German tanker Altmark

"Altmark" was a German tanker and supply vessel, one of five of a class built between 1937 and 1939. She is best known for her support of the German commerce raider, the "pocket battleship" "Admiral Graf Spee", and her subsequent involvement in the Altmark Incident. She was built in Hamburg in 1938 by Blohm and Voss, was 141 metres long and had a gross tonnage of 7,021.

The Altmark Incident

"Altmark" was assigned to support "Admiral Graf Spee" during her raid in the South Atlantic. Seamen rescued from the ships sunk by "Admiral Graf Spee" were transferred to "Altmark". After "Admiral Graf Spee" was scuttled by her crew in Montevideo, "Altmark" attempted to return to Germany, steaming around the north of Great Britain and then along the Norwegian coast. Discovered by 3 British Lockheed Hudson II, from RAF Thornaby and pursued by the British destroyer HMS "Cossack", she fled into Norwegian waters in February 1940 with 303 British merchant seamen prisoners on board. On 16 February 1940 she was boarded by sailors from "Cossack" who killed seven of the "Altmark" crew and freed the captive merchant sailors. The boarding was a breach of Norwegian neutrality and would be pivotal for the subsequent German decision to invade Norway and Denmark in April 1940. Also worthy of note is that bringing 303 British POWs into Norwegian waters in the first place constituted a breach of Norway's neutrality. The Norwegian naval officer who inspected Altmark simply took the German captain's word that he was carrying no contraband and did not actually inspect the ship.

Subseqent history

The ship, renamed "Uckermark" on 6 August 1940, then resumed her role as a support ship. On 9 September 1942 she left France to make her way to Japan, supplying the auxiliary cruiser "Michel" on the way, and arriving in Yokohama on 24 November 1942. "Uckermark" became the support ship for the German raider "Thor", which was raiding merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean areas.

On 30 November 1942, "Uckermark" was anchored in Yokohama, Japan, next to "Thor" and the Australian passenger liner "Nankin", which "Thor" had captured in March five days out from Fremantle, Australia, en route to Colombo, Ceylon. While the crew was eating lunch, "Uckermark" suffered a huge explosion which ripped the vessel apart. "Uckermark", "Thor", and "Nankin" were sunk by the explosion. The cause of the explosion was thought to be a spark from tools used by a repair gang working near the fuel tanks. 43 crewmen from "Uckermark" died in the explosion. The severely damaged ship was beyond repair and was scrapped.

External links

* http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/auxships/uckermark/operations.html