SS Karlsruhe (1905)

The SS Karlsruhe was a German cargo ship from 1905 of the Hamburg America Line, which was sunk on 13 April 1945 with great loss of life by Soviet airplanes, during Operation Hannibal.

SS Karlsruhe
History
Name: Karlsruhe
Owner: Hamburg-America Line
Port of registry: Hamburg
Route: Hamburg America Line's North Atlantic route
Builder: Schichau Seebeckwerft
Yard number: 228
Launched: 1905
Fate: Destroyed April 13, 1945
General characteristics
Tonnage: 897 GRT
Length: 66,30 m
Beam: 10,10 m
Depth: 3,70 m
Installed power: 2 x 3 cyl. triple expansion engines, dual shaft
Propulsion: Twin Screw
Sail plan: steam
Speed: 8 knots

History

The ship was built in 1905 at the Schichau Seebeck shipyard in Bremerhaven for the Hamburg-American Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG or Hamburg America Line). In 1918 Thomas Kier, formerly captain of the SS Imperator, became captain of the Karlsruhe. In 1935 the ship was acquired by the Ernst Russ Reederei and it stayed in service for them until 1945.

Last voyage

On April 11, 1945, the Karlsruhe took 1,083 refugees on board in Pillau (today Baltiysk) and left the port at around 8 p.m. for the Hel Peninsula, where the ship arrived on April 12, 1945 in the morning. There, a convoy was formed with the steamers SS Santander, SS Karlsruhe and three minesweepers, which departed at around 9 a.m for Copenhagen.

The overloaded Karlsruhe was not able to keep up with the required speed of the convoy of 9 knots, and could only run a good 7 knots, and fell behind. On April 13, 1945, she was attacked by Soviet planes north of Stolpmünde (today Ustka in Poland) and hit with a torpedo. The ship broke in two and sank in 3–4 minutes time. The minesweepers of the 25th minesweeping flotilla, M 294 (Kapitänleutnant Volberts) and M 341 (Oberleutnant zur See Henry Peter Rickmers) were able to save only 150 of the approximately 1083 refugees (M294: 63 - M341: 87). The other 933 passengers perished.

Discovery of the wreck and speculations

The well preserved wreck was located and inspected by Polish divers in July 2020.
A number of sealed coffins on board revive the hope of finding the Amber Room from the Catherine Palace, which was looted by the Germans in 1941 and disappeared in East Prussia during the last month of the war.

Sources
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