MV Alstertor

MV ''Alstertor'' was a refrigerated cargo ship built in 1938 for Anders Jahres Rederi A/S of Sandefjord, Norway by Oresundsvarvet, Landskrona, Sweden as MV ''Rose''. In 1939 a German ship-owning firm, , bought her to transport fruit between Santos, Brazil and Hamburg. In 1940 the Kriegsmarine requisitioned her and converted her into a support ship for naval operations in the Atlantic.

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of . She was assessed as , .

The ship was powered by a Burmeister & Wain 9-50VF-90 two-stroke Single Cycle, Single Action diesel engine, which had nine cylinders of diameter by stroke driving a single screw propeller. Rated at 606 nhp, it could propel her at .

Early history

Öresundsvarvet built ''Rose'' as yard number 38 at Landskrona, Sweden for Anders Jahre Reederi, Sandefjord, Norway. She was launched on 22 January 1938, and completed on 6 June. She was registered at Sandefjord and her call sign was LJWX. In 1939 Rob. M. Sloman bought her and renamed her ''Alstertor''. She was re-registered in Hamburg and her call sign was changed to DKAW.

Fruit transport

On the 4 July 1939 ''Alstertor'' left Hamburg to collect oranges and bananas from Santos.

World War II

Crew

The crew of the ''Alstertor'' consisted of 98 officers and crew drawn from Kriegsmarine and German merchant marine.
There were four Kriegsmarine and ten merchant service officers, eight Kriegsmarine petty officers (German: Obermaat or Maat) and 46 Kriegsmarine crew and 30 merchant service crew.

A further 62 naval ratings of various rank were embarked for the last cruise. These were meant to be supplied to other ships that didn't have a full complement.

First wartime cruise

At the start of World War II, ''Alstertor'' was moored in Hamburg. She was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine and quickly refitted as a troop and supply ship in preparation for Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway. Once loaded with munitions, she sailed for Stavanger on the 19 April 1940, where she unloaded her cargo of a 10.5 cm FlaK 38 shore defence artillery piece on 28 April 1940 and returned in May.

In June 1940 the ship again sailed for Norway with a cargo of munitions that were offloaded in Trondheim. In Trondheim, ''Alstertor'' sailed with a contingent of Austrian Alpine troops, known as the Gebirgsjäger, that were debarked at Narvik on about 16 June 1940. ''Alstertor'' remained in Narvik for two days, while she embarked a contingent of wounded soldiers that were to be taken back to Trondheim for treatment. While in Trondheim, ''Alstertor'' was attacked from the air, but was unharmed.

''Alstertor'' repeated the journey between Narvik and Trondheim three times. Each time, troops were taken to Narvik and wounded troops were brought back on the return journey. In September 1940, ''Alstertor'' embarked police and members of the German Labour Front, whom were taken to Hammerfest to be put to work, building roads. On the return journey, ''Alstertor'' had to put into Trondjhem, due to a failure of her engine. At the end of November, ''Alstertor'' travelled back to Hamburg.

Outfitting and supplies

Upon arrival in Hamburg, extensive modifications to expand the available space for supplies were made to ''Alstertor''. The forward holds were converted into prison cells for between 300 and 350 prisoners. To increase ''Alstertor'' defensive capability, four 2cm anti-aircraft guns were fitted on deck. Extra tanks containing either oil or water were fitted on deck. Containers measuring were also placed on the main deck to store large calibre ammunition and torpedo parts.

For the next cruise and last cruise that ''Alstertor'' made, the following supplies were taken on:
* 1,500 shells.
* A large number of smaller calibre shells.
* 10 torpedoes
* 20 leather hoses, approximately long. These were to be used to supply oil from another ship.
* 2 Arado Ar 196 seaplanes.
* 300 2nd class, 158 1st class and 1 Knight Insignia Iron Crosses. These awards were for the men and officers of Raider 33, known as German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin.
* A large number of provisions e.g. tinned goods and sacks of potatoes.
* 50 scuttling charges.

Last cruise

On 15 January 1941, ''Alstertor'' sailed from Hamburg, through the English Channel by night and arrived in Brest three days later, where it embarked
additional naval personnel. ''Alstertor'' remained in Brest for a full week, while minor repairs were completed and ship refuelled. ''Alstertor'' sailed on 25 January 1941 and was escorted during the first day by two E-boats.

On or about 8 February 1941, ''Alstertor'' made contact with ship of 8000 tons to receive secret orders. At the end of February ''Alstertor'' met a 10,000 ton tanker. It shipped oil to ''Alstertor'' and in turn supplied provisions and munitions to the tanker.

