Transporting Tiger Tanks to Tunisia

[PT Dockyard]

Can anyone detail the rail ferries used to transport Tigers to Africa? I am looking doe pictures of the ferries and the modifications done to carry these vehicles. I have seen one shot of a Tiger rolling on to one of these craft but the picture does not show any details of the ramp (reinforced?) or the number of tanks carried.

Thanks,
Dave

[Larry D.]

PTD wrote:

Can anyone detail the rail ferries used to transport Tigers to Africa?

Rail ferries? Hmmm.... The German accounts that I have read do not speak of these. Here are some notes taken from the source cited:

Kugler, Randolf. Das Landungswesen in Deutschland seit 1900. Berlin: Oberbaum Verlag, 1989.

North Africa: Apr 41 schw.Fährenkdo. Afrika (100 men with 12 of the “Flakträger” type ferries transferred from Antwerpen to Tripoli and on arrival became 5./Bau-Batl.85; following losses, 7 replacement Siebel ferries were sent to 5./85 between June and November 42.. The Navy's 2. Landungs-Flottille was equipped exclusively with MFPs (Marine Fährprahm = Naval Ferry Barge). MFP specs: length 48 meters, width 6.5 meters; speed 9 knots; ramp 19.5 meters x 3.1 meters; armed with a 7.5cm gun and 2 x 2 2cm guns; typical load 3 x 24-ton tanks and 60 men, or 2 x Pz.Kpfw. IV, or 1 x Pz.Kpfw. VI, or 200 fully-equipped infantry, or 105-tons of equipment. On 2 January 1943 5./85 transferred from Tripoli to Sousse/Tunisia with its 4 remaining ferries, then 10 January to Sfax, 20 March to Enfidaville and Tunis; only a few got away to Sicily by 9 May. Pi.Ldgs.Kp.778 arrived in Tripoli in 1941 and withdrew into Tunisia in 1943. It was equipped with lighters. The le. Stubo-Kdo .904 also was in N Africa and Tunisia.

Sicily-Tunisia: the 2.L-Flottille bore the main weight in the supply runs across the Straits of Sicily. From 25 Dec 42 to 11 May 43, 2.L-Fl. lost at least 4 MFPs to enemy aircraft, 1 MFP to a destroyer, 1 MFP to a mine and 2 MFPs to high seas. During this period 2.L-Fl. had some 30 MFPs at peak strength. Additionally, there were 54 Siebel ferries and some 30 I-Boote (infantry boats) of Lw.-Fährenflottillen 2 - 5 that came under Einsatzstab Fähre Süd from Nov 42 (Obstlt. Schiller-Köln) that were committed to the supply runs between Sicily and Tunisia. Records are incomplete, but between 6 Feb and 11 May 43 these four Lw.-Flottillen lost at least 19 SFs to Allied planes, 3 SFs to mines and 14 SFs to storms and running aground. About 10 of the I-Boote were lost during the same period. The four Flottillen were exclusively for the transporting of Luftwaffe personnel, equipment and supplies, giving rise to great bitterness on the part of the Army which was consistently undersupplied in Tunisia. (pages 113-31).
(Note: the unmistakeable assumption here is that ferries were operated by Luftwaffe personnel).

Also see:
1) Gröner, Erich. Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945. Band 7: Landungsverbände (II). Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1990. [Gives complete history and fate of all MFPs built plus a wealth of other detail.]

As stated above, all of ferry work for the Heer was carried out by the Kriegsmarine's 2. Landungs-Flottille, and its surviving historical records do not mention "rail ferries." But, as is always the case when discussing World War II, ANYTHING is possible.

BTW, where in upstate NY are you from? I'm originally from Rochester.

[PT Dockyard]

Sodus, actually. Half an hour from Rochester.


There is a picture in "Tigers in Combat, Vol. 1" showing Tigers getting on a rail ferry, possibly the "Reggio". It only shows a bit of the bow but it is definitely a rail ferry, not an MFP or Siebel Ferry.

Here is a picture of another one, The Aspromonte.

[Larry D.]

O.K., Sodus (I know it well, but from way back - I was born and raised in Brighton, a southeastern suburb of Rochester; in the early 'seventies I used to make frequent sales calls in the schools out there - Williamson, Sodus, Wolcott, Lyons, Marion, etc.),

The Kugler book makes oblique references to the Italians also being involved in ferrying equipment between Italy/Sicily and Tunisia. So, evidently, the rail ferries were all Italian. There weren't any there that belonged to the KM. For those I have no information, but it should not be too difficult to find a specialist on the Italian Navy who can help with these. I'm not into the mechanics of these things, just the history.

You work at Kodak? Kodak has employed a lot of folks from Sodus and the surrounding area over the years. I had a summer supervisor (Pete something, a big Dutch guy) in Building 30 (Film Emulsion) who lived in Sodus. That was the summer of '56.

--Larry

[PT Dockyard]

Nope. I am a Xerox Alumni and now work at Gleason.

Dave

[Larry D.]

From Webster to University Ave. downtown.....I guess that probably added some time to your daily commute. But it's worth it for the opportunity to raise your family away from the city. I left on 2 Jan 75 and haven't been back, so I'd probably lose my way around there now.

[PT Dockyard]

In between I was commuting to Syracuse so this drive is like going around the block, ESPECIALLY in January.

[Patrice]

Hello.
Two photographs from "Tigre I sur le front de l'ouest" of Jean Restayn,showing the loading of the Tiger n°112 and 132 on a barge for Tunisia, Reggio di Calabria on November 20, 1942.
Patrice.

[Byrden]

The first three Tigers of s.Pz.Abt. 501 (112, 132, 11) were transported by ship from the dock at Reggio;
http://tiger1.info/event/3-Tigers-board-ship-Reggio

Subsequent Tigers went by Siebel ferry from the Reggio beach;
http://tiger1.info/event/142-ferry-Reggio

They landed in Bizerte, except for Tiger 142 which landed in Tunis for propaganda photos;
http://tiger1.info/event/142-Tunis-arrival

David

[reinaart]

Subsequent Tigers went by Siebel ferry from the Reggio beach;
http://tiger1.info/event/142-ferry-Reggio

The vessel in the pic is definitely not a Siebel Ferry but a Marine Fahr Prahm (MFP). Siebel Ferries consisted of two hulls with a platform in between (not unlike a catamaran).

Regards,

Arjan

[Byrden]

Arjan;

Thank you very much. I updated my site.

David