Hans Albrecht Wedel (ship, 1940)

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German civilians flee from the enclosed Königsberg on board the ship FSS Wedel

The Hans Albrecht Wedel was an air traffic control ship of the German Air Force during World War II . She was named after Lieutenant Hans Albrecht Wedel (* 30th November 1888 ; † 30th September 1917 ), the leader of the second season of the torpedo 1. Seeflieger Department in the First World War . Sister ships were the Richthofen and the no longer completed Hermann Köhl ; two other originally planned ships of this so-called class K VI were no longer laid down. The ships of this class were slightly larger than the four ships of the previous KV class ( Karl Meyer , Max Stinsky , Immelmann , and Boelcke ).

Construction and technical data

The ship was launched on 2 September 1940 at the F. Schichau shipyard in Pillau with the hull number 1452 from the stack . The further construction was associated with considerable difficulties and should therefore even be carried out at the Norderwerft in Hamburg , but was then completed with a long delay at the Schichau shipyard on September 22, 1941. The ship was 83.8 meters long and 11 m wide, had a draft of 3.35 m and displaced 1215 tons (standard) and 1375 tons (maximum). Four MAN 12-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines W12V30 / 38, each with a maximum output of 2200 PSe (700 / min) and 1640 PSe (640 / min), drove two screws via two Vulkan gears and gave the ship a maximum speed of 21.5 knots . With a total supply of 120 tons of diesel fuel , the range was 4100 nautical miles at 16 knots cruising speed. The ship was equipped with a MAN aircraft crane with 18 tons of lifting power and could pick up or transport up to three aircraft at the same time. It could hold up to 20 tons of aviation fuel . The armament consisted of three 3.7 cm and two 2 cm AA guns. The crew consisted of 8 officers and 58 men.

Whereabouts

The Hans Albrecht Wedel was on 22 September 1941, the identifier provided K61 into service and "5 (North) distress service leader" in the Norway allocated. In August 1944, together with the air traffic control ships Boelcke , Greif and Gunther Plüschow , she was subordinated to the newly formed sea emergency group 81 in Bug on Rügen , whose units from October 1944 during the evacuation of Memel and then with the Hannibal company , the evacuation of German refugees and soldiers from East Prussia were used. Around 1,500 wounded and refugees were evacuated on each trip; On the way back, ammunition and fuel were taken for the troops still fighting.

On April 8, 1945 at around 12:20 p.m., the ship was hit by an aerial bomb during a Soviet air raid in the Danzig Bay south of the Hela peak. Boats of the Seotflottille 60 hurried up immediately could still take in a number of survivors, but then the ship capsized very suddenly and sank. 10 people were killed.

Coordinates: 54 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  N , 18 ° 55 ′ 0 ″  E

literature

  • Volkmar Kühn: The sea emergency service of the German Air Force 1939-1945. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-87943-564-2 .
  • Dieter Jung, Berndt Wenzel, Arno Abendroth: Ships and boats of the German sea pilots 1912-1976. 1st edition, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1977.
  • Erich Gröner: The German warships 1815-1945. Volume 7.

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