German auxiliary cruiser Widder

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Widder's sister ship Nordmark
History
Germany
NameNeumark
NamesakeNeumark
OwnerHAPAG
Port of registryHamburg
Builder
Howaldtswerke, Kiel
Yard number695
Launched21 December 1929
Completed1930
FateRequisitioned 1939
Nazi Germany
NamesakeAries
OperatorKriegsmarine
BuilderBlohm+Voss
Yard number3
Acquired1939
Commissioned9 December 1939
Decommissioned1941
Renamed
  • Widder, 1939
  • Neumark, 1940
Reclassified
Auxiliary cruiser
, 1939
HomeportKiel
Identification
  • HSK-3
  • Schiff-21
  • Raider D
Fate
War reparation
to the UK
United Kingdom
NamesakeUlysses
Port of registryLondon
Acquiredcirca 1945
RenamedUlysses
IdentificationUK official number 10773
FateSold 1951
West Germany
NamesakeFechenheim
Port of registryBremen
Acquired1951
RenamedFechenheim
FateWrecked near Bergen, 1955
General characteristics
Typecargo ship
Tonnage7,851 GRT, 4,168 NRT
Displacement16,800 tons
Length
  • 499 ft (152 m) overall
  • 477.0 ft (145.4 m) registered
Beam63.1 ft (19.2 m)
Draught27 ft (8.3 m)
Depth28.3 ft (8.6 m)
Decks2
Installed power6,200 hp (4,600 kW)
Propulsion
Speed14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Range34,000 nmi (63,000 km; 39,000 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Endurance141 days
Complement364
Sensors and
processing systems		wireless direction finding
Armament
Aircraft carried2 × Heinkel He 114B

Widder (HSK 3) was an

auxiliary cruiser (Hilfskreuzer) of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that was used as a merchant raider in the Second World War. Her Kriegsmarine designation was Schiff 21, to the Royal Navy she was Raider D. The name Widder (Ram) represents the constellation Aries
in German.

Early history

Built at

Howaldtswerke, Kiel, she was launched in 1929 as the cargo ship Neumark for the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG). In 1939 the Kriegsmarine requisitioned her for use as a commerce raider. She was converted by Blohm+Voss
in late 1939, and commissioned as the raider Widder on 9 December of that year. She sailed on her first and only raiding voyage in May 1940.

Raider voyage

Widder sailed as part of the Kriegsmarine's first wave of commerce raiders, sailing on 6 May 1940 under the command of

Helmuth von Ruckteschell
.

Leaving Germany on 6 May 1940, she made for Bergen, in Norway. On 13 May Widder encountered the British submarine HMS Clyde on the surface, exchanging gunfire for more than an hour, with no hits for either side. After the engagement, the cruiser sheltered in Sandsfjord. On 14 May she put to sea, crossing the Arctic Circle the next day. On 21 August 1940, 800 miles west of the Canary Islands, she sank Anglo Saxon, which had been carrying coal from Newport, Wales, to Bahía Blanca, Argentina. After refuelling from the auxiliary ship Nordmark, she slipped through the Denmark Strait. Over a 5½ month period she captured and sank ten ships, totalling 58,644 GRT.

Widder was reported to have machine-gunned the crew of Anglo Saxon in their lifeboats. One

Bahamas
after a 2,275-mile voyage. One of the two was killed when his next ship was torpedoed in 1941. The other survived the war and testified against von Ruckteschell, who was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for war crimes. He died in prison in 1948.

Having completed her mission, she returned to occupied France on 31 October 1940.

Later history

Deemed unsuitable as a merchant raider due to persistent drive problems, Widder was re-christened Neumark, and used as a repair ship in Norway, playing a major role in repairing the battleship Tirpitz in 1943–44. After the war she was taken into British merchant service as Ulysses, then sold back to Germany as Fechenheim in 1951. She was converted into a motor ship in 1954. She was wrecked off Bergen in 1955, and scrapped shortly after.

She was one of only two German auxiliary cruisers to survive the war, after one 1940 cruise. Her captain,

war crimes
at the end of the war.

Raiding career

Date Ship name Country Tonnage Fate
13 June 1940 British Petrol  United Kingdom 6,891 GRT Sunk
26 June 1940 Krossfonn  Norway 9,323 GRT Captured
10 July 1940 Davisian  United Kingdom 6,433 GRT Sunk
13 July 1940 King John  United Kingdom 5,228 GRT Sunk
4 August 1940 Beaulieu  Norway 6,114 GRT Sunk
8 August 1940 Oostplein  Netherlands 5,059 GRT Sunk
10 August 1940 Killoran  Finland 1,817 GRT Sunk
21 August 1940 Anglo Saxon  United Kingdom 5,596 GRT Sunk
1 September 1940 Cymbeline  United Kingdom 6,317 GRT Sunk
8 September 1940 Antonios Chandris  Greece 5,866 GRT Sunk

References

  • Muggenthaler, August Karl (1977). German Raiders of World War II.
    ISBN 0-7091-6683-4
    .
  • Roskill, Stephen (1954). The War at Sea 1939–1945. Vol. I.
  • Schmalenbach, Paul (1977). German Raiders 1895–1945.
    ISBN 0-85059-351-4
    .

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German_auxiliary_cruiser_Widder&oldid=1212138943"