V 104 ''Falke'' was a German-built

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

which was converted into an auxiliary warship for the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

as a ''

Vorpostenboot ''Vorpostenboot'' (plural ''Vorpostenboote''), also referred to as VP-Boats, flakships or outpost boats, were German patrol boats which served during both World Wars. They were used around coastal areas and in coastal operations, and were tasked w ...

'' and then ''

Sperrbrecher A ''Sperrbrecher'' (German; informally translated as "pathfinder" but literally meaning "mine barrage breaker"), was a German auxiliary ship of the First World War and the Second World War that served as a type of minesweeper, steaming ahead of ot ...

''. The ship was built as ''Toreador'' and was also known as ''Poldorf'' and ''Düsseldorf''.

Description

The ship was built from steel. It had a length of , a beam of , and a depth of . It was assessed at , . The ship was powered by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

, which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by

Bremer Vulkan Bremer Vulkan AG was a prominent German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement. All together Bremer Vulkan built about 1100 s ...

and was rated at 160

nhp Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

. The engine drove a single screw propeller, and could propel the ship at .

History

The ship was built in

Bremen-Vegesack Vegesack is a northern district of the city of Bremen. Geography ''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Bremen-city at the mouth of the river Lesum, beside the river Weser (). Abutting the district of Vegesack to the northwest is ...

by Bremer Vulkan in 1909 as ''Toreador'' for J. D. Stücken,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

. t was launched on 31 July. J. D. Stücken operated it until 1916, when it was bought by the Argo Line, Bremen. Renamed ''Düsseldorf'', it was captured off the coast of Norway by 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 F ...

Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open f ...

between 19 and 24 February 1918 whist on a voyage from

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

, Norway to

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

with a cargo of iron ore. It was seized by the British government and was renamed ''Poldorf''. The United Kingdom

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

142674 was allocated. Due to the ship being captured in neutral waters, a legal dispute with Norway came before the British

Prize Court A prize court is a court (or even a single individual, such as an ambassador or consul) authorized to consider whether prizes have been lawfully captured, typically whether a ship has been lawfully captured or seized in time of war or under the te ...

in July 1920. Judgement was given that the declaration of the ship as a British

prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

could not be reversed. In 1919, the ship was returned to Argo Line and reverted to its previous name. In 1923, Argo Line merged with the Roland Line to form Dampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft Argo mbH. The ship was renamed ''Falke'', serving with the Roland Line. The Code Letters QJRM were allocated. Around 1925/26, Dampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft Argo mbH was absorbed by

Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

. ''Falke'' was transferred to Argo Reederei AG in 1934, in which year the Code Letters DOBY were allocated. The ship was transferred to Argo Reederei Richard Adler & Co. in 1937. ''Falke'' was requisitioned by the

and converted into a ''Vorpostenboot'', joining the 1st ''Vorpostenflotille'' on 1 October 1939. On 1 October 1940, the 1st flotilla was disbanded and ''Falke'' was designated as a ''

'', or mine clearing ship. It was given the identification number of 34, which was later changed to 134. It was bombed and sank off

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

on 8 August 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falke 1909 ships Ships built in Bremen (state) Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War I merchant ships of Germany Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Maritime incidents in August 1944 Ships sunk by aircraft