''Kehdingen'' was a fishing trawler that was built in 1929 as ''Volkswohl''. She was renamed ''Kehdingen'' in 1938 and 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

in 1939. She served until 1944 when she was scuttled off the east coast of Greenland.

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of . The ship was powered by a 4-cylinder two stroke, single cycle single action diesel engine rated at 209

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 ...

. It was manufactured by

Deutsche Werke Deutsche Werke was a German shipbuilding company that was founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. It came as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I that forced the German defense industry to shri ...

AG, Kiel. The engine drove a single screw propeller.

History

''Volkswohl'' was built in 1929 as yard number 208 by Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel for the Nordsee Deutsche Hochsee Fischerei Bremen-Cuxhaven AG. She was launched on 23 March 1929 and completed in December 1929. Her port of registry was

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

and 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 ...

RHMJ were allocated. In 1933, she came under the ownership of the German Government and was placed under the management of Reichsministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft. With the change of Code Letters in 1934, she was allocated the letters DIFL. In 1938, she was renamed ''Kehdingen''. In 1939, ''Kehdingen'' was requisitioned by the

. She was converted to a

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 ...

and entered service as ''WBS 6 Kehdingen'' in 1942. On 7 September, ''Kehdingen'' departed from Kristiansand, Norway escorted by for Operation Edelweiss. On 1 September 1944, ''Kehdingen'' was intercepted in the Arctic ocean off

Great Coldeyey Island Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

, Greenland () by the

Greenland Patrol The Greenland Patrol was a United States Coast Guard operation during World War II. The patrol was formed to support the U.S. Army building aerodrome facilities in Greenland for ferrying aircraft to the British Isles, and to defend Greenland with ...

. Her crew destroyed secret paperwork, scuttled her and surrendered. An attempted attack on USCGC ''Northland'' by ''U-703'' was unable to be made due to the ice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kehdingen 1929 ships Ships built in Kiel Fishing vessels of Germany World War II auxiliary ships of Germany Weather ships Maritime incidents in September 1944 World War II shipwrecks in the Arctic Ocean