V 804 ''Skolpenbank'' was a German fishing trawler which 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

for service 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 ...

'' during World War II.

History

''Skolpenbank'' was built in

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 ...

by Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau in 1930. It was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine in 1939. ''Skolpenbank'' was listed as missing on 18 October while patrolling in poor weather near a mined area north of

Schiermonnikoog Schiermonnikoog (; fry, ) is an island, a municipality and national park in the Northern Netherlands. Schiermonnikoog is one of the West Frisian Islands, and is part of the province of Friesland. It is situated between the islands of Ameland a ...

in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. While the area was checked once the weather was cleared and no deliberately laid mines were found, it is possible the ship was sunk by a "drifter" which had broken loose and floated away due to the poor weather. It is also possible that the ''Skolpenbank'' simply succumbed to the bad weather, though this is unlikely because the ship was designed to operate in the North Sea. The sinking of ''Skolpenbank'' and the uncertainty regarding the location and condition of its wreck led the ''

Seekriegsleitung The ''Seekriegsleitung'' or SKL (Maritime Warfare Command) was a higher command staff section of the Kaiserliche Marine and the Kriegsmarine of Germany during the World Wars. World War I The SKL was established on August 27, 1918, on the initiativ ...

'' (Maritime Warfare Command) to order that no unnecessary classified information should be carried aboard patrolling vessels, since there was always a possibility that they could be wrecked in shallow water and boarded by enemy forces in search of intelligence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skolpenbank World War II auxiliary ships of Germany Maritime incidents in October 1939 1930 ships