Kulmerland (ship)
Kulmerland was a Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) cargo liner that was launched in 1928. She worked HAPAG's route between Hamburg and the Far East until 1939. In the Second World War she was a supply ship for German auxiliary cruisers in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. In 1942 she became a successful blockade runner to German-occupied Europe. An Allied air raid on German-occupied France in 1943 put her out of action. German forces sank her as a blockship in 1944. She was raised in 1945 after the Liberation of France, and scrapped in 1950.
Kulmerland in Hamburg | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Germany | |
| Name | Kulmerland |
| Namesake | Kulmerland, now Chełmno Land |
| Owner | Hamburg America Line |
| Port of registry | Hamburg |
| Builder | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number | 109 |
| Launched | 1 August 1928 |
| Completed | 16 March 1929 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | scuttled 1944; scrapped 1950 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | cargo liner |
| Tonnage | 7,363 GRT, 4,367 NRT |
| Length | 463.6 ft (141.3 m) |
| Beam | 60.1 ft (18.3 m) |
| Depth | 28.0 ft (8.5 m) |
| Decks | 2 |
| Installed power | 1,585 NHP |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h) |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
This was the first of two HAPAG ships named after Kulmerland in West Prussia, which is now Chełmno Land in Poland. The second Kulmerland was a motor ship that was completed in 1961, and sold and renamed in 1971.