SMS ''Möwe'' (; German: ''

Seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

'') was a

merchant raider Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels. History Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...

of the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

which operated against Allied shipping during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Disguised as a neutral cargo ship to enable it to get close to targets, the ''Möwe'' was effective at

commerce raiding Commerce raiding is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging its combatants or enforcing a blockade against them. Privateering is a fo ...

, sinking 40 ships in the course of the war.

Early history

Built by the Joh. C. Tecklenborg yard at

Geestemünde Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

, she was launched as the freighter ''Pungo'' in 1914 and operated by the '' Afrikanische Fruchtkompanie'' for F. Laeisz of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. After an uneventful career carrying cargoes of bananas from the German colony of

Kamerun Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern ...

to Germany she was requisitioned by the

for use as a

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

. Her conversion took place at Imperial shipyard at Wilhelmshaven in the autumn of 1915, and under the command of

Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien Nikolaus Burgrave, Burggraf und Graf zu Dohna-Schlodien (5 April 1879 – 21 August 1956) was a German naval officer and author. Biography Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien was born in Małomice, Mallmitz (today Małomice, Poland) to Alfred zu Dohna ...

, she entered service on 1 November that year.

First raiding voyage

''Möwe'' slipped out of Wilhelmshaven on 29 December 1915 for her first task, to set a minefield in the

Pentland Firth The Pentland Firth (, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth. Etymology The name is presumed to be a corruption of the Old Nors ...

, near the main base of the

British Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...

. This was completed in severe weather conditions. A few days later the

pre-dreadnought battleship Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appli ...

struck one of the mines; despite attempts to tow her to safety she sank. ''Möwe'' then moved down the west coast of Ireland to France. There she laid another mine field off the

Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.

estuary, which sank a further two ships. This part of her mission complete, ''Möwe'' then moved into the Atlantic, operating first between Spain and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, and later off the coast of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Action of 16 January 1916

The

single ship action A single-ship action is a naval engagement fought between two warships of opposing sides, excluding submarine engagements; it is called so because there is a single ship on each side. The following is a list of notable single-ship actions. Sing ...

was fought between a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

and a UK

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 List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

off the Portuguese islands of

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. ''Möwe'' was steaming about 120 miles south of Madeira with the merchant steamer , a ship previously captured by the Germans who installed a

prize crew A prize crew is the selected members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship. History Prize crews were required to take their prize to appropriate prize courts, which would determine whether the ship's officers and crew h ...

and transferred several dozen prisoners of war to her. At sunset, lookouts aboard ''Möwe'' sighted smoke on the horizon, indicating a ship. ''Kapitän'' Dohna-Schlodien ordered ''Appam'' to remain behind while he went to investigate. Several minutes later, at about 21:00, ''Möwe'' came within distance of making out that the smoke had originated from a large merchant ship, later identified as ''Clan Mactavish''. By the time ''Möwe'' came within close range, it was dark, so ''Möwe'' approached cautiously. Using a

signal lamp Signal lamp training during World War II A signal lamp (sometimes called an Aldis lamp or a Morse lamp) is a visual signaling device for optical communication by flashes of a lamp, typically using Morse code. The idea of flashing dots and dashes ...

, Dohna-Schlodien asked the cargo ship's name. ''Clan Mactavish'' replied by asking that the German ship first identify herself. Dohna-Schlodien signalled that his ship was ''Author'', a Harrison Line ship sailing from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

. ''Möwe'' reportedly looked very similar to ''Author'', which had been sunk by the German Navy a few weeks earlier. ''Clan Mactavish'' then signalled her name and that they were returning to Britain from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Having identified the British ship, Dohna-Schlodien crossed her bow and ordered a halt. Instead of complying, ''Clan Mactavish'' changed course and increased speed, hoping to outrun the raider. ''Möwe'' fired warning shots and gave chase. ''Clan Mactavish'' returned fire with her single gun, but repeatedly missed, and the German ship suffered no damage or casualties. ''Möwe'' fired salvoes with her four 150 mm guns. ''Clan Mactavish'' sent wireless telegraph distress signals that were received by the

armoured cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a pre-dreadnought battles ...

. However, the telegraphist aboard ''Essex'' failed to tell his superiors, so no help was sent. After taking several hits topside, ''Clan Mactavish'' caught fire and her captain signalled his surrender to ''Möwe''. ''Möwe'' then manoeuvred for boarding. All of the German rounds were hits, apart from the warning shots. A

boarding party Naval boarding is an offensive tactic used in naval warfare to come up against (or alongside) an enemy watercraft and attack by inserting combatants aboard that vessel. The goal of boarding is to invade and overrun the enemy personnel on boar ...

from ''Möwe'' seized ''Clan Mactavish'' and removed her surviving crew as prisoners. There were 18 crewmembers killed in or after battle, and five others had been wounded. ''Clan Mactavish''s captain was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

reservist and her gun was crewed by two Royal Navy gunners. The remainder of her crew were civilians. This marked a total of more than 500 Allied prisoners of war on ''Möwe'' and ''Appam''. The boarding party

scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

''Clan Mactavish'' with explosive charges. After sinking ''Clan Mactavish'', ''Möwe'' reunited with ''Appam'' and set a westward course to avoid any Royal Navy cruisers in the area. Two cruisers were just over away and could have intercepted ''Möwe'' had the telegraphist aboard ''Essex'' responded. ''Möwe'' went on to sink several more Allied ships before returning home. Upon arrival, ''Kapitän'' Dohna-Schlodien was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

second class. Richard Stumpf records that there were a number of Africans amongst the crew upon this arrival.

