MV Spreewald
{{otherships|HMS Lucia}}
{{Short description|German cargo ship sunk by a U-boat during World War II}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Spreewald 1922 HAPAG AF-43228 142123.jpg |Ship caption= {{lang|de|Spreewald}} in 1923 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Weimar Republic|civil}} {{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany}} |Ship country= Germany |Ship name= *1922: {{lang|de|Spreewald}}
|Ship namesake= *1922: Spreewald
|Ship owner= Hamburg America Line |Ship operator= |Ship registry= Hamburg |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 12 October 1922 |Ship completed= 1922 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship refit= |Ship identification= *1922: code letters RDFL
|Ship fate= sunk 31 January 1942 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= cargo ship |Ship class= |Ship tonnage= {{GRT|5083}}, {{NRT|3002}} |Ship length= {{cvt|399.6|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|54.2|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= |Ship depth= {{cvt|27.4|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship decks= 2 |Ship power= 714 NHP |Ship propulsion= *1 × 4-stroke diesel engine
|Ship speed= {{convert|11|kn|km/h}} |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship crew= |Ship sensors= *submarine signalling
|Ship notes= sister ship: Odenwald }} |
MV {{lang|de|Spreewald}} was a Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) cargo motor ship that was launched in 1922 and sunk in a friendly fire incident in 1942. She was renamed Anubis in 1935, and reverted to her original name {{lang|de|Spreewald}} in 1939.
This was the second of three HAPAG ships named after the Spreewald district of Lusatia. The first was a steamship that was launched in 1907, captured in 1914, and was converted into the submarine depôt ship {{HMS|Lucia}}.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=99}} The third was a motor ship that was completed in 1951 and scrapped in 1979.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=186}}
A class of ''{{lang|de|–wald}}'' ships
Between 1921 and 1923 Deutsche Werft in Hamburg built a class of ten single-screw cargo ships for HAPAG. The first two, {{lang|de|Niederwald}} and {{lang|de|Steigerwald}}, were completed in 1921. Each was a refrigerated cargo steamship, with a triple-expansion steam engine plus an exhaust steam turbine.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1922|loc=NIC–NIE}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1922|loc=STE}}
The eight ships that followed were general cargo ships, with no cargo refrigeration, and with three different propulsion systems. {{lang|de|Westerwald}}, {{lang|de|Frankenwald}}, {{lang|de|Wasgenwald}}, {{lang|de|Idarwald}}, and {{lang|de|Kellerwald}} had only a triple-expansion engine, with no exhaust steam turbine.{{sfn|Haws|1980|pp=133–134}} Schwarzwald had two steam turbines driving its single shaft via double-reduction gearing.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1924|loc=SCH–SCI}} The final two, {{lang|de|Spreewald}} and Odenwald, were motor ships, completed in 1923.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=136}}
HAPAG had previously had a series of cargo liners with names ending in "{{lang|de|–wald}}". All had joined its fleet between 1907 and 1912, but the Entente Powers had captured, sunk, or confiscated them between 1914 and 1919. Most of the new class of ships built in 1921–23 re-used the names of ships from that previous series.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=99}}{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=90}}{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=104}}{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=124}}
''{{lang|de|Spreewald}}''
File:Spreewald 1922 HAPAG AF-43227 142122.jpg quarter, showing her cruiser-style stern ]]
Deutsche Werft launched {{lang|de|Spreewald}} on 12 October 1922 and completed her before the end of the year. Her registered length was {{cvt|399.6|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|54.2|ft|abbr=on}}, and her depth was {{cvt|27.4|ft|abbr=on}}. Her tonnages were {{GRT|5083}} and {{NRT|3002}}. Her single screw was driven by an AEG 12-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine. It was rated at 714 NHP,{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1924|loc=SPI–SPR}} and gave her a speed of {{convert|11|kn|km/h}}.
HAPAG registered {{lang|de|Spreewald}} at Hamburg. Her code letters were RDFL. Her navigation equipment included submarine signalling,{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1924|loc=SPI–SPR}} and by 1931 it also included wireless direction finding.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1931|loc=SPL–SPR}} In 1934 the wireless telegraph call sign DIFF superseded her code letters.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1934|loc=SPO–SRG}}
On 28 April 1924 {{lang|de|Spreewald}} ran aground at Emden.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Casualty reports |date=29 May 1924 |page=27 |issue=43664 |column=G}} She was refloated the next day.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Casualty reports |date=1 May 1924 |page=22 |issue=43640 |column=E }}
In 1935 HAPAG renamed {{lang|de|Spreewald}} and {{lang|de|Odenwald}} as Anubis and Assuan respectively.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=136}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1935|loc=ANT–AOR}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1935|loc=ASN–ASS}} In 1939 it changed both ships back to their original names.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=136}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1939|loc=SPR–STA}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1939|loc=OCT–OGA}}
{{lang|de|Spreewald}} was in the Far East when France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in September 1939. She took refuge in Port Arthur in Dairen, Manchukuo (now Lüshun Port in Dalian, China). Manchukuo was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan.
