''Sachsenwald'' was a fishing trawler that 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

. She served as a supply ship, the

weather ship A weather ship, or ocean station vessel, was a ship stationed in the ocean for surface and upper air meteorological observations for use in weather forecasting. They were primarily located in the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans, reportin ...

WBS 7 ''Sachsenwald'' and 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 414 ''Sachsenwald''. She was sunk in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

in August 1944 by

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 ...

and

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

ships.

Description

''Sachsenwald'' was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught 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 made by Deschimag Seebeckwerft,

Wesermünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Rive ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was rated at 168

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 powered a single screw propeller driven via a low pressure turbine, double reduction gearing and a hydraulic coupling. It could propel the ship at .

History

''Sachsenwald'' was built as

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

631 by Deschimag Seebeckwerft for the Nordsee Deutsche Hochseefischerei Bremen-Cuxhaven. She was launched in June 1939. Her port of registry was

. At the outbreak of the

, she was interned in

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, but was requisitioned by the

in January 1940. Initially serving as a supply ship allocated to '' Basis Nord'', ''Sachsenwald'' was intended for use in Operation Sea Lion before being converted for use as a weather ship under the designation ''Wetterbeobachtungsschiff 7'', with the

Pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

WBS 7.

''Bismarck'' survivors

''Sachsenwald'' was returning from a 50-day operational cruise in the Atlantic under her commander, the experienced trawler skipper Ernst Wilhelm Schütte, when she received orders on 27 May 1941 to move to the area where the was known to be. After sailing through heavy seas, and being briefly attacked by a Bristol Blenheim aircraft with machine gun fire, she reached the debris field left after the sinking of ''Bismarck'' on 28 May. After several hours searching the field, which contained only bodies and debris, ''Sachsenwald'' communicated with two

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s that were also searching the area. Finally, late in the night, they discovered a raft containing two survivors, and took them on board. They were '' Matrosengefreite'' Walter Lorenzen and Otto Maus. ''Sachsenwald'' continued to search the area, recovering an empty raft from ''Bismarck'' but failed to find any more survivors. She briefly communicated with the , which was also searching the area, before making for the French coast on 31 May, escorted by several patrol boats. She reached it without incident, discharging the survivors, and tying up at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

on 1 June.

Sinking

On 29 August 1941, WBS 7 ''Sachsenwald'' was re-designated as a ''

''. She was allocated to 4 ''Vorpostenbootflotille'' operating in the

out of Bordeaux. She served as V 414 ''Sachsenwald''. In August 1944 she formed part of a seven-ship convoy, which included V 414 ''Sachsenwald'', , V 1549 ''Höheweg'', M 263, M 486 and SG 3 ''Sans Souchi'', which was carrying ammunition from

St. Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

to La Pallice. They were intercepted early in the morning of 6 August by Force 26, which was carrying out Operation Kinetic. The task force, consisting of the cruiser , and the destroyers , , and , attacked the convoy, sinking at least six of the ships, including V 414 ''Sachsenwald''. The wreck lies in of water.

Notes

a. A number of internet sources state that ''Sachsenwald'' recovered five ''Bismarck'' survivors. This appears to be a widely repeated error based on a faulty source. The official report of ''Sachsenwald''s commander states only two survivors were picked up, Lorenzen and Maus. The other 3 Bismarck survivors rescued by the Germans (Georg Herzog, Otto Höntzsch & Herbert Manthey) were all rescued by the German uboat U-74.

Citations

Bibliography

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