Samland (ship, 1929)
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
.svg){kind=small}
The Samland , ex Hansa , was a German tanker that was used by the Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine from 1930 as a chartered supplier and from 1937 as the navy's own supply ship . The ship was sunk during World War II in June 1940 by the British submarine HMS Tetrarch .
history
The ship was launched in July 1929 at the Schichau works in Gdansk with the hull number 1184 and the name Hansa for the Atlantic Tankreederei from the stack . It was 125.91 m long and 16.05 m wide, had a 10.65 m draft and was measured at 5978 GRT . A diesel engine gave it a top speed of 12 knots .
The Hansa was chartered by the Reichsmarine in 1930 in order to supply their school ships and cruisers on their long trips abroad. She accompanied Emden in 1930/31 , Cologne in 1932/33 and Karlsruhe in 1933/34 . The experiences made were good. Since the Kriegsmarine intended to use its ironclad ships and cruisers in the event of war to wage trade wars and there were no overseas bases available to it, it was planned to supply these trade troublemakers, and if necessary also submarines, by so-called supply ships, naval tankers with cargo space and loading facilities for Dry cargo for the supply of surface forces in long-range and long-term operations. Construction contracts for the first three of the ships later known as the Dithmarschen class were awarded in 1936. The Hansa itself was bought by the Kriegsmarine in 1937 after a deployment from January to July to support the units deployed off Spain and rebuilt in Hamburg from July 1937. On November 17, 1937, she was put into service with the new name Samland as the first supply ship of the Navy.
Even before the start of World War II, the Samland was involved in several overseas missions by the Navy. During the Spanish Civil War, for example, it supplied units of the navy that took part in the international naval blockade to enforce the arms embargo against Spain. In September 1938, when the ironclad Germany took up a waiting position in the sea area between the Azores and the Canaries during the Sudeten crisis in order to wage a trade war from there in the event of an outbreak of hostilities, the Samland was ordered to provide supplies. Both ships returned to Germany in October after the crisis had been resolved.
At the beginning of the war, the Samland was assigned to the Marinegruppenkommando West , which was responsible for operations in the North Sea and the Atlantic , and the ship was used to supply the warships operating there. It was on June 16, 1940 off the southern tip of Norway , about 5 nautical miles southwest of Lista at 58 ° 12 ′ 0 ″ N , 6 ° 13 ′ 0 ″ E, , torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS Tetrarch .
Notes and individual references
- ↑ The shipping company was founded in 1924 by John T. Essberger and transformed into the sole proprietorship John T. Essberger in 1936.
- ↑ Ships requisitioned for similar purposes during the war were designated as escort tankers, base tankers, base ships, submarine suppliers, suppliers or stage suppliers, depending on their specific task. ( http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km/versorgung/v-frames.htm )
Web links
- http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/40-06.htm (accessed on January 23, 2013)
- http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?144249 (accessed January 23, 2013)
literature
- Dieter Jung, Martin Maass, Berndt Wenzel: Tankers and suppliers of the German fleet. Motorbuch, Stuttgart, 1981