Company bud

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Weather station Knospe (Svalbard and Jan Mayen)
Bud weather station
Bud weather station

The establishment of a weather station called company Bud on northwest Spitzbergen in October 1941 was a company of the German navy . The Wehrmacht's weather stations in the Arctic were used to obtain weather data in the Arctic Ocean and to provide weather forecasts for Central Europe.

Weather stations in the Arctic Ocean

In the Treaty of Svalbard (also Spitzbergen Treaty ) 1920, among other things, the international use of Svalbard for weather observation was agreed. Since then, Spitzbergen has been under Norwegian administration and the information from the stations located there (in addition to Norwegian, Soviet and Danish crews) benefited all seafaring nations. This status initially remained untouched during the Second World War . In the course of Operation Gauntlet , a British-Canadian expeditionary force under Norwegian leadership secured Svalbard in late summer 1941, cleared the civil meteorological facilities and placed the island under martial law. The data from the weather stations were no longer available to the Navy for operations in the North Sea and for weather forecasting in Central Europe.

Bud weather station

The establishment of the first German weather station in the Arctic Ocean was entrusted to the Navy Group Command North of the Kriegsmarine. Initial considerations to set up a floating station were rejected when the head of the weather team, Hans-Robert Knoespel, suggested a weather station on land. The names of most of the German weather stations that were set up in the Arctic during World War II were derived from the name of the station manager, so the first weather station on Svalbard was given the name Bud .

Facility

In coordination with the Hamburg Naval Weapons and Equipment Company , the North Marine Group Command dispatched two ships from Kiel to Spitzbergen on September 26, 1941 . The weather observation ship Sachsen was intended for transport from the start. But when it became apparent that the transport of radio systems, power generators, sledges, timber, scientific equipment and personnel could not be guaranteed by one ship alone, the weather observation ship Fritz Homann was added to the Sachsen . The ships arrived on October 15 after a stopover in Tromsø from October 10 to 12 at the planned base in Signehamna Bay on the west side of the Lilliehöökfjord . The station was fully operational on October 29th, and on November 15th the two ships started their journey home to avoid being trapped in the ice.

The station was built near the former Ebeltofthafen Geophysical Observatory , which was in operation from 1912 to 1914. This allows the meteorological measurement series to be compared directly. The Lilliehöökfjord is a side fjord of the Krossfjord . The Magdalenefjord is about 35 km away over mountainous and practically impassable land. Spatially closer is Ny-Ålesund , which was also explored by the Wehrmacht competition squad.

During a reconnaissance trip with the Sachsen along the coast, Knoespel discovered two abandoned weather stations that had apparently been evacuated in a hurry. A still glowing coal fire, numerous household and work equipment as well as extensive map material indicated a puzzlingly hasty departure of the previous occupation. Knoespel only took an inconspicuous fraction of the supplies and materials found, so as not to reveal his own presence to the enemy if the previous owner returned.

Structure, organization and operation

Just two days after landing, Knospe made his first observations of the weather situation. Actual operations began on November 1, 1941, and the weather station was officially put into service when the flag was raised. The crew of the station consisted of Professor Knoespel and the meteorologist Dr. Walter Drees, the technical assistant Gustav Mönninghoff, the logistician Anton Pohoschaly and the two radio operators Johann Zima and Heinz Ackermann. The station consisted of two wooden houses facing each other with a space covered by a tarpaulin and a shed slightly distant in which the generator was housed. A little higher up tent camp was set up some distance away to serve as accommodation for the weather troop in the warmer summer months.

Until February 1942, Knospe sent hourly weather observations ("Obs") and temperature reports ("Temps") from now on. In addition to weather observations, the Knospe weather team carried out other tasks:

  • Exploration and surveying of the area
  • Creation of alternative camps and escape aid depots.
  • Regular control of summer / winter storage
  • Marine biological studies
  • Ornithological observations

End of the enterprise

The collection of the Knospe weather squad was originally planned for the summer of 1942, and an airplane was to be used for transport. However, both unfavorable weather conditions and constant disagreement between Knoespel and the Northern Marine Group about the possibilities and circumstances threw this plan overboard several times. During the summer, pick-up by a submarine , a flying boat or transport ships was discussed . In August 1942, it was finally agreed to pick it up by submarine. Used was U 435 , which under the leadership of Lieutenant the weather group Siegfried Strelow bud on 24 August 1942 in the small bay Ebeltofthamma took on the Miter Peninsula on board. U 435 ran into Narvik on August 31, 1942 . The Knospe company was thus ended successfully and without losses. The operation of the established station was taken over after a short time by the weather troop Nussbaum , which was brought to Spitzbergen by U 377 on October 15 .

Other Wehrmacht weather stations in the Arctic

See also

literature

  • Franz Selinger: From “Nanok” to “Eismitte”. Meteorological ventures in the Arctic 1940–1945. Convent Verlag, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-934613-12-8 ( publications of the German Maritime Museum 53).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.warcovers.dk/greenland/wbs3_3.htm
  2. ^ Rupert Holzapfel : Deutsche Polarforschung 1940/45. (PDF; 1.7 MB) In: Polarforschung 21 (2), 1951, pp. 85–97.

Coordinates: 79 ° 16 ′ 20.3 ″  N , 11 ° 32 ′ 3.5 ″  E