Spreewald was a German passenger-carrying freighter built in 1922 by Deutsche Werft

Deutsche Werft

Deutsche Werft was a German shipbuilding company, located in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 on initiative by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte , Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft and Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft as investors.During World War II...

 at Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 for the Hamburg America Line

Hamburg America Line

The Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, Germany during...

. The ship was renamed Anubis in 1935, but reverted back to Spreewald in 1939. On 31 January 1942 when returning to Germany in disguise, she was sunk by .

Service history

At the outbreak of World War II, the ship was interned at Port Arthur, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. In 1941 she was brought back into service and sailed on 21 October 1941, loaded with 3,365 tons of rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

, 230 tons of tin

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

 and 20 tons of tungsten

Tungsten

Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...

, and quinine

Quinine

Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...

. While en route to Germany she rendezvoused with the German supply ship Kulmerland

Kulmerland (ship)

The Kulmerland was a supply ship of the Kriegsmarine that operated during the Second World War in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. It was named after the Kulmerland region of Prussia, with the city of Kulm, which in 1920 was made part of the Polish Corridor.It supplied German auxiliary ships ...

and embarked 86 British prisoners, survivors of ships sunk by the auxiliary cruiser Kormoran

German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran

The German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran was a Kriegsmarine merchant raider of World War II. Originally the merchant vessel Steiermark, the ship was acquired by the Kriegsmarine following the outbreak of war for conversion into a raider...

.

On 31 January 1942 Spreewald was on her approach to Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 in France when she was torpedoed by U-333, whose commander, Kapitänleutnant Peter-Erich Cremer

Peter-Erich Cremer

Peter-Erich Cremer was a German U-boat commander during the Second World War. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...

, believed her to be a British ship. The U-333 fired two torpedoes, which hit the vessel amidships, causing it to burn furiously and slowly sink in position 45°12′N 24°50′W

A search for survivors was promptly launched in which U-333, , and , were joined by , , , and , as well as five Fw 200 Condor

Focke-Wulf Fw 200

The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, also known as Kurier to the Allies was a German all-metal four-engine monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner...

 long-range patrol aircraft from France.

U-105 picked up 25 crewmen and 55 prisoners in lifeboats and rafts. Of the 152 aboard the Spreewald, 72 were killed.

Cremer was subsequently court-martial

Court-martial

A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...

led, but found not guilty.