SS Wandrahm (1927)

Wandrahm was German a cargo ship built in 1927. She was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War, serving as Schiff 4, V 1801 Wandrahm and V 6114 Eismeer. Post-war, she was allocated to the Soviet Union. Renamed Onega, she was used as a factory ship. She was on the shipping registers until 1969.

Description

As built, the ship was 72.97 metres (239 ft 5 in) long, with a beam of 11.48 metres (37 ft 8 in) and a depth of 4.37 metres (14 ft 4 in). She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine which had cylinders of 44.9 centimetres (17+11⁄16 in), 71.9 centimetres (28+5⁄16 in) and 116.0 centimetres (45+11⁄16 in) diameter by 84.9 centimetres (33+7⁄16 in) stroke. The engine was built by Stettiner Oderwerke, Stettin, Germany. Rated at 120nhp, it drove a single screw propeller, and could propel the ship at 8 to 10 knots (15 to 19 km/h).

History

Wandrahm was built in 1927 as yard number 735 by Stettiner Oderwerke for H. M. Gehrckens, Hamburg, Germany. She was launched on 29 November 1927. The Code Letters RGLV were allocated. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to DHZK.

On 30 September 1939, Wandrahm was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine. She was designated "Schiff 4" and allocated to 5 Vorpostengruppe. The vorpostengruppe was disbanded on 22 May 1940 and she was reallocated to 18 Vorpostenflotille, serving as V 1801 Wandrahm. On 31 August 1940, she was reallocated to 61 Vorpostenflotille, serving as V 6114 Eismeer.

Eismeer was allocated to the Soviet Union post-war as part of the war reparations. She was renamed Onega (Онега). She was used as a factory ship based in Murmansk. She collected fish from trawlers and processed it before delivery to port. It was found that her hold capacity was too small compared to Liberty ships also used in that role. Therefore, Onega was rebuilt to increase her hold capacity. Following the rebuild, she was assessed at 1,668 GRT, 683 NRT. Withdrawn from service in 1964, she was mentioned in an accident report in 1965, and was still on the shipping registers in 1969.

External links

• Photograph of Onega
• Photograph of Onega

References

1. SS Jupiter (Ropner, 1895)
2. SS Dr. Heinrich Wiegand (1938)
3. SS Birka (1937)
4. German minesweeper Sperrbrecher 18
5. SS Oldenburg (1936)
6. SS Rhineland (1938)
7. SS Nerissa (1936)
8. German trawler V 104 Falke
9. German trawler V 102 Cressida
10. SS Friedrich Karl (1938)
11. SS Reiher (1909)
12. SS Phönix (1913)
13. German trawler V 1502 Wiking 6
14. HMS Nordland
15. German trawler V 622 Almuth
16. SS Odd I (1912)
17. German trawler V 421 Rauzan
18. German trawler V 212 Friedrich Busse
19. German trawler V 107 Botilla Russ
20. German trawler V 405 J. Hinrich Wilhelms