''Sperrbrecher 18'' was a

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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

sperrbrecher A ''Sperrbrecher'' (German; informally translated as "pathfinder" but literally meaning "mine barrage breaker"), was a German auxiliary ship of the First World War and the Second World War that served as a type of minesweeper, steaming ahead of o ...

'' that was built in 1930 as the cargo ship ''Schürbek'' by

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft is a German shipbuilding company located in Flensburg. The company trades as ''Flensburger'' and is commonly abbreviated ''FSG''. History ''Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft'' was founded in 1872 by a group of ...

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

for Knöhr & Burchardt,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. She was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was designated ''Schiff 40'' and later ''Sperrbrecher 18''. Severely damaged in an Allied air raid on Hamburg in March 1945, she was declared a

constructive total loss Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance a sub-branch of mari ...

and scrapped in 1948–49.

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at , . She was powered by a four-cylinder

compound steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

, which had two cylinders of diameter and two cylinders of diameter by stroke. The engine was built by A. Borsig GmbH.,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. It was rated at 272 nhp and drove a screw propeller. It could propel her at . When operated as a ''Sperrbrecher'', the ship was armed with two 10.5 cm SK L/45 naval guns, six 3.7 cm anti-aircraft guns and four 2 cm anti-aircraft guns.

History

''Schürbek'' was built as yard number 418 by

for Knöhr & Burchardt,

. She was launched on 10 April 1930 and completed on 3 June. Her port of registry was Hamburg and the

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of ...

RHPN were allocated. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to DHUU. On 19 August 1939, ''Schürbek'' collided with the Portuguese steamship ''Corte Real'' at

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, Netherlands. Both vessels were damaged. On 5 September 1939, she was requisitioned by the

. Allocated the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

TS(K)2 and designated ''Schiff 40'', she was allocated to 6 ''Vorpostengruppe'' on 23 December as a

Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchantman, armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the c ...

. On 20 January 1940, her pennant number was changed to TS(K)1. ''Schürbek'' was placed under the control of the Führer der Sonderverband West. On 10 April 1940, ''Schürbek'' was attacked by the British submarine west of

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

. ''Tarpon''s torpedoes missed, and ''Schürbek'' and the minesweeper delivered a sustained depth charge attack over several hours, which sank ''Tarpon''. On 12 April 1940, ''Schürbek'' was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

ed and damaged in the

Skaggerak The Skagerrak (; , , ) is a strait running between the North Jutlandic Island of Denmark, the east coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea. The Skagerrak contains some of the busiest shipping ...

by the British submarine . : "On the 14th, ''Sunfish'', who had unknowingly revenged ''Tarpon'' by torpedoing the Q-ship ''Schürbeck''..." She was under repair from 10 September to 19 December, and was recommissioned as the auxiliary minesweeper ''Sperrbrecher 18'', joining the 3rd ''Sperrbrecherflotille'', operating off Norway and in the Baltic. On 12 March 1945, ''Sperrbrecher 18'' was severely damaged in an American air raid on Hamburg and was declared a

. Although allocated to the United Kingdom post-war,

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

shows that she remained under the German flag under her original name. ''Schürbek'' was scrapped in 1948–49.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sperrbrecher 18 1930 ships Ships built in Flensburg Merchant ships of Germany Steamships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Maritime incidents in 1939 Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Maritime incidents in April 1940 Maritime incidents in March 1945 Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom