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''Friedrich Karl'' was a cargo ship which was built by
Neptun Werft Neptun Werft is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Rostock. Since 1997 it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group together with Meyer Werft in Papenburg. History The company was founded as the "Schiffswerft und Maschinenfabrik von ...
,
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
in 1938. She was requisitioned by 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, serving as the ''
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 ...
'' V 108 ''Friedrich Karl'' and the
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 ...
''Sperrbrecher 138''. She struck a
mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...
and sank off
Borkum Borkum ( nds, Borkum, Börkum) is an island and a municipality in the Leer District in Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany. It is situated east of Rottumeroog and west of Juist. Geography Borkum is bordered to the west by the Westerems strait ...
on 23 December 1942.


Description

The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was assessed at , . She 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
Neptun Werft Neptun Werft is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Rostock. Since 1997 it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group together with Meyer Werft in Papenburg. History The company was founded as the "Schiffswerft und Maschinenfabrik von ...
,
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
. It was rated at 167
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 ...
and drove a single screw propeller. She had a speed of .


History

''Friedrich Karl'' was built in 1938 by Neptun Werft, Rostock for Reederei Wendenhof GmbH,
Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...
. The
Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...
DMXL were allocated. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, she was requisitioned by 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 ...
to serve 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 ...
''. She was allocated to 1 ''Vorpostenbootflotille'' under the designation V108 ''Friedrich Karl''. She was redesignated as a ''
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 ...
'' on 26 September 1941, becoming ''Sperrbrecher 138'' with 1 ''Sperrbrecherflotille''. On 23 December 1942, she struck a
mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...
and sank off
Borkum Borkum ( nds, Borkum, Börkum) is an island and a municipality in the Leer District in Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany. It is situated east of Rottumeroog and west of Juist. Geography Borkum is bordered to the west by the Westerems strait ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedrich Karl (1938) 1938 ships Ships built in Rostock Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Maritime incidents in December 1942 World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea