in April 1942 the ship was one of the transports that transported units of the Japanese army from Singapore to Rangoon .
In June 1942 the ship also called at Dairen again, but was then mostly used in the southern area. In May 1943 en route in a small convoy from Palau to Rabaul , the Teikai Maru first experienced the attack of a US submarine on a convoy and the sinking of another ship in the convoy, an event that occurred more frequently on the ship's subsequent voyages happened. In November 1943, the Teikai Maru ran up shortly before Cebu , but was disrupted again and reached its destination as a latecomer a day late. In 1944 she was used for transports for the Japanese army, but remained undamaged, although the small convoys were often successfully attacked by American submarines.
On December 30th, the Teikai Maru was on board with 122 soldiers and two trucks with three other transporters and six security boats on the way from Luzon to Takao on Formosa, when the convoy was at 17 ° 17 ′ 0 ″ N , 120 ° 24 ′ 0 ″ E by American B-25 "Mitchell" bombers, light A-20 "Havoc" bombers and P-40 "Warhawk" fighter bombers. Ammunition was hit on the transporter Muroran Maru (5,354 GRT, 1919) and the ship exploded and sank with everyone on board. The Teikai Maru received three bomb hits and caught fire. After an hour of unsuccessful fighting against the fire, the evacuation of the ship was ordered. The burning ship drifted on, later ran aground and burned out completely. The convoy lost another transporter and two of the security boats.
literature
- Arnold Kludas : The ships of the North German Lloyd 1920 to 1970 . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, 1992, ISBN 3-7822-0534-0 .
- Arnold Kludas: The History of German Passenger Shipping. Volume 4: Destruction and rebirth 1914 to 1930. Ernst Kabel Verlag, Hamburg 1988, writings of the German Maritime Museum Volume 21.
- Arnold Kludas: The History of German Passenger Shipping Volume 5: An Era Goes To The End Of 1930 To 1990 , Writings Of The German Shipping Museum, Volume 22.
- Reinhardt Schmelzkopf: German merchant shipping 1919–1939 . Verlag Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg, ISBN 3 7979 1847 X .
Web links
- CV of the Fulda
- Klaus-Peter Kiedel: Steam or Diesel? Sources on the transition from steam to motor shipping 1910-1939 (PDF; 2.5 MB)
Footnotes
- ^ Kludas: Passenger Shipping, Vol. IV, p. 138.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Kludas: Passenger Shipping, Vol. V, p. 166.
- ↑ Kludas, Seeschiffe, p. 10f.
- ↑ Kludas, Seeschiffe, p. 12.
- ↑ Kludas, Seeschiffe, p. 14.
- ^ Melting head, p. 97.
- ↑ melt head, p. 99.
- ↑ Kludas: Passenger Shipping, Vol. V, p. 70.
- ^ Sinking of the Teikai Maru ex Fulda .