Engineering:Hertford (1920)
| History | |
|---|---|
| Germany | |
| Name: | Friesland, originally Rheinland |
| Owner: | Hamburg-Amerika Linie (HAPAG), Hamburg |
| Builder: | Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack, Germany |
| Launched: | 13 October 1917 |
| Completed: | June 1920 |
| Fate: | Ceded as war reparations |
 United Kingdom
| |
| Name: | Hertford |
| Owner: | Federal Steam Navigation Co Ltd |
| Acquired: | 1922 |
| Fate: | torpedoed by Template:Warship on 29 March 1942 |
| Status: | shipwreck |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Freighter[1] |
| Tonnage: | 10923 gross tons[1] |
| Length: | 162.5 m (533 ft)[1] |
| Beam: | 19.6 m (64 ft)[1] |
| Draft: | 11.64 m (38.2 ft)[1] |
| Installed power: | 1,300 hp (970 kW)[1] |
| Speed: | 14 knots[1] |
| Complement: | 62 (including captain & gunnery complement)[1] |
| Armament: | armed (details not known)[1] |
Hertford (formerly Rheinland and Friesland) was a freighter which was built in Germany in 1917 and served with both the Hamburg-Amerika Linie and Federal Steam Navigation Co Ltd before being lost after torpedoing by the German submarine Template:Warship off the coast of Massachusetts in 1942. She was also extensively damaged after striking a German mine off the Australian coast in 1940.
Origins
She was built by Bremer Vulkan at Bremen-Vegesack in Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Germany. She was launched in October 1917 under the name Rheinland and completed in June 1920 as Friesland for the Hamburg-Amerika Linie (HAPAG), Hamburg. In 1922, she transferred to Great Britain as war reparations and sold to the Federal Steam Navigation Co Ltd who renamed her as Hertford.[2]
Incident in Australian waters during 1940
On 7 December 1940, Hertford struck a mine approximately 25 nautical miles (46 kilometres; 29 miles) west-south west of the Neptune Islands off the South Australian coast in a mine field placed by the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin during November 1940.[3][4] She was towed to Port Lincoln for temporary repairs, then to Port Adelaide where further repairs were carried out and then she sailed to Sydney where she was dry-docked to complete repairs.[5] The mine field was the subject of a mine sweeping operation in 1946 using German naval records to ensure that all mines had been accounted for.[6][7]
Loss
Hertford was sunk by the German submarine U-571 on 29 March 1942 about 350 nautical miles (650 kilometres; 400 miles) east of Nantucket, Massachusetts with the loss of four of her 62 crew.[8] The wreck site is reportedly to be located in the vicinity of [ ⚑ ] : 40°30′0.0″N 63°18′36″W / 40.5°N 63.31°W.[2]
See also
- List of shipwrecks in March 1942
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "HERTFORD CARGO SHIP 1917-1942". www.wrecksite.eu. http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?31530. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Ships hit by U-boats; Hertford, British Steam merchant". uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1480.html. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ↑ "FAMOUS WARSHIP'S BRIEF SA VISIT; Warspite Off Willunga In 1942". The Advertiser. 23 August 1945. p. 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43507688. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ↑ Waters, Sidney David (1949). German Raiders in the Pacific. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs. p. 25. http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-1Epi-c5-WH2-1Epi-j.html. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ↑ "Death Of A Fine Ship; Ulysses' Last Days Were Full of Thrills". The Mail. 12 August 1944. p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57687764. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ↑ "MINE WARNING TO SMALL CRAFT; Naval Flotilla To Sweep Dangerous Waters". The Recorder. 18 February 1946. p. 1. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96204187. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ↑ "MINESWEEPERS HERE THIS WEEK, No Mines Found in Five Months' Search, From A Staff Representative ABOARD HMAS SWAN". The Advertiser. 8 April 1946. p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35688660. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- ↑ "World War II Day-By-Day: Day 941 March 29, 1942". http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/day-941-march-29-1942.html. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
 |
