''Widder'' (HSK 3) was an
auxiliary cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in ...
(''Hilfskreuzer'') of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's ''
Kriegsmarine'' that was used as a
merchant raider
Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels.
History
Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...
in the Second World War. Her Kriegsmarine designation was Schiff 21, to the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
she was Raider D. The name ''Widder'' (Ram) represents the
constellation Aries in German.
Early history
Built for HAPAG, the
Hamburg America Line
The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent citi ...
, at
Howaldtswerke
Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (often abbreviated HDW) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. It is part of the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) group, owned by ThyssenKrupp. The Howaldtswerke shipyard was founded in Kiel in 18 ...
,
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
, 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
() is the lowest ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies.
Austro-Hungary
Belgium
Germany
Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer rank () in the German Navy.
Address
The off ...
'' (later ''
Fregattenkapitän
Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy.
Address
In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...
'')
Helmuth von Ruckteschell
Hellmuth von Ruckteschell (22 March 1890 − 24 September 1948) was a German naval officer during World War II; he was one of the most successful merchant raider commanders of Nazi Germany, serving as the captain of the commerce raiders '' Wid ...
.
Leaving Germany on 6 May 1940, she made for
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...
, in Norway. On 13 May the ''Widder'' confronted the British submarine 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
Sandsfjorden or Sandsfjord is a fjord in Suldal Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The long fjord is the northernmost arm of main Boknafjorden in Rogaland county. The fjord begins at the confluence of the Saudafjorden and Hylsfjorden, jus ...
. 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 , which had been carrying a cargo of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
from
Newport, Wales
Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest a ...
, to
Bahía Blanca, Argentina. After refuelling from the auxiliary ship ''Nordmark'', she slipped through the
Denmark Strait
The Denmark Strait () or Greenland Strait ( , 'Greenland Sound') is an oceanic strait between Greenland to its northwest and Iceland to its southeast. The Norwegian island of Jan Mayen lies northeast of the strait.
Geography
The strait connect ...
. Over a 5½ month period she captured and sank ten ships, totalling .
The ''Widder'' was reported to have machine-gunned the crew of the SS
''Anglo Saxon'' in their life-boats; one
jolly boat
The jolly boat was a type of ship's boat in use during the 18th and 19th centuries. Used mainly to ferry personnel to and from the ship, or for other small-scale activities, it was, by the 18th century, one of several types of ship's boat. The de ...
with seven crewmen got away. Over two months later, on 27 October, the last two survivors in the boat landed in the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
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
Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels.
History
Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...
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 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
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...
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
Hellmuth von Ruckteschell (22 March 1890 − 24 September 1948) was a German naval officer during World War II; he was one of the most successful merchant raider commanders of Nazi Germany, serving as the captain of the commerce raiders '' Wid ...
, was one of only two German naval commanders convicted of
war crimes at the end of the war.
Raiding career
References
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External links
Hilfskreuzer Widder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Widder
Ships built in Kiel
Ships built in Hamburg
Shipwrecks in the North Sea
World War II commerce raiders
World War II cruisers of Germany
1930 ships
Maritime incidents in 1955
Auxiliary cruisers of the Kriegsmarine
Ships sunk with no fatalities