Unnamed Oiler
This tanker was ordered to ( partially ) relieve the supply problems the navy had in the Dutch East Indies. The Navy there usually chartered a tanker from the Shell or other companies, which wasn't very practical in time. She was laid down in 1939, and as the German attacked in May 1940, the tanker wasn't ready yet. The hull was almost complete. She was captured undamaged, and completed for the Kriegsmarine. They commissioned her in the fall of 1941, giving her the name Kärnten.
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| Line drawing of the tanker |
| Construction Details | |
| Name | Unnamed oiler (referred to as "Tankboot no 1") |
| Dockyard | C. Van der Giessen, Krimpen a/d IJssel |
| Dockyardnumber | 667 |
| Laid down | December 14 1939 |
| Launched | May 3 1941 |
| Commissioned | October 27 1941 as Kärnten* |
| * Also listed as being commissioned on on September 20 1941 | |
| Specifications | ||
| Design | Kriegsmarine | |
| Displacement | 5660 t | 5660 t / 15000 t |
| Dimensions | 125 (132,1) x 16,15 x 7,5 m | |
| Main Battery | 2 x 120 mm 4 x 40 mm Bofors |
1 x 105 mm 4 x 20 mm |
| Oil capacity | 6640 tons | |
| Propulsion details | ||
| Design | Kriegsmarine | |
| Boilers | - | - |
| Machinery | 2 x Werkspoor 4-stroke 8-cylinder diesels | |
| Performance | 7000 hp | |
| Shafts | ||
| Max Speed | 15 knots | 15,2 knots* |
| * One source lists the maximum speed as high as 17,1 knots | ||
| History |
| Commissioned in the fall of 1941 as the German naval tanker Kärnten, she first experienced some machinery troubles, which had to be repaired first. She wa attached to the Tross-schiff Verband Nord from March 15 1942 and subordinate to the "Führer der U-boote, Norwegen" from August 1942 onwards. She was stationed in Kirkenes also from August 1942. Captured by Allied forces shortly after the war, and transferred to the Sowjet Navy as bootyship on December 28 1945 under the new name or registration VB 415. Renamed Polyarnik in 1964, she served with the Sowjet Pacific Fleet with pennant number 260. Stricken 1990. |
Sources
Gröner / Jung / Maass "Die Schiffe der Kriegsmarine und ihr Verbleib, 1939-1945"
Busch / Röll "Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939-1945" (Information provided by J. Poehl)
Erich Gröner, Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945 Band 4 (Information provided by Friedrich Kappes)
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