''Widder'' (HSK 3) was an

auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

(''Hilfskreuzer'') of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'' that was used as a

merchant raider Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels. History Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...

in the Second World War. Her Kriegsmarine designation was Schiff 21, to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

she was Raider D. The name ''Widder'' (Ram) represents the

constellation Aries Aries is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It is located in the Northern celestial hemisphere between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east. The name Aries is Latin for ram. Its traditional astrological symbol is (♈︎). It is on ...

in German.

Early history

Built at

Howaldtswerke Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (often abbreviated HDW) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. It is part of the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) group, owned by ThyssenKrupp. The Howaldtswerke shipyard was founded in Kiel i ...

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, she was launched in 1929 as the

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

''Neumark'' for the

Hamburg America Line The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent Germ ...

(HAPAG). In 1939 the ''

'' requisitioned her for use as a commerce raider. She was converted by

Blohm+Voss Blohm is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Hans Blohm C.M. (born 1927), photographer and author *Hermann Blohm (1848–1930), German businessman and co-founder of German company Blohm+Voss *Irma Blohm (1909–1997), German politi ...

in late 1939, and commissioned as the raider ''Widder'' on 9 December of that year. She sailed on her first and only raiding voyage in May 1940.

Raider voyage

''Widder'' sailed as part of the Kriegsmarine's first wave of commerce raiders, sailing on 6 May 1940 under the command of ''

Korvettenkapitän (; ) is the lowest ranking Field officer, senior officer in the German navy. Germany Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer military rank, rank () in the German Navy. Address The official manner, in li ...

'' (later ''

Fregattenkapitän () is the middle ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies. Austro-Hungary Belgium Germany , short: FKpt / in lists: FK, is the middle Senior officer military rank, rank () in the German Navy. It is the equivalent o ...

'') Helmuth von Ruckteschell. Leaving Germany on 6 May 1940, she made for

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, in Norway. On 13 May ''Widder'' encountered the British submarine on the surface, exchanging gunfire for more than an hour, with no hits for either side. After the engagement, the cruiser sheltered in

Sandsfjord Sandsfjorden or Sandsfjord is a fjord in Suldal Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The long fjord is the northernmost arm of main Boknafjorden in Rogaland county. It begins at the confluence of the Saudafjorden and Hylsfjorden, just nor ...

. On 14 May she put to sea, crossing the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

the next day. On 21 August 1940, 800 miles west of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, she sank , which had been carrying coal from

Newport, Wales Newport ( ) is a city and Principal areas of Wales, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. The population grew considerably between the 2011 and the 2021 Unit ...

, to

Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: ''White Bay''), colloquially referred to by its own local inhabitants as simply Bahía, is a city in the Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires province of Argentina, centered on the northwestern end of the eponymous Blanc ...

, Argentina. After refuelling from the auxiliary ship ''Nordmark'', she slipped through the

Denmark Strait The Denmark Strait is the strait that separates Greenland from Iceland. Geography The strait connects the Greenland Sea, an extension of the Arctic Ocean, to the Irminger Sea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is long. The narrowest part o ...

. Over a 5½ month period she captured and sank ten ships, totalling . ''Widder'' was reported to have machine-gunned the crew of ''Anglo Saxon'' in their lifeboats. One

jolly boat The jolly boat was a type of ship's boat in use during the 18th and 19th centuries. Used mainly to ferry personnel to and from the ship, or for other small-scale activities, it was, by the 18th century, one of several types of ship's boat. The de ...

with seven crewmen survived. Over two months later, on 27 October, the last two survivors in the boat landed in the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

after a 2,275-mile voyage. One of the two was killed when his next ship was torpedoed in 1941. The other survived the war and testified against von Ruckteschell, who was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for war crimes. He died in prison in 1948. Having completed her mission, she returned to occupied France on 31 October 1940.

Later history

Deemed unsuitable as a

due to persistent drive problems, ''Widder'' was re-christened ''Neumark'', and used as a repair ship in Norway, playing a major role in repairing the battleship in 1943–44. After the war she was taken into British merchant service as ''Ulysses'', then sold back to Germany as ''Fechenheim'' in 1951. She was converted into a

motor ship A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The names of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V. Engines for motorships were developed during the 1890s, and by th ...

in 1954. She was wrecked off

in 1955, and scrapped shortly after. She was one of only two German auxiliary cruisers to survive the war, after one 1940 cruise. Her captain, Helmuth von Ruckteschell, was one of only two German naval commanders convicted of

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

at the end of the war.

Raiding career

References

* * *

External links

Hilfskreuzer Widder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Widder 1929 ships Auxiliary cruisers of the Kriegsmarine Maritime incidents in 1955 Ships built in Kiel Ships built in Hamburg Ships sunk with no fatalities Shipwrecks in the North Sea World War II commerce raiders World War II cruisers of Germany