Originally built as the British freighter Vienna in 1903 by Ramage & Ferguson, of Leith, for Curries shipping line. At the outbreak of war in August 1914 Vienna was at Hamburg and was seized as a prize there. To take advantage of her unmistakably British appearance, the Imperial German Navy decided to convert her into an auxiliary cruiser and minelayer. She was moved to the Kaiserliche Werft (KWW) in Wilhelmshaven, where she was equipped with two 88mm guns and two machine guns. She had minelaying equipment installed and a capacity for 374 mines. She was renamed Meteor and commissioned in May 1915 under the command of KK Wolfram von Knorr.[6]
Service history
SMS Meteor on fire, shortly before she sank
On 29 May 1915 Meteor set out on her first mission, to lay mines in the White Sea and attack Allied merchant ships engaged in taking coal and other materiel to Russia. In this she had several successes, sinking three freighters and laying her mines, which accounted for another three ships. She returned unharmed in June 1915.[7]
Her second mission, in August 1915, was to lay mines in the Moray Firth, but this was less successful. In the course of this operation, while attempting to run the British blockade, Meteor was challenged by the British armed boarding vesselHMS Ramsey, which stopped her for inspection. While stopping to be boarded, Meteor was able to maneuver into a firing position, and, suddenly opening fire, she quickly overwhelmed Ramsey, which sank. The opening salvos destroyed the bridge of the Ramsey, a torpedo struck Ramsey near the stern below the crew quarters. Most of the crew were still in their quarters and were killed during the explosion.[8]
Retribution was swift, and several British cruisers in the area, which had received Ramsey's report, closed in on her. Notified by an Imperial German Navy airship, which was scouting in the area, on 9 August 1915 Meteor's captain decided to scuttle her to avoid capture. Meteor transferred the survivors of Ramsey and the crew of the Jason to a passing Norwegian vessel, while the Meteor's crew transferred to a passing Swedish merchant and returned to Germany to a hero's welcome. The Norwegian vessel rendezvoused with the British cruisers and turned over the Ramsey survivors, the British cruisers located the foundering Meteor and confirmed its sinking.[8]
Aftermath
While Meteor career was short lived it was viewed as highly successful, laying minefields in critical shipping lanes out of reach of submarines, with minimal investment of resources. This proved the value of Frachtdampfer-Hilfskreuzer (Freighter-auxiliary cruisers) that could pose as conventional merchant vessels and whose large cargo holds could carry supplies for long voyages. This model would be the basis for later successful auxiliary cruisers such as Wolf and Möwe.[9]
Raiding career
In two voyages Meteor sank five ships, her mines sunk another nineteen, and damaged 2 minesweepers, with a total tonnage in excess of 45,000 GRT.
Ships sunk by Meteor on her first raiding voyage[10]
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