The Grand Duke Friedrich August was commissioned on March 18, 1918 and was used in the 11th escort flotilla. In 1919/1920 she was used in the Provisional Reichsmarine to clear mines in the Baltic Sea .
Apparently she was used as a fish steamer from November 7, 1920. On November 26, 1921 she received the fishing license AE ( Preußisch Emden ) 119. In 1926 she switched to the German Sea Fisheries and was given the HC ( Hamburg Cuxhaven ) 175 identification. On December 3, 1927 she was renamed the Rhine . From 1930 it had the identification PG (= Prussian Geestemünde ) 399.
On April 20, 1940, during a fishing trip off Norway, the British aircraft carrier HMS Furious brought her up and down to Harstad as a prize . When Norway was evacuated, the British sank the Rhine in the port of Harstad in order not to let it fall into German hands.
literature
Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945 , Volume 8/1: river vehicles, Ujäger, outpost boats , auxiliary minesweepers , coastal protection associations , Bonn 1993, p. 179f. ISBN 3-7637-4807-5
Günther Diercks / Reinhold Thiel: J. Frerichs & Co. Frerichswerft. Flethe / Rönnebeck - Osterholz-Scharmbeck - Einswarden , Bremen (Verlag HM Hauschild GmbH) 2001. ISBN 3-89757-092-0
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