Felix von Luckner Felix Nikolaus Alexander Georg Graf von Luckner (9 June 1881, Dresden – 13 April 1966, Malmö), sometimes called Count Luckner in English, was a German nobleman, naval officer, author, and sailor who earned the epithet ''Der Seeteufel'' (the ...

served aboard ''Möwe'' before his journey with in late 1916 to late 1917.

Interlude as ''Vineta''

In an effort to maintain security, ''Möwe'' was renamed ''Vineta'', after another auxiliary cruiser which had been withdrawn from service. In this guise she set out on a series of short cruises during the summer of 1916 to attack Allied shipping off the coast of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. This only brought one success, however, before she was ordered in for a refit prior to another sortie into the Atlantic.

Second raiding voyage

Sea Raider Moeve - International Newsreel 1920 Ad

Departing on 23 November 1916, ''Möwe'' had even more success on her second cruise into the Atlantic. On 6 December 1916, she captured and sank the Canadian Pacific Steamship freighter outbound from Halifax to Liverpool. ''Mount Temple''′s cargo included 700 horses bound for the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...

in France and many crates of dinosaur fossils collected from

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

's Red Deer River badlands by Charles H. Sternberg destined for the

British Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

. On 12 December, it was the turn of , sunk along with her cargo of 1,200 horses that would have been used on the Western Front. In four months she had accounted for another 25 ships totalling . One of these, SS ''Yarrowdale'', was sent as prize to Germany and, as Dohna-Schlodien had recommended, was outfitted as a commerce raider herself. ''Möwe'' also retained as a collier, before arming and commissioning her as the auxiliary '' Geier''. ''Geier'' operated in this role for six weeks, accounting for two ships sunk, before being disarmed and scuttled by ''Möwe'' prior to returning home. On 10 March, she was damaged in

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

against an armed

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

merchant ship off the Azores in the Atlantic. Armed with a single 120mm stern gun, the ''Otaki'' fought a gallant but doomed action. The ''Möwe'' was hit several times and a serious fire was put out with difficulty. The ''Otaki'', however, was hit some thirty times before sinking. ''Otaki''s captain Archibald Bisset Smith was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, finally going down in his ship with the British colours still flying”. Five of her crewmen were killed and another ten men were wounded. The damage forced the raider to return course for Germany. In March 1917 ''Möwe'' again successfully ran the British blockade, ironically at the same time as ''Yarrowdale'', now the auxiliary cruiser , was cornered and sunk by the same blockading force. ''Möwe'' arrived home safely on 22 March 1917.

Later history

On her return ''Möwe'' was taken out of service as a raider, being reckoned too valuable as a propaganda tool to be risked again. She served in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

as a

submarine tender A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of foo ...

, before becoming the auxiliary minelayer ''Ostsee'' in 1918. After the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

, she went to Britain, to be operated by Elders and Fyffes as the freighter ''Greenbrier''. In 1933 she was sold to a German shipping company. As the freighter ''Oldenburg'', it served the route between Germany and

occupied Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the World War II, Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the Norwegian Campaign, German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi G ...

in World War II. On 7 April 1945 she was attacked by

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufor ...

s of

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

aircraft from No. 144 Squadron RAF, No. 455 Squadron RAAF, and No. 489 Squadron RNZAF at her moorings sheltering off the coast of Norway—near the village of

Vadheim Vadheim is a village in the municipality of Høyanger in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the north shore of the Sognefjorden, along the small Vadheimsfjorden branch. The European route E39 highway runs through the village. It is locat ...

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; literally "Parish and the Fjords") was a Counties of Norway, county in western Norway, from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsda ...

county. Following an intense strafing and rocket attack, holed by their

rockets A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

and

strafed Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such a ...

by cannon fire, she burned and sank.

Raiding career

In three raiding voyages ''Möwe'' captured and sank 40 ships, grossing in excess of 180,000 GRT. She also laid mines which accounted for two more ships and a capital warship. This made her the most successful German raider in either the First or the Second World War.

Film

In 1917 the imperial ''Bild- und Filmamt'' in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

produced ''Graf Dohna und seine Möwe'', one of the best-known propaganda films of World War I. The distributor was Paul Davidson; part of the production the ''Projektions-AG »Union«'' (

PAGU The Projektions-AG Union (generally shortened to PAGU) was a Cinema of Germany, German film production company which operated between 1911 and 1924 during the silent era. From 1917 onwards, the company functioned as an independent unit of Universum ...

), Berlin. The film was first released on 2 May 1917 in the ''Deutsches Opernhaus'' (

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

) in Berlin.

References

External links

Count Dohna and His SeaGull

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060714211005/http://www.ssmounttemple.com/oldexp/oldexp01.htm What Lies Beneath: The D/S Oldenburg Expedition, Vadheim, Norway 2005* ''Count Dohna and his "Möwe"'', German film from 1917 with English title

Audacity & Gold Bars - The First Voyage Of The SMS Möve I THE GREAT WAR Special

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moewe 1914 ships Maritime incidents in 1917 Maritime incidents in April 1945 Ships sunk by British aircraft World War I commerce raiders World War I cruisers of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea Auxiliary cruisers of the Imperial German Navy Naval battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom Naval battles of World War I involving Germany Atlantic operations of World War I Conflicts in 1916 January 1916