Ussukuma
| Ussukuma | |
|---|---|
|
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| Technical data (overview) | |
| Ship type: | Passenger ship |
| Purpose: | Liner service |
| Drive: | Steam turbine |
| Measurement: | 7,765 GRT |
| Passenger Capacity: | 264 |
| Crew size: | 107 |
| Launch: | December 20, 1920 |
| Commissioning: | July 8, 1921 |
| Self-immersion: | December 6, 1939 |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss Hamburg |
| Build number: | 389 |
| Flag: | German Empire |
| Home port: | Hamburg |
The Ussukuma was a German passenger liner that was built in 1920 by the Hamburg shipyard Blohm & Voss for the German East Africa Line . It was self- sunk on December 6, 1939 off the Argentine coast during World War II . In January 2008 the wreck was identified by the Argentine Navy.
Surname
The Ussukuma was named after a landscape in the central highlands of the former colony of German East Africa , now Tanzania .
history
The Ussukuma was launched on December 20, 1920 and was delivered to the German East-Africa Line on July 8, 1921 . It served 13 European and 38 African ports as well as Aden.
The Ussukuma began its last all-round Africa service on July 15, 1939 in Hamburg . She left Cape Town on August 19 and reached Lourenço Marques in Mozambique on August 26 . When the Second World War broke out on September 1, 1939, she was still in Lourenço Marques and was drafted by the German Abwehr for service in the South Atlantic. She drove towards South America at the end of September and reached Ingeniero White / Bahía Blanca in Argentina on October 11 , where she stayed until December 4. Captain Karl Schulte fell ill there and was replaced by Captain Hugo Wilmsen from the German ship Nienburg .
On December 4, 1939 at around 7 p.m., the Ussukuma Ingeniero White left for Montevideo in Uruguay, possibly to supply the German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee , which was also on its way to Montevideo. Towards evening on December 5, the Ussukuma approached the British light cruiser Ajax from aft . The Ajax had been looking for the Admiral Graf Spee and had learned of the departure of the Ussukuma from the British naval attaché in Montevideo and possibly also from a Dutch ship that the Ussukuma had encountered shortly after leaving the port.
With the threat not to save her after she left the ship, the crew of the Ussukuma were ordered by the Ajax not to sink the ship. Nevertheless, Captain Wilmsen gave the order to sink, as the ship should not fall into the hands of the British.
The Ajax fired three times at the Ussukuma , first in front of the bow, then when lowering the boats and the third time when casting off the boats. Captain Wilmsen had the boats rigged and wanted to reach the coast 62 miles away, but contrary to her threat, the Ajax took on the 107-man crew. The Ussukuma sank at 2:30 a.m. on December 6, 1939.
Since the crew members were civilians , they were not taken prisoner of war but interned . The British cruiser Cumberland first brought the internees to the Falkland Islands , from where they were transferred to Camp Baviaanspoort near Pretoria in South Africa in 1940 . He was released only after the end of the war.
In January 2008 the wreck of the Ussukuma was found at a distance of approximately 100 kilometers from the Argentine coast near Necochea at position 39 ° 24 ′ S , 57 ° 15 ′ W at a depth of 70 meters.
Sister ships
Sister ships of the Ussukuma were the Usaramo (7,753 GRT) of the German East Africa Line and the Wangoni (7,768 GRT) of the Woermann Line .
Web links
- TS Ussukuma German East Africa Line
- Sixtant WAR II IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC USSUKUMA
- Wreckage of Scuttled Nazi Ship Identified Off Argentine Coast
- Ship list on theshipslist , Ussukuma (English)
Footnotes
- ↑ Hans Georg Prager: Like a phoenix from the ashes, in: Schiff Classic , No. 2, 2014, pp. 38–43.
- ↑ a b c TS Ussukuma German East Africa Line
- ↑ a b c Wreckage of Scuttled Nazi Ship Identified Off Argentine Coast
- ↑ Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon 1920, Volume III, page 595
- ^ Location of Ingeniero White
- ↑ Sergio Gabriel Alcalá The Incredible Story of the USSUKUMA
- ^ Position of Admiral Graf Spee between December 3 and 6, 1939
- ^ Location of Baviaanspoort
- ^ Internment in Baviaanspoort
- ↑ Location of Necochea