The Usaramo was the first German passenger ship[1] built after World War I and named after a location in the central highlands of German East Africa (now Tanzania).[2][3] She had a crew of 107, could carry 264 passengers and was powered by steam turbine. Her building number was 389 and her home port was Hamburg. Her sister ships were the Ussukuma of the Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie and the Wangoni of the Woermann-Linie.
She was launched in 1920 at the Hamburg shipyard of Blohm + Voss and entered service with the Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie the following year. On 6 August 1936, 18 days after the start of the Spanish Civil War, the Usaramo arrived at Cadiz on a secret mission, with a load of 16 aircraft, including a single Ju 87 A-0 (the V4 prototype) with allocated serial number 29-1 that was assigned to the VJ/88, the experimental Staffel of the Condor Legion's fighter wing; along with 30 antiaircraft guns, ammunition and supplies that were hurriedly carried by train to Seville.[4]
In 1938, Austrian author Franziska Tausig acquired two tickets for the Usaramo, a ship that was supposed to be scrapped in Japan, which transported Jews to Shanghai on the way.
In October 1940, she was requisitioned by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine and apparently used as an accommodation ship. On 10 December 1940 the ship was bombed and sunk at Bordeaux, was refloated but sunk again on 25 August 1944 during an airstrike in the Gironde estuary. The ship was lifted and scrapped after the end of the war.[5]
Bibliography
Arnold Kludas: Die Schiffe der deutschen Afrika-Linien 1880 bis 1945. Verlag Gerhard Stalling, 1975, ISBN3-7979-1867-4
Claus Rothe: Deutsche Ozean-Passagierschiffe 1919 bis 1985. Steiger Verlag, 1987, ISBN3-921564-97-2
Aktien-Gesellschaft Vulcan Stettin was a German shipbuilding and locomotive building company. Founded in 1851, it was located near the former eastern German city of Stettin, today Polish Szczecin. Because of the limited facilities in Stettin, in 1907 an additional yard was built in Hamburg. The now named Vulcan-Werke Hamburg und Stettin Actiengesellschaft constructed some of the most famous civilian German ships and it played a significant role in both World Wars, building warships for the Kaiserliche Marine and the Kriegsmarine later.
Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft A/S & Co KG, widely known as Hamburg Süd, was a German container shipping company. Founded in 1871, Hamburg Süd was among the market leaders in the North–South trade. It also served all significant East–West trade lanes.
MS Togo was a German merchant ship that was launched in 1938. Requisitioned by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine as Schiff 14, in April 1940 she participated in the invasion of Norway; in August 1940 was converted to a minelayer as part of the German plan to invade England; then from June 1941 she began conversion to the armed auxiliary cruiser (Hilfskreuzer) HSK Coronel.
USS Mercury (ID-3012) was a United States Navy transport ship during World War I. She was formerly the Norddeutscher Lloyd liner SS Barbarossa built by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, Germany, in 1897, and operated by the North German Lloyd Line.
SS Adolph Woermann was a German steam ocean liner built in 1922 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg for the shipping lines Woermann-Linie (WL) and German East Africa Line and named after German merchant, ship owner and politician Adolph Woermann, and the fourth ship of the same name.
Kulmerland was a Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) cargo liner that was launched in 1928. She worked HAPAG's route between Hamburg and the Far East until 1939. In the Second World War she was a supply ship for German auxiliary cruisers in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. In 1942 she became a successful blockade runner to German-occupied Europe. An Allied air raid on German-occupied France in 1943 put her out of action. German forces sank her as a blockship in 1944. She was raised in 1945 after the Liberation of France, and scrapped in 1950.
SS Ypiranga was a cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1908 for the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG). In 1919 the United Kingdom seized her for World War I reparations. In 1921 Anchor Line acquired her and renamed her Assyria. In 1929 the Companhia Colonial de Navegação (CCN) bought her and renamed her Colonial. In 1950 she was sold for scrap, but she sank off the coast of Scotland while being towed to a scrapyard.
Wahehe was a 4,690 GRT cargo ship which was built in 1922 as Wadigo by Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte und Maschinenfabrik, Hamburg for Woermann Linie AG. She was converted to a refrigerated cargo liner in about 1934.
SS Rio de Janeiro was a German cargo steamship owned by the Hamburg Südamerikanische shipping company and registered in Hamburg. She was built as Santa Ines in 1914 and renamed Rio de Janeiro in 1921. Until World War II she carried passengers and freight between Germany and South America.
TS Pretoria was a ship that had a long and varied career as first a German cargo liner, then a U-boat depot ship, hospital ship, British troop ship, Muslim pilgrim ship and finally an Indonesian naval accommodation ship.
Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie was a shipping line, established in 1890 as an alternative to the existing shipping services to East Africa, including German East Africa (1891–1919), then dominated by United Kingdom shipping lines.
Ussukuma was a German passenger ship named after a location in the central highlands of German East Africa . On 6 December 1939, only a few months into the Second World War, she was scuttled off the coast of Argentina. In January 2008 her wreck was identified by the Argentine Navy in 70 metres (230 ft) of water, 62 miles (100 km) off Necochea.
Augusta Victoria, later Auguste Victoria, placed in service in 1889 and named for Empress Augusta Victoria, wife of German Emperor Wilhelm II, was the name ship of the Augusta Victoria series and the first of a new generation of luxury Hamburg America Line ocean liners. She was the first liner built in continental Europe with twin propellers and when first placed in service, the fastest liner in the Atlantic trade. In 1897, the ship was rebuilt and lengthened and in 1904 she was sold to the Imperial Russian Navy, which renamed her Kuban.
MS Seattle was a Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) cargo liner that was launched in 1928. Her regular route was between Hamburg and Vancouver via the Panama Canal and the West Coast of the United States.
MV Robert Ley was a cruise ship of the Nazi Party leisure organization Kraft durch Freude. She was considered the flagship of the KDF fleet.
Rosalind was a steam cargo liner that was launched in England in 1890 for Dampfschiffs Rhederei zu Hamburg as Tosari. In 1891 Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie (DOAL) bought her and renamed her Admiral. In 1902 the Bowring Brothers' New York, Newfoundland & Halifax Steamship Company bought her and renamed her Rosalind. In 1912 the St Laurence Shipping Company bought her and renamed her City of Sydney. She was wrecked off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1914.
Vorios Hellas was a Hansa A Type cargo ship which was built as Sanga in 1944 by Lübecker Flenderwerke AG, Lübeck, Germany for Deutsche Afrika Linie, Hamburg. She was seized as a prize of war in 1945, passing to the Ministry of War Transport and renamed Empire Gatwick. She was allocated to Greece in 1947 and was renamed Vorios Hellas. She was sold to Hellenic Lines in 1948. She was sold and scrapped in 1974.
SS Lourenço Marques was a steam cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1905 as Admiral for Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie (DOAL). Portugal seized her in 1916 and renamed her after the explorer Lourenço Marques. After a few years operated by Transportes Marítimos do Estado, she had a long career with Companhia Nacional de Navegação (CNN). In the Second World War she took refugees who had fled German-occupied Europe to the United States, and rescued survivors from Allied merchant ships sunk by the German Navy. She was scrapped in Scotland in 1950 or 1951.
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