NICOLAOS D.L.
| Name : | NICOLAOS D.L. |
| Griechischer Name : | ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΣ Δ.Λ. |
| Schiffstyp : | Frachter |
| Internat. Rufzeichen : | SVZB |
| Hafenamt : | Piräus 956 |
| Besitzer : | 1939-41 Cephalonian Maritime Co. Ltd (N.D. Lykiardopoulos, Manager), Piräus, Griechenland |
| Bauwerft : | W. Gray & Co. Ld., West Hartlepool, England |
| Baunummer : | 1093 |
| Baujahr : | 1939 |
| Stapellauf : | 04.02.1939 |
| Indienststellung : | 00.04.1939 |
| Größe (BRT) : | 5.486 |
| Größe (NRT) : | 3.210 |
| Länge (m) : | 134,4 |
| Breite (m) : | 17,6 |
| Tiefgang (m) : | 8,2 |
| Besatzung : | 38 |
| Maschine : | Dampfmaschine/Dreifach-Expansion/3 Zielinder/Cen. Mar. Eng., West Hartlepool, England |
| Leistung : | 492 NHP |
| Propeller : | 1 |
12.04.41 "As the Kormoran was heading westwards towards the US Neutrality Zone, smoke was spotted to the south at first light on April 12.
Increasing speed and altering course southwards before the vessel came over the horizon, and closing in to take a better look at her, Detmers found that she was a medium-sized freighter on a south-easterly course with a deck cargo of timber, which made identification difficult.
Once satisfied that she was not American, he requested her name, and although slow to respond, she eventually identified herself as the Greek, Nicolaos D. L.
On receipt of this information Detmers instructed her captain to stop his engines and to maintain radio silence, but when he failed to comply with either order, a few well-aimed salvoes quickly changed his mind.
As he brought his ship to a halt, and his crew began to lower their lifeboats, the raider’s boarding party was already on its way, and soon reported back that the 5,486-ton N.D. Lykiardopoulos freighter, carrying a cargo of Oregon pine, above and below decks, from Vancouver to Durban by way of the Panama Canal, had sustained serious damage to her bridge and steering gear.
Although a fine ship with a valuable cargo, Detmers realised that as so much damage had been done, there was no point in keeping her as a prize.
Her thirty-eight-man crew came alongside the Kormoran in their lifeboats as demolition charges were placed in her engine-room, and the lashings of her deck cargo were undone.
The explosion failed to sink her, and it soon became clear that, while going down slowly, here was yet another ship being kept afloat by her cargo.
Reluctant to waste a torpedo, Detmers instructed his gunners to try to set the deck cargo ablaze with their 20mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns, but the timber would not catch fire, and when four 150mm direct hits on the waterline also failed to sink her, he decided that as his operators had failed to jam her distress calls, which had been acknowledged by several other ships, the Nicolaos D.L. would best be left to sink in her own good time.
Moving quickly away from the stricken ship, which was slowly shedding her deck cargo into the sea, plank by plank, Detmers headed south to rendezvous once more with the Nordmark, the raider Atlantis, and two other German ships, the 5,567-ton Dresden and the 4,422-ton Babitonga, that had broken out of South American ports." [B]
Increasing speed and altering course southwards before the vessel came over the horizon, and closing in to take a better look at her, Detmers found that she was a medium-sized freighter on a south-easterly course with a deck cargo of timber, which made identification difficult.
Once satisfied that she was not American, he requested her name, and although slow to respond, she eventually identified herself as the Greek, Nicolaos D. L.
On receipt of this information Detmers instructed her captain to stop his engines and to maintain radio silence, but when he failed to comply with either order, a few well-aimed salvoes quickly changed his mind.
As he brought his ship to a halt, and his crew began to lower their lifeboats, the raider’s boarding party was already on its way, and soon reported back that the 5,486-ton N.D. Lykiardopoulos freighter, carrying a cargo of Oregon pine, above and below decks, from Vancouver to Durban by way of the Panama Canal, had sustained serious damage to her bridge and steering gear.
Although a fine ship with a valuable cargo, Detmers realised that as so much damage had been done, there was no point in keeping her as a prize.
Her thirty-eight-man crew came alongside the Kormoran in their lifeboats as demolition charges were placed in her engine-room, and the lashings of her deck cargo were undone.
The explosion failed to sink her, and it soon became clear that, while going down slowly, here was yet another ship being kept afloat by her cargo.
Reluctant to waste a torpedo, Detmers instructed his gunners to try to set the deck cargo ablaze with their 20mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns, but the timber would not catch fire, and when four 150mm direct hits on the waterline also failed to sink her, he decided that as his operators had failed to jam her distress calls, which had been acknowledged by several other ships, the Nicolaos D.L. would best be left to sink in her own good time.
Moving quickly away from the stricken ship, which was slowly shedding her deck cargo into the sea, plank by plank, Detmers headed south to rendezvous once more with the Nordmark, the raider Atlantis, and two other German ships, the 5,567-ton Dresden and the 4,422-ton Babitonga, that had broken out of South American ports." [B]
| Verlustdatum : | 12.04.1941 |
| Route : | Von Vancouver, Kanada, nach Durban, Südafrika. |
| Ladung : | Holz |
| Verlustort : | Höhe des Äquators, 1.54 S / 22.12 W |
| Verlustart : | Sprenglad./Geschützfeuer |
| Verlustursache : | Versenk./Sprengl./Gfeuer |
| Gegner-Typ : | Deutscher Hilfskreuzer |
| Gegner-Name : | Schiff 41, HSK 8 KORMORAN (FKpt. Detmers) [A] |
1. Lloyds Register of Shipping
2. Melissinos, Ioannis: Die Marine im Zweiten Weltkrieg – Der gesamte Beitrag der griechischen Handelsmarine (Motorsegler und Dampfer) 1940-1945, Band I und II, Universität Ioannina 1995 (gr.)
3. [A] http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/41-04.htm
4. [B] http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/kormoran.html
5. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kormoran_%28Hilfskreuzer%29
2. Melissinos, Ioannis: Die Marine im Zweiten Weltkrieg – Der gesamte Beitrag der griechischen Handelsmarine (Motorsegler und Dampfer) 1940-1945, Band I und II, Universität Ioannina 1995 (gr.)
3. [A] http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/41-04.htm
4. [B] http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/kormoran.html
5. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kormoran_%28Hilfskreuzer%29
| Eingefügt am : | 21.01.2011 |
| Eingefügt von : | Dimitris Galon |
| Letzte Änderung : | 05.01.2016 |
| Geändert von : | Dimitris Galon |
| Änderungen : | - 04.01.2016 D. Galon Bild 1 eingefügt |