Loss
On 21 October 1941 {{lang|de|Spreewald}} left Dairen to try to reach German-occupied Europe. She carried a cargo strategic to the German war effort: 3,365 tons of rubber, 320 tons of tin, 20 tons of tungsten, and a quantity of quinine.{{cite web |url= https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1305.html |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |title=Spreewald |work=uboat.net |access-date=12 March 2024}} En route she met the German supply ship {{ship||Kulmerland|ship|2}} in the Society Islands. {{lang|de|Kulmerland}} transferred to {{lang|de|Spreewald}} 86 UK prisoners of war, who had survived the {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Kormoran}} sinking their ships.
{{lang|de|Spreewald}} disguised herself as two Allied cargo ships: the Norwegian Elg and British Brittany. She successfully ran the blockade around occupied Europe. On 29 January 1942 {{GS|U-575||2}} was due to rendezvous with her and escort her through the Bay of Biscay to Bordeaux in German-occupied France. {{GS|U-123|1940|2}} also arranged to be at the rendezvous, in order for {{lang|de|Spreewald}}{{'}}s ship's doctor to treat an injured man aboard the U-boat.
{{lang|de|Spreewald}} reached the rendezvous ahead of schedule. U-123 met her as arranged, but U-575 was not there yet. {{lang|de|Spreewald}} continued unescorted, still disguised as Elg. At 16:50 hrs on 31 January she was steering a zigzag course in the North Atlantic north of the Azores when {{GS|U-333||2}} hit her with one torpedo. {{lang|de|Spreewald}}{{'}}s wireless telegraph operator broadcast a distress signal under her other pseudonym, Brittany. U-333 received the distress signal, from which the U-boat commander, Peter-Erich Cremer, concluded he had hit an Allied cargo ship. At 18:33 hrs U-333 hit {{lang|de|Spreewald}} with a second torpedo, which sank her at position {{coord|45|12|N|24|50|W|dim:2000000|display=inline,title}}.
Rescue
Only then did Cremer realise his mistake, and U-333 began to rescue survivors. {{GS|U-701||2}} and {{GS|U-582||2}} joined the search, but were low on fuel as they were returning from their patrols. {{GS|U-332||2}} and {{GS|U-105|1940|2}}, which were just starting their patrols, joined the search, and so did five Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor long-range patrol aircraft from Luftwaffe bases in France. U-105 rescued 25 crew members and 55 PoWs in lifeboats and rafts. Another lifeboat, containing {{lang|de|Spreewald}}{{'}}s Master, 10 crew members, and 13 PoWs was unaccounted for. U-105 searched for another three days before giving up and heading back to her base at Lorient. Of the 152 aboard Spreewald, 72 were killed.
U-105 reported that she was carrying severely injured German sailor. A Dornier Do 24 flying boat was sent to pick up him up, but crashed in rough sea. U-105 rescued all seven of the aircrew, and sank the wreck of the aircraft by gunfire.
On 9 February U-333 got back to her base at La Pallice. Cremer was immediately court-martialled, but his defence was accepted, and he was found not guilty.{{cite web |url= https://www.uboat.net/men/cremer.htm |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |title=Peter-Erich Cremer |work=uboat.net |access-date=12 March 2024}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Haws |first=Duncan |year=1980 |title=The Ships of the Hamburg America, Adler and Carr Lines |series=Merchant Fleets in Profile |volume=4 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |isbn=0-85059-397-2}}
- {{cite book |year=1922 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motor Vessels |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1923ST/page/n820/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1922}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1924 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1925ST/page/n1081/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1924}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1931 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/31/31b1146.pdf |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1931}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0791.pdf |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1934}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1935 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships over 300 tons |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/35/35b0053.pdf |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1935}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1939 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons. Trawlers, tugs, dredgers, etc. Sailing vessels. Shipowners, etc. |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/39/39b0839.pdf |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1939}} }}
{{1924 shipwrecks}}
{{January 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spreewald}}
Category:Friendly fire incidents of World War II
Category:Maritime incidents in 1924
Category:Maritime incidents in January 1942
Category:Ships built in Hamburg
Category:Ships of the Hamburg America Line
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II