View source for SS Uhenfels

{{Short description|German naval ship}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= SS Uhenfels.jpg
|Ship caption= 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= Germany
|Ship flag=
|Ship name=*''Uhenfels'' (1931–40)
*''Empire Ability'' (1940–41)
|Ship owner=*[[DDG Hansa]] (1931–39)
*[[Minister of Shipping|Ministry of Shipping]] (1939–41)
|Ship operator=*[[File:DDG „Hansa“ house flag.svg|border|link=*|20px]] DDG Hansa (1931–39)
*[[Elder Dempster Lines]] Ltd (1939-41)
|Ship renamed=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= [[Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG|Deschimag]], Bremen
|Ship yard number= 886
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched= January 1931
|Ship completed= March 1931
|Ship acquired=
|Ship registry= *Bremen (1931–39)
*[[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool]] (1939–41)
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship identification=*[[Code letters]] QMLD (1931–33)
*{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Delta}}
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] DOKS (1934–39)
*{{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Sierra}}
*Call sign GQJY (1939–41)
*{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Yankee}}
*UK [[official number]] 167423 (1939–41)
|Ship captured= by {{HMS|Hereward|H93|6}}, 5 November 1939
|Ship fate= Sunk by {{GS|U-69|1940|2}}, 27 June 1941
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[heavy-lift ship]]
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|7603}}, {{NRT|4570}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length= {{convert|503.9|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|62.2|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught= {{convert|27.7|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship power= 672 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]
|Ship propulsion= *3-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]]
*plus exhaust [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbine]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|13.7|kn|km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship capacity= 12 passengers
|Ship crew= 64
|Ship notes= *[[sister ship]]s:
*{{SS|Lichtenfels||2}}, ''Freienfels'', ''Geierfels''
}}
|}

'''SS ''Uhenfels''''' was a German-built [[heavy-lift ship]] that was launched in 1931 for [[DDG