SS Antilla (1939)
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SS ''Antilla'' (or "ES ''Antilla''", with "ES" standing for ''"Elektroschiff"'' german: electric ship) was a Hamburg America Line (HAPAG)
cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...
that was launched in 1939 and scuttled in 1940. ''Antilla'' was built for trade between Germany and the Caribbean, and was named accordingly. Antilla is a city in Holguín Province in eastern Cuba.


Building

''Antilla'' was launched in Hamburg on 21 March 1939 and completed on 11 July. She was one of three
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
s launched in 1939 for HAPAG. She and her sister were built by
Deutsche Werft Deutsche Werft (English: German Shipyard) was a shipbuilding company in Finkenwerder Rüschpark, Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH), ''Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft'' ( AEG) and ' ...
in Finkenwerder, Hamburg, while their sister '' Arauca'' was built by
Bremer Vulkan Bremer Vulkan AG was a prominent German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement. All together Bremer Vulkan built about 1100 s ...
in
Bremen-Vegesack Vegesack is a northern district of the city of Bremen. Geography ''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Bremen-city at the mouth of the river Lesum, beside the river Weser (). Abutting the district of Vegesack to the northwest is ...
. ''Antilla'' and her sisters had
turbo-electric transmission A turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine (steam or gas) into electric energy, which then powers electric motors and converts back into mechanical energy that power the driveshafts. Tur ...
. Each ship had two oil-fired high-pressure boilers that fed twin
AEG Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...
turbo generators In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
. This produced current for an AEG electric propulsion motor that drove a single
propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
shaft.


Maiden voyage

On 15 July 1939 ''Antilla'' left Hamburg on her maiden voyage, which took her to the Caribbean. The voyage was hampered by technical problems with her propulsion system, but she eventually reached
Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
in the
Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...
. On 9 August ''Antilla'' left Curaçao for Galveston, Texas, where she loaded 3,000 tons of
sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
for Europe. On 25 August, while still in Galveston, she received a radio message from Germany that included the code word ''"Essberger"'', which was a signal for her
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, Captain Ferdinand Schmidt, to open sealed orders. The sealed orders had been issued to all German merchant ships, and directed them to leave main shipping lanes. Shortly afterwards ''Antilla'' received a second radio message with the same code word. According to the sealed orders this was an order for captains to alter their ships' names and appearance, communicate only in code and return to Germany as soon as possible.


Flight and refuge

''Antilla'' left Galveston to bunker at
Cartagena, Colombia Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...
. ''En route'' on 28 August she received a coded radio message that all German ships unable to reach a German harbour within four days should seek refuge in neutral ports. On 1 September, the day Germany invaded Poland, ''Antilla'' bunkered at Cartagena and sailed for neutral Curaçao. However, ''en route'' Schmidt learnt that Willemstad Harbour was already full of German merchant ships, so he and three other German ships changed course for
Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...
. In October ''Antilla'' discharged her cargo of sulphur at San Nicolaas in the south of Aruba. However, the four ships' anchorage was in
Malmok Palm Beach is a tourism district about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) northwest of Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba. A number of high rise hotels are located there, such as Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino, Aruba Marriott Resort, The Barceló, Holid ...
Bay in the northwest of the island. The
Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...
submarine monitored the German ships in Dutch Antilles waters. Outside Dutch Antilles waters, ships of the Royal Navy
America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the t ...
and of the French Navy patrolled, blockading any German ships from leaving. However, on 9 January 1940 ten members of ''Antilla''s crew signed on to one of the other German ships, HC Horn's , which that evening successfully escaped through the Allied blockade. On 29 February the other two ships, Rudolf Christian Gribel's and HAPAG's tried to escape. Royal Navy ships intercepted them so their crews scuttled the two merchantmen to prevent their capture.


