''Monte Pascoal'' was a German built in 1930 by

Blohm & Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

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 ...

for the Hamburg-Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft (HSDG). She managed to reach Germany after the outbreak of

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 requisitioned by the

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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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

for use as an

accommodation ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for sai ...

. She was sunk in 1944 during an Allied air raid on

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

. Subsequently, refloated, she was seized by the Allies post war and was scuttled 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 ...

with a cargo of gas bombs in 1946. She can be briefly seen moored in London's docks in the short 1939 travelogue fil
"River Thames"

Description

''Monte Pascoal'' was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of . The ship was assessed at , . She was powered by four four stroke single cycle, single action

diesel engines The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the die ...

which drove twin screw propellers through single reduction gearing. The engines were built by Blohm & Voss and rated at 1,436 NHP, giving her a speed of . The ship had berths for 2,500 third class. This was reduced to 1,500 when she was used for cruises.

History

''Monte Pascoal'' was built as

yard number The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9 ...

491 by Blohm & Voss for HSDG. She was launched on 17 September 1930 and completed on 15 January 1931. Her

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 ...

were RHVM until 1934, when they were superseded by the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

DIDT. The ship made her maiden voyage on 26 January, sailing from Hamburg to ports on the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, South America. Apart from use on the South American route, she also operated cruises off the coast of Norway and in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. Her port of registry was Hamburg. In August 1933, she operated a series of cruises between Hamburg and

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

In the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

''Monte Pascoal'' repatriated 226 German volunteers from

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

back to Hamburg in June 1937. In January 1939, a ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

Heinkel He 115 The Heinkel He 115 was an all-metal twin-engined military seaplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. Early on its flying history, the He 115 established several new international records for floatplanes. The He 1 ...

aircraft, registration D-AEHF, suffered an engine failure over the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The aircraft landed alongside ''Monte Pascoal'', which rescued the crew and lifted the aircraft from the water using a derrick at the bow of the ship. When the

Second World War 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 ...

broke out in September 1939, ''Monte Pascoal'' was in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina. Departing on 10 September without passengers and two of her crew having refused to sail, she successfully returned to Germany, arriving at Hamburg on 14 October 1939. On 11 January 1941 the

requisitioned ''Monte Pascoal''. She was used as an

. On 3 February 1944 the United States

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...

bombed Wilhelmshaven. ''Monte Pascoal'' was set afire and was scuttled. She was refloated on 12 May and beached. In May 1945 the UK seized her as a

prize of war A prize of war (also called spoils of war, bounty or booty) is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 1 ...

. On 5 August 1946 she left Wilhelmshaven for Hamburg. ''Monte Pascoal'' was scuttled in the

on 31 December 1946 with a cargo of obsolete gas bombs aboard.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monte Pascoal (1930) 1930 ships Ships built in Hamburg Passenger ships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Maritime incidents in February 1944 Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1946 Scuttled vessels Shipwrecks in the North Sea