Help me identify Hitler's Yacht ( pic incl)

[streetdaddy]

My grandfather was in the Merchant Marines in 1946. He is the one in the upper left hand corner. (Loren Freeman) He took a ride down the Rhine river in one of Hitler's yachts and sent this letter home to his parents. I believe this pic was taken on this trip. Maybe someone could help identify which ship this was? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Maxschnauzer]

Great picture and letter and welcome to the Forum!

Hitler's Official State Yacht was the Grille (shown here passing the Admiral Scheer) which was more like 370 ft. long obviously not the 70 ft. boat referred to in the letter:

grille_adm_scheer.jpg

It was probably something more on the scale of Göring's yacht the Carin II which was a 90 footer:

ww10.jpg

I don't know how many other boats were available to der Führer, I imagine as many as he wanted.

[Ironmachine]

AFAIK, Hitler had a river yacht that he used on the Rhine river. Her name was Hansestadt Koln, and she was captured at the end of the war in fairly good state. I don't have a picture of her, but she may be the one on your father's pic.
Regards.

[Maxschnauzer]

I believe you're right, Ironmachine. Here are two faded newspaper clippings concerning the Hansestadt Köln being taken over by the Yanks (it seems to fit the description of the glass enclosures):

MVC-050S.JPG

MVC-051S.JPG

"It was liberated by the USA 329th Harbor Craft Company and is so documented in a book titled "History of the 329th Harbor Craft Company World War II" -https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/history- ... t-24715-2/

[Ironmachine]

I have found a far clearer view of the yatch:

river yatch.jpg

Source: http://www.trailblazersww2.org/photos_20.htm

[streetdaddy]

That's awesome guys! I think your right on the smaller yacht. In the faded pics from ironmachine i can see the round portholes below the deck. These correspond with the round window in my picture. I wish i could have asked my grandfather questions about his time over there. He passed away in 1986, when i was in 8th grade and had no interest in ww2. Bet that happens alot.

[Maxschnauzer]

Streetdaddy, Here's an article on the history of the ship and how it looks today:http://www.rheinische-industriekultur.d ... koeln.html

ansicht_panorama_08.jpg

It would be neat if you could visit it someday and get your picture taken where your Grandad stood.

[Felix C]

There was an article in the Miami Herald a few decades ago about Hitler's yacht but it was a sloop type vessel not a cabin motor cruiser. Said vessel was then in Miami and of course at that time there were many WW2era Jews living and active here so it was a bit of news item. There was an issue with the vessel being seaworthy and bills owed to different parties.

[Maxschnauzer]

There was an article in the Miami Herald a few decades ago about Hitler's yacht but it was a sloop type vessel not a cabin motor cruiser. Said vessel was then in Miami and of course at that time there were many WW2era Jews living and active here so it was a bit of news item. There was an issue with the vessel being seaworthy and bills owed to different parties.

That's a really interesting story, Felix. I was not aware of that. Here's the story according to the AP in 1989:

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ The remnants of Adolf Hitler's yacht, sent to a watery grave recently by a group of Holocaust survivors, were refloated and sunk again Thursday in a deeper resting place off Miami Beach.
Air bags were used to raise the skeleton-like remains of the Ostwind from atop a shallow reef, where it was mistakenly dumped June 4 during ceremonies observing the 50th anniversary of the ''Voyage of the Damned.''
''We've said all along that ship has bad vibes,'' said Linda Arter, a marina worker at A-1 Marine and Commercial Wrecking in Jacksonville. ''It just doesn't seem to want to go away quietly.''
The yacht, intended as an artificial reef, threatened marine life on the coral reef and was a hazard to ships.
An apparent navigational error caused the yacht to be dumped into 25 feet of water as 27 survivors from the SS St. Louis' 1939 voyage watched. The ceremony commemorated the United States' refusal that year to accept the ship carrying 937 Jewish refugees, many of whom perished later in Nazi concentration camps.
A tugboat spent more than three hours Thursday pulling the 85-foot yacht underwater to a 250-foot-deep spot two miles offshore, where the steel cable was cut with a blow torch and the ship sunk to the rocky bottom. The event was supervised by state environmental officials.
''This is an opportunity to retell the story of the Voyage of the Damned,'' said Rabbi Barry Konovitch of the Cuban-Hebrew Congregation in Miami Beach. ''A bit of good may have come from this event.''
The Fountainebleau Hilton hotel on Miami Beach put up $10,000 to move the Ostwind into deeper water. The Army Corps of Engineers ordered the yacht moved or government crews would dismantle the remains and bill Miami Beach officials.
Prior to the resinking a Senate proclamation acknowledging the Voyage of Damned was read by State Sen. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, a Republican candidate to succeed the late congressman Claude Pepper.
The Ostwind was commissioned in 1938 by Hitler as an Olympic racing vessel, but it was never entered in competition and was used instead by Nazi officials. Hitler apparently only used the vessel once or twice.
The United States took possession of the Ostwind as a war prize and it was used as a training craft at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., until it was sold as surplus in the late 1950s. The yacht was then held by various owners in Florida and sold in the mid-1970s to a Nazi memorabilia collector from Massachusetts.
The collector brought the Ostwind to A-1 Marine and Commercial Wrecking for repairs. But the collector never completed work on the vessel and failed to pay for the dock space.
Marina owner J.J. Nelson took possession of the yacht in 1981. The boat was repeatedly vandalized and Nelson rejected an offer by a Nazi group in Chicago to buy the vessel for a shrine.
Last year, Nelson contacted Miami Beach officials about using the remains as a reef. It was transported last month from Jacksonville aboard a large barge.

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1989/Hitle ... 0f258cbb24

Here's the Ostwind in better days:

ostwind-2-335x438.jpg

[Felix C]

Yes. Ostwind. It is all coming back now. Thanks.

[tigre]

Hello to all ; another picture..............................

Grille.

Sources: Bilden Aus Dem leben des Führer.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Condor234]

Re - Other responses.

I understand Hitler had 3 yachts. One larger one on the Baltic Sea - I believe you see that photo. One a sailing vessel. Also with a photo.

The third was on the Rhine. The Stars and Stripes article shows a picture which matches a photo my Dad had of the boat - named - Hansestadt - according to the article.

I tried to attached the scan I have of the article - but the file was too large. If you provide other means to send the scan let me know.

Glenn Mitchell

[ManfredV]

"Hansestadt Köln" was a representative excursion ship of Cologne and used for trips with prominent guests. So Hitler used it two times.
"Ostwind" and "Grille" were both ships of Kriegsmarine which were used by Hitler, other important Nazi leaders and Kriegsmarine admirals like Raeder and Dönitz. "Grille" was armed and used in WWII f.e. as commander ship.
But Hitler never owned a yacht or had one for his exclusive use.

[Lizziehassell1]

I ran across your post this morning bc I was researching a photo that my father took durring ww2. He always claimed it was from when they took Hitler's yacht and road it down the Rhine river. I saw your photo and completely flipped bc the picture I have has all the same people!