Scuttling

On 9 April Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. This increased the fear that the Netherlands would also be invaded, so on 12 April Dutch authorities in Aruba confined ''Antilla''s crew to their ship. On 10 May Germany invaded the Netherlands so the Dutch government ordered the seizure of all German ships in the Dutch Antilles. At 0310 hrs on 10 May a section of Dutch Marines in two boats approached ''Antilla'' to board her but Schmidt refused to lower the gangway. The Dutch marines were commanded by a
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
who anticipated armed resistance from the German crew. He therefore postponed the boarding to first light, when a machine gun positioned ashore could provide cover. The German crew used the delay to start scuttling ''Antilla''. One crewman locked himself in the engine room, opened her seacocks and climbed out through the funnel. Other crew set fire to several parts of the ship. At 05:00 the Dutch marines boarded the ship and at 05:30 the German crew was assembled on the poop deck. The Marines escorted the crew ashore in a lifeboat and handed them into the custody of the Royal Marechaussee. At 06:00, two
Netherlands Coastguard The Netherlands Coastguard ( nl, Kustwacht Nederland) is maritime law enforcement branch of the Royal Netherlands Navy patrolling the Dutch coastline. Its operational command falls under the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Netherlands Navy ...
vessels, HM ''Aruba'' and HM ''Practico'', reached Malmok Bay and found ''Antilla'' on fire. Two of ''Aruba''s crew boarded ''Antilla'', found the engine room and
holds A hold (abbreviated HLD, H or HD) is awarded to a relief pitcher who meets the following three conditions: :1. Enters the game in a save (baseball), save situation; that is, when all of the following three conditions apply: :: (a) He appears i ...
4 and 5 ablaze, and that it was not possible to reach the seacocks in order to close them. After the Dutch marines had removed the German crew, ''Aruba'' fired two rounds at ''Antilla'' from her
37mm gun 37 mm gun or 3.7 cm gun can refer to several weapons or weapons systems. The "37 mm" refers to the inside diameter of the barrel of the gun, and therefore the diameter of the projectile it fires. However, the overall size and power of the gun ...
. By 06:50, ''Antilla'' was afire from bow to stern and she was listing 20 degrees to port. ''Aruba'' left Malmok Bay at 11:30, by which time ''Antilla''s list had increased to 30 degrees and she was sinking.


Internment

The Dutch Antilles authorities interned as enemy aliens 220 German nationals, including ''Antilla''s 35 crew. The Dutch made ''Antilla''s crew build an internment camp on
Bonaire Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west ( leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC i ...
to house their fellow detainees. However, the British authorities had agreed to take them and intern them on Jamaica. On 5 July 1940 all 220 detainees were embarked on the British banana boat . It took them to Jamaica, where they were interned for the rest of the war.


Wreck

''Antilla'' is one of the Caribbean's largest shipwrecks, exceeded by only the cruise liners and . ''Antilla'' lies on its port side in Malmok Bay, Aruba in up to of water, but with a small part of its
starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...
side exposed above water. By 1953 storm damage had broken the wreck in two amidships. Corals and tube sponges have colonised the wreck, which attracts lobsters,
hawksbill sea turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is largel ...
s and many species of fish, including moray eels and blue tang. In 2010 a large Atlantic goliath grouper was reported living in the forward section. ''Antilla'' is a popular dive site, and has been popular for
penetration diving Underwater diving, as a human activity, is the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment. It is also often referred to as diving, an ambiguous term with several possible meanings, depending on contex ...
. Storm damage has continued to break up the wreck, and some divers consider it now unsafe to enter.


Misconceptions

Popular misconceptions have arisen around ''Antilla''. One is that she was secretly a U-boat
tender Tender may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Illegal Tender'' (2007), a film directed by Franc. Reyes * ''Tender'' (2012), a short film by Liz Tomkins * ''Tender'' (2019), a short film by Darryl Jones and Anthony Lucido * ''Tender'' (2019), a sh ...
. In fact between her arrival off Aruba in September 1939 and Germany's invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 the Dutch authorities repeatedly searched ''Antilla'' for weapons and found none. One source even claims ''Antilla'' was a tender for Operation Neuland, even though this operation was in February and March 1942, 21 months after ''Antilla'' was scuttled. A second misconception is that when the Dutch sought to take over the ship, Captain Schmidt negotiated a 24-hour delay. In fact the delay between the Dutch marines reaching ''Antilla'' and boarding her was less than two hours. This was achieved not by negotiation but by Schmidt refusing to lower the gangway and the marines' captain deciding to wait for daybreak. A third misconception is that when scuttling the ship, the crew heated her boilers so that the seawater entering through her seacocks caused a boiler explosion, and that this explosion broke the ship in half. In fact between May and August 1940 Dutch divers found that the wreck was intact. It was not until 1953 that it was found to have broken in half, and this was caused by storm damage. A fourth misconception is that Captain Schmidt of the Antilla spent the war in a prison camp on Bonaire and after the war bought the camp to build the Divi Flamingo Hotel. In fact the entire crew was transported to Jamaica and after the war the camp was bought by local entrepreneur Lodewijk Gerharts who built the hotel, initially named "Hotel Zeebad".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antilla SS 1939 ships Maritime incidents in May 1940 Ships of the Hamburg America Line Shipwrecks of the Netherlands Antilles Steamships of Germany Turbo-electric steamships World War II merchant ships of Germany Wreck diving sites Ships sunk with no fatalities Scuttled vessels of Germany