At the beginning of March, ''Alstertor'' made contact with the German auxiliary cruiser ''Pinguin'' (known as "Raider F", or "''schiff'' 33") and German auxiliary cruiser ''Kormoran'' ("Raider G", ''schiff'' 41) in the Indian Ocean. ''Alstertor'' accompanied ''Pinguin'' and ''Kormoran'' to the Kerguelen Islands, where the transfer of supplies took place in a sheltered bay. ''Kormoran'' was refuelled, with 750 15 cm shells and 20mm ammunition. On the 14 March 1941, ''Alstertor'' rendezvoused with the , in the same bay and was supplied with munitions. ''Pinguin'' moored for 11 days in Gazelle Bay, while receiving supplies that included 600 15 cm. shells and 20 mm. ammunition, an aircraft in a crate, as well as four torpedoes and embarking between 40 and 50 naval ratings. In return, ''Pinguin'' transferred 500 cases of eggs to ''Alstertor'', that had been seized from ''Duquesa'' that was captured by the in the South Atlantic in December, 1941. ''Admiral Scheer'' had passed ''Duquesa'' to ''Pinguin'', to be stripped of supplies. ''Duquesa'' remained alongside ''Pinguin'' for four weeks before being scuttled.

On the 25 March 1941, ''Alstertor'' left to meet Raider 36, the German auxiliary cruiser Orion in the Indian Ocean,. rendezvousing on the 10 April 1940. ''Orion'' had originally planned to debark prisoners to ''Alstertor'' but these were transferred to another ship. ''Alstertor'' also replenished Raider 16, the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis.

Prison ship

At this point in the cruise, ''Alstertor'' changed her function from one of supply into a prison ship. ''Alstertor'' cruised off the coast of South Africa for two weeks until the 24 April 1941 when the crew were ordered, in a transmission from the Norddeich Short Wave Station, to return to port. After four days sailing, the orders were countermanded by a new order to rendezvous with ''Pinguin'' in the Indian Ocean and embark prisoners. However, after ten days sailing, the crew were informed that the auxiliary cruiser, ''Pinguin'' had been sunk. ''Alstertor'' was ordered to sail to a position in the Atlantic and embark prisoners from . On the 15 June 1941, ''Alstertor'' met ''Babitonga'' that was disguised as the US ship at position 13° N. 45° W. ''Alstertor'' embarked 79 people that combined, made up the crews of two ships, ''Rabaul'' and ''Trafalgar'' that were sunk by the auxiliary cruiser ''Atlantis''. The prisoners had been transferred to ''Babitonga'' from ''Atlantis'' on 30 May 1941. A quantity of baggage was also loaded aboard ''Alstertor'', that was taken from the Egyptian liner , that ''Atlantis'' had sunk on the 17 April 1941.

Scuttling

After the transfer was completed ''Alstertor'' changed course to head back to port, while ''Babitonga'' set course south. At 9:44 on 22 June 1941 ''Alstertor'' was sighted by ocean boarding vessel . A later signal sent by ''Marsdale'' reported that the vessel had disappeared at position 35° 52' N., 18° 42' W travelling at 17 knots. The vessel was reported to resemble ''Alstertor''.

On the 14:30 on 22 June 1941, the 8th Destroyer Flotilla consisting of the , , , and was ordered to patrol in the vicinity of 42° 00'N., 12° 00'W, in a search for ''Alstertor''. At the same time, Dudley North, Vice-Admiral Commanding, North Atlantic ordered two Consolidated Catalina flying boats to patrol the area where ''Alstertor'' was suspected to be. At 19:45, Catalina ''W8410'' reported she was engaging the enemy at position 37° 17' N., 16° 20' W on a course 045° at 12 knots. At 21:00, ''Alstertor'' was bombed but no damage was taken. Her position at that point was then 37° 30' N., 16° 04'W., with her course and speed as before. At 2245 the second Catalina (''W8415''), bombed ''Alstertor'' without effective damage. On the 23 June 1941, at 00:30 hour, the aircraft lost touch with the ship.

During this period, the crew of ''Alstertor'' were in the utmost confusion. They had assumed that the journey home would have been event free, but when the aircraft appeared, a senior naval officer, ''Oberleutnant zur See'' Block, had taken command. When Block saw the Catalina's drop marker flares to disclose ''Alstertor''s position, Block assumed the aircraft were signalling approaching warships and ordered all ''Alstertor'' codebooks to be burned. This left ''Alstertor''s radio operator unable to decipher incoming messages from German Naval Command, that would have provided instructions on how to get home to port safely.

At 14:42, 23 June 1941, ''Alstertor'' was again sighted, at a position off Cape Finisterre, by the destroyer flotilla, which had been operating on a modified conforming curve of search.

By 16:09, ''Alstertor'' had stopped and was abandoning ship. At 16:35 she was scuttled. The survivors, consisting of the entire crew and the 79 prisoners who had been on board, were picked up by ''Faulknor'', ''Fearless'' and ''Fury''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alstertor
1938 ships
Ships built in Landskrona
Merchant ships of Sweden
Maritime incidents in June 1941
Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine