Rio Panuco (ship)
.jpg) The sunken Neptuna in Darwin Harbor
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The passenger ships Rio Panuco and Rio Bravo were built in 1924 as the first German ships for the West India service of the Ozean-Dampfer AG of the Flensburger Dampfercompagnie Harald Schuldt & Co. at the Germania shipyard in Kiel .
Deployment to Central America
The Rio Bravo was launched on January 7, 1924 at the Germania shipyard in Kiel for the Flensburger Dampfercompagnie AG (after the Second World War, Flensburger Dampfercompagnie Harald Schuldt & Co.). When it was commissioned on August 14, 1924, it was the world's first motor-driven overseas passenger ship and the largest ship based in Flensburg . On October 2nd, a second ship, the Rio Panuco, was deployed on the shipping company's "Ocean Line" from Hamburg via Cuba to Vera Cruz . Due to good demand, the passenger capacity of the ships was expanded in 1926 by installing additional cabins for 84 second class passengers. During the great global economic crisis, the “Schuldt Line” and its ships had to be sold to Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) in 1931 . From 1932 onwards, the NDL tried to significantly strengthen the Central America service it had gained, which had last been operated intensively until 1874, and continued the two sister ships acquired , the Madrid and two ships of the new Sierra class, with the involvement of the old NDL port of call Galveston ( Texas) entered Mexico. After a good start, there was no economic success in 1933. The sister ships had to be laid up. The Rio Panuco served from 20 January 1934 as nautical college of NDL.
Scheduled traffic in the South Seas
The NDL had lost its East Asian coastal voyage , which was intensively operated from 1900 to 1914 , its Austral-Japan line and the traffic in the South Seas due to the war. Since February 1929 he tried to gain a foothold in this field again when the steamer Bremerhaven (1,617 GRT, built in 1920) with a small passenger facility from Hong Kong again called at Rabaul . This service was reinforced in 1932 by the steamer Friederun (2,464 GRT, built in 1924) with passenger seats for 21 white travelers and 32 locals.
In 1934, the NDL decided to become even more involved in the South Seas. He renamed the two ships Neptune and Mercury and wanted to use them to open a service between Australia , New Guinea and Hong Kong . The first voyages of both ships advertised from September 1934 were booked out in a short time. Both ships left for Australia on October 8th.
This line would have been in competition with the Australian shipping company Burns, Philp & Co, which asked the Australian government to prevent the German company from calling into New Guinea. The government did not agree to do so, but wanted to support Burns, Philp & Co in purchasing the ships.
Both ships were acquired by the Australians on the way to their new operational area. The Mercury , however, conducted its first trip in December still under NDL flag made despite the sale. She also kept her name in Australian service, the Neptune was renamed Neptuna .
The Neptuna was used on the Australia, New Guinea, Philippines, Hong Kong and Saigon line. Saigon in French Indochina was the main supply point for rice to New Guinea at the time. The Merkur was used together with the also formerly German Marella (7,475 GRT, 1914, ex Wahehe ) on the line along Java to Singapore . At the beginning of the war in 1941, Neptuna and Mercury were used to supply allied troops.
Sinking of Neptuna
The Neptuna was one of the casualties in the air strike by the Japanese carrier fleet on Darwin in the Northern Territory . This attack is also called the "Pearl Harbor of Australia". Though a less significant military target, more bombs were dropped on Darwin than in the attack on Pearl Harbor . Like Pearl Harbor, the Australian city was unprepared. None of the 58 attacks that followed in 1942/43 were as devastating as the first attack on February 19, 1942. Darwin still had around 2,000 inhabitants, as the normal civilian population of around 5,000 had already been reduced by evacuations. Almost 15,000 Allied soldiers were now at the strategically important port and airfield. The Neptuna had transported reinforcements to Darwin and was destroyed when unloading ammunition. Bombs exploded in her parlor and engine room, setting her on fire. There were already 45 dead and many seriously injured when the crew began to leave the ship. Then 200 tons of depth charges exploded, hurling steel parts over the entire port and forming a huge fireball and mushroom cloud before the crew could go to safety. At least 55 crew members of the Neptuna died (including 45 Chinese).
Seven other ships were sunk in the attack:
- the destroyer Peary (1,190 ts, 80 dead, 13 injured)
- the troop transporter Meigs (11,358 ts, 2 dead),
- the passenger ship Zealandia used by Australia as a troop transport (6,683 t, 2 dead)
- the patrol boat Mavie (19 t)
- the American freighter Mauna Loa (5,436 GRT.)
- the British tanker British Motorist (6,891 t, 2 dead)
- the coal depot Kelat (1,849 ts)
The hospital ship Manunda (9,119 GRT, 15 dead, 59 wounded) and the destroyer William B. Preston (1,190 ts, 13 dead), who was attacked at sea and was able to call at Derby, were damaged but not destroyed .
Ten P-40s , one B-24 bomber, three C-45 transporters and three PBY Catalina flying boats of the US armed forces and six Lockheed Hudsons of the RAAF were lost.
In 2001 a memorial stone for 292 victims was erected in Darwin. However, this number is controversial, it should be higher (up to 1,500 deaths).
The wreck of the Neptuna was cleared up in 1960 by a Japanese company. Remnants of the ship are said to be still in the port of Darwin.
Sister ship Mercury at war
The Merkur served in war, first of Noumea from the Allies as utilities in the advance direction of the islands Philippines. She served as a civilian ship, even if she received more and more armament until the end of the war. On November 10, 1944, in Seeadler Harbor on Manus , the ammunition ship Mount Hood exploded in the immediate vicinity . The cause remained unclear, but the Japanese attributed the success to a mini submarine.
At the end of the war, the Merkur was in Morotai and ran independently, fully illuminated, to Subic Bay in the Philippines, to supply the Australian flagship, the heavy cruiser Shropshire , to enable him to participate in the surrender of Japan in Tokyo.
1946-1948 remained Mercury in government use and transported mainly personnel and supplies to the Australian occupation contingent to Kure , Japan. After a thorough overhaul in Sydney, she returned to the service of her owners in 1949 and was demolished in 1953.
literature
- Arnold Kludas : The History of German Passenger Shipping 1850 to 1990 . Ernst Kabel Verlag, 1986.
- Arnold Kludas: The ships of the North German Lloyd 1920 to 1970 . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, 1992, ISBN 3-7822-0534-0 .
- Claus Rothe: German ocean passenger ships 1919 to 1985 . Steiger Verlag, 1987, ISBN 3-921564-97-2 .
- Reinhart Schmelzkopf: The German Merchant Shipping 1919–1939 . Verlag Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg, ISBN 3-7979-1847-X .
- Otto J. Seiler: Trip to Australia . Verlag ESMittler & Sohn, Herford 1988, ISBN 3-8132-0270-4 .
Web links
Footnotes
- ^ Image of the Rio Bravo
- ↑ Timetable of the Ocean Line
- ↑ Kludas writes in passenger ships that the purchase was perfect one day before arriving in Melbourne. Schmelzkopf and Rothe write of a trip to Hong Kong.
- ↑ Postcard of Neptuna
- ↑ Timetables of the Singapore Line , page 2
