View source for SS Adolph Woermann

{{Short description|German steam powered ocean liner}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= Ss adolph woermann seitenriß1.jpg
|Ship caption= ''Adolph Woermann''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header= 
|Ship name= ''Adolph Woermann''
|Ship owner= [[Woermann-Linie]]
|Ship operator= Woermann-Linie
|Ship registry=*{{flagicon|Weimar Republic|civil}} Hamburg (1922–35)
*{{Flagicon|Nazi Germany}} Hamburg (1935–39)
|Ship route= Hamburg — Africa
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= [[Blohm+Voss|Blohm & Voss]]
|Ship original cost= 
|Ship yard number= 395
|Ship way number= 
|Ship laid down= 
|Ship launched= 1922
|Ship completed= 
|Ship acquired= 
|Ship maiden voyage= 15 November 1922
|Ship in service= 
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship identification= *[[Code letters]] RDBH (until 1933)
*{{ICS|Romeo}}{{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|Hotel}}
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] DHAK (1934 onward)
*{{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Alpha}}{{ICS|Kilo}}
|Ship fate= [[Scuttling|scuttled]] 22 November 1939
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[Ocean liner]]
|Ship tonnage= *{{GRT|8577}}
*{{NRT|4944}}
|Ship displacement= 
|Ship length= {{cvt|433.5|ft|disp=flip}}
|Ship beam= {{cvt|58.2|ft|disp=flip}}
|Ship height= 
|Ship draught=
|Ship depth={{cvt|37.4|ft|disp=flip}}
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship power= 3,300 PSw
|Ship propulsion= *4 × [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbines]]
*[[Gear train|single reduction gearing]]
*1 × [[Propeller|screw]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|12|kn|km/h}}
|Ship capacity=*Passengers:
**1st class 100
**2nd class 57
**3rd class 134
|ship crew= 156
}}
|}

'''SS ''Adolph Woermann''''' was a German [[Steamship|steam]] [[ocean liner]] built in 1922 by [[Blohm+Voss|Blohm & Voss]] in [[Hamburg]] for the shipping lines [[Woermann-Linie]] (WL) and [[German East Africa Line]] (''Deutsche Ostafrika Linie'', DOAL) and named after German merchant, ship owner and politician [[Adolph Woermann]], and the fourth ship of the same name.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/woermann.shtml|title=German East Africa Line / Woermann Line |last1=Swiggum |first1=Susan |last2=Kohli |first2=Marjorie |work=TheShipsList |date=13 March 2008 |access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref>

==Details==
''Adolph Woermann'' was an oil-fuelled steamship. She had a set of four [[Blohm & Voss]] [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbines]] that drove a single [[Propeller|screw]] via [[Gear train|single reduction gearing]]. Her [[code letters]] were RDBH<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b0023.pdf |year=1930 |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |title=Lloyd's Register |volume=II |publisher=Lloyd's Register |via=Plimsoll Ship Data |access-date=26 October 2020}}</ref> until 1933–34, when they were superseded by the [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] DHAK.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/39/39b0016.pdf |year=1939 |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |title=Lloyd's Register |volume=II |publisher=Lloyd's Register |via=Plimsoll Ship Data |access-date=26 October 2020}}</ref>

==Peacetime service==
''Adolph Woermann'' ran aground at [[Cape Spartivento]], [[Sardinia]], [[Italy]], on 24 October 1928.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Casualty reports |date=25 October 1928 |page=28 |issue=45033 |column=B }}</ref> She was refloated on 26 October 1928.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The wreck of the Cairntorr |date=27 October 1928 |page=22 |issue=45035 |column=E}}</ref>

In the early 1930s the future jazz pianist and composer [[Charles Segal (pianist)|Charles Segal]] and future actor [[Laurence Harvey]] were passengers on ''Adolph Woermann'' from [[Port of Hamburg|Hamburg]] to [[Port of Cape Town|Cape Town]] when their mothers, who were half-sisters, emigrated taking their children from [[Lithuania]] to [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==Second World War==
At the outbreak of World War II, ''Adolph Woermann'' was at [[Lobito]] in [[Portuguese Angola]] on a homeward voyage. Portuguese authorities detained her but on 16 November 1939 she left Lobito disguised as the Portuguese ship ''Nyassa'' to try to reach South America.

[[File:Capt-burfeind.jpg|thumb|upright|Otto Burfeind]]
The UK [[Reefer ship|refrigerated]] [[cargo liner]] {{MV|Waimarama||2}} traced ''Adolph Woermann'' and alerted the [[Royal Navy]] [[light cruiser]] {{HMS|Neptune|20|6}}. When ''Neptune'' approached on 22 November, ''Adolph Woermann's'' [[Master mariner|master]], Otto Burfeind, evacuated his ship and scuttled her according to standing orders.

Crew and passengers were rescued in a friendly manner by the ''Neptune's'' crew. It is reported that one ''Neptune'' crew member was injured in trying to save the liner by going aboard to close the [[seacock]]s. Passengers and crew of ''Adolph Woermann'' were taken to England and interned at [[Seaton, Devon]].

In 1940 most of the internees from Seaton, including Captain Burfeind and his crew, were put aboard {{SS|Arandora Star||2}} to be transferred to Canada. On 2 July 1940 the {{GS|U-47|1938|6}} torpedoed ''Arandora Star''. Burfeind remained aboard, helping to organise ''Arandora Star''{{'}}s evacuation, until she sank and he was lost.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Kludas |first=Arnold |year=1975 |title=Die Schiffe der deutschen afrika-linien 1880–1945 |place=Hamburg |publisher=Stalling Verlag |isbn=978-3797918673 }}
*{{cite book |last=Rothe |first=Claus |year=1987 |title=Deutsche Ozean-Passagierschiffe 1919 bis 1985 |place=Moers |publisher=Steiger Verlag |isbn=978-3921564974 }}

{{1928 shipwrecks}}
{{November 1939 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adolph Woermann}}
[[Category:1922 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Hamburg]]
[[Category:Steamships of Germany]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of Germany]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1928]]
[[Category:World War II passenger ships of Germany]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in November 1939]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]