German auxiliary cruiser Widder

Last updated
Nordmark2 Hapag.jpg
Widder
History
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Germany
OwnerHAPAG
BuilderHowaldtswerke, Kiel
Launched1930
ChristenedNeumark
Homeport Kiel
FateRequisitioned by the Kriegsmarine 1939
War ensign of Germany (1938-1945).svg Nazi Germany
Namesake Aries
Operator Kriegsmarine
Builder Blohm & Voss
Yard number3
Acquired1939
Recommissioned9 December 1939
Decommissioned1941
Renamed
  • Widder, 1939
  • Neumark, 1940
Reclassified Auxiliary cruiser, 1939
Homeport Kiel
Nickname(s)
  • HSK-3
  • Schiff-21
  • Raider D
Fate War reparation to the United Kingdom
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
Namesake Ulysses
Acquiredcirca 1945
RenamedUlysses
FateSold, 1950
Flag of Germany.svg Germany
Acquired1950
RenamedFechenheim
FateWrecked near Bergen, 1955
General characteristics
Class and type Merchant vessel
Tonnage7,851  GRT
Displacement16,800 tons
Length152 m (499 ft)
Beam18.2 m (60 ft)
Draught8.3 m (27 ft)
Propulsion
  • Geared turbine
  • four boilers
  • 6,200 hp (4,600 kW)
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
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.

Contents

Early history

Built for HAPAG, the Hamburg America Line, at Howaldtswerke, Kiel, she was launched in 1930 as the freighter Neumark. After an uneventful career she was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine for use as a commerce raider. She was converted for this purpose 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 Korvettenkapitän (later Fregattenkapitän ) Helmuth von Ruckteschell.

Leaving Germany on 6 May 1940, she made for Bergen, in Norway. On 13 May the Widder confronted the British submarine HMS Clyde on the surface, enjoining an exchange of gunfire which lasted for over an hour, with no hits for either side. After the engagement, the cruiser sought shelter in Sandsfjord. On 14 May she sailed to the open sea, crossing the Arctic Circle the next day. On 21 August 1940, 800 miles west of the Canary Islands, she sank the SS Anglo Saxon, which had been carrying a cargo of 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.

The Widder was reported to have machine-gunned the crew of the SS Anglo Saxon in their life-boats; one jolly boat with seven crewmen got away. Over two months later, on 27 October, the last two survivors in the boat landed in the Bahamas after a 2,275 mile voyage. One of the two died when his new ship was torpedoed in 1941, the other survived the war and testified against von Ruckteschell, who was sentenced to 10 years 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 1943/1944. After the war she was taken into British service as Ulysses, then sold back to Germany as Fechenheim in 1950 before being wrecked off Bergen in 1955. Her hull was scrapped shortly after.

She was one of only two German auxiliary cruisers to survive the war, after one 1940 cruise. Her captain, Helmuth von Ruckteschell, was one of only two German naval commanders convicted of war crimes at the end of the war.

Raiding career

DateShip nameCountryTonnageFate
13 June 1940British PetrolCivil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 6,891  GRT Sunk
26 June 1940 Krossfonn Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 9,323  GRT Captured
10 July 1940DavisianCivil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 6,433  GRT Sunk
13 July 1940King JohnCivil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 5,228  GRT Sunk
4 August 1940BeaulieuFlag of Norway.svg  Norway 6,114  GRT Sunk
8 August 1940OostpleinFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 5,059  GRT Sunk
10 August 1940KilloranFlag of Finland.svg  Finland 1,817  GRT Sunk
21 August 1940 Anglo-Saxon Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 5,596  GRT Sunk
1 September 1940CymbelineCivil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 6,317  GRT Sunk
8 September 1940Antonios ChandrisFlag of Greece.svg  Greece 5,866  GRT Sunk

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