The ''Deutschland'' incident of 1937 occurred in May of that year, during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

. On 29 May 1937, a pair of

Tupolev SB The Tupolev ANT-40, also known by its service name Tupolev SB (russian: Скоростной бомбардировщик – ''Skorostnoi Bombardirovschik'' – high speed bomber) and development co-name TsAGI-40, was a high speed twin-engined ...

Soviet bombers attached to the

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica ...

raided

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

air bases and the port of

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its la ...

, in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. The aircraft departed from the airbase of

Los Alcázares Los Alcázares () is a municipality and a coastal spa town and former fishing village on the western side of the Mar Menor in the autonomous community and province of Murcia, southeastern Spain. The Mar Menor (little sea) belongs to three othe ...

, near Cartagena. The German heavy cruiser ''Deutschland'', which was part of the International Non-Intervention Committee patrol, was anchored off Ibiza and was allegedly misidentified by the bombers' crew as the Nationalist heavy cruiser ''

Canarias Canarias may refer to: * The Spanish Canary Islands (Spanish: ''Islas Canarias'') ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Canarias The Roman Catholic Diocese of Canarias or Diocese Canariense-Rubicense ( la, Canarien(sis)) is a diocese located in the Cana ...

''. Two Soviet pilots, Captain Anton Progrorin and Lieutenant Vassily Schmidt, dropped their bombs on ''Deutschland'', causing large fires on the ship and killing 31 sailors and wounding 74. The following day German naval forces shelled the Republican held city of

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

in retaliation for the Republican air attacks on ''Deutschland''. Because of the ''Deutschland'' incident, Germany and Italy left the meetings of the Non-Intervention Committee. The heavy cruiser ''Admiral Scheer'' shelled the port and the city of Almería with 200 rounds, resulting in 19 deaths, 55 wounded, and the destruction of 35 buildings. German and Italian warships were concentrated in the Mediterranean Sea next to Spain, and were starting to take a more active role in the supporting of Nationalist forces.

References

External links

Account, plus list of KM casualties
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deutschland Incident (1937) Maritime incidents in 1937 Military operations involving Germany Soviet Union–Spain relations Germany–Soviet Union relations International maritime incidents 1937 in Spain Mediterranean naval operations of the Spanish Civil War May 1937 events