German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

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Edward L. Hsiao
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German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#1

Post by Edward L. Hsiao » 10 Jul 2014, 01:51

Gentlemen,

Were there any known reports of German surface warships capturing or sinking Spanish Republican merchant ships during the Spanish Civil War? I known it pretty rare.

Sincerely,

Edward L. Hsiao

Orwell1984
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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#2

Post by Orwell1984 » 10 Jul 2014, 18:08

I haven't found any records or reports of German surface vessels capturing or sinking Spanish Republican merchant vessels.
Wikipedia does provide a starting point.
Here's a list of foreign ships lost during the SCW
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fo ... _Civil_War

For Spanish flagged vessels there is a year by year listing of shipwrecks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_1936
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_1937
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_1938
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_1939

Going though the listing I found no instances of vessels sunk by German surface ships.
Perhaps someone else might have further information.


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Ironmachine
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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#3

Post by Ironmachine » 10 Jul 2014, 21:03

AFAIK there were none. But there was at least one close call.

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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#4

Post by Ironmachine » 12 Jul 2014, 08:51

Oops, I was wrong, there was at least one such incident. On 3 January 1937 the cruiser Königsberg captured the Marta Junquera, a small ship of 607 tonnes, which was sailing from Bilbao to Santander. It was escorted by the cruiser to El Ferrol, where it was handed over to the National authorities. The crew was returned to the loyalist side, arriving at Lastres (Asturias) on 12 January.

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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#5

Post by Edward L. Hsiao » 13 Jul 2014, 00:19

Gentlemen,

Erich Topp,who was later a U-boat commander during WWII,had served aboard the German light cruiser "Karlsruhe" during the Spanish Civil War. In his book,"Oddessy Of A U-boat Commander",he mentioned that his cruiser had captured a Spanish Repubican merchant ship on the high seas. I forget what date it was.

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Edward L. Hsiao

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Ironmachine
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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#6

Post by Ironmachine » 13 Jul 2014, 10:17

I have not found anything about that Republican merchant ship supposedly captured by the Karlsruhe, but I have found another incident in which a Republican ship was captured by a German surface warship:
On 1 January 1937 the Republican merchant ship Aragón (1,896 tonnes), sailing from Almería to Malaga, with 25 crew members and 3 passengers and carrying 950 tonnes of food and 250 tonnes of lead mineral, was captured by the Admiral Graf Spee.
The ship was escorted to Cádiz to be put under control of the National authorities, and the crew (but for 6 of them, who refused) and passengers were returned to Malaga onboard the British destroyer HMS Achates.

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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#7

Post by Edward L. Hsiao » 14 Jul 2014, 21:48

Dear Sir,

This is new to me about the pocket battleship "Admiral Graf Spee" that took a Republican merchant ship as a prize during the Spanish Civil War. I don't read that in books about the life and death of the "Admiral Graf Spee".

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Edward L. Hsiao

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Ironmachine
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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#8

Post by Ironmachine » 15 Jul 2014, 08:05

Well, the story is well documented in Spanish sources. Anyway, in case there is any doubt, see for example:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/41265448 (The West Australian, 4 January 1937)
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2 ... 15,6775933 (The Telegraph, 2 January 1937)
Both newspapers mention the Aragón incident. AFAIK it was also reported in German newspapers.
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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#9

Post by Edward L. Hsiao » 16 Jul 2014, 05:22

Dear Sir,

Thank you for sending me the articles which are pretty interesting to read. More captures of Republican merchant ships by German Navy surface was sure to come as ordered by German Admiral Rolf Carls.

Sincerely,

Edward L. Hsiao

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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#10

Post by Ironmachine » 16 Jul 2014, 08:01

More captures of Republican merchant ships by German Navy surface was sure to come as ordered by German Admiral Rolf Carls.
I'm not so sure. The operation was a reprisal for the capture of the German freighter Palos in international waters; the ship was later liberated but part of the cargo was retained as contraband of war and a Spanish passenger was imprisoned. Then the German government ordered the capture of two ships (per Spanish sources; probably a limited escalation of the situation?) to demand the return of the cargo and the passenger.
AFAIK there were no more German ships captured by the Republicans during the war, so the Germans had no reasons for further captures of their own, which would have posed a diplomatic problem for Germany.

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Re: German Surface Ships Capturing Enemy Ships

#11

Post by Edward L. Hsiao » 27 Aug 2014, 23:41

Gentlemen,

I suppose that the German surface ships had a few encounters with Republican warships no bigger than a destroyer right?

Edward L. Hsiao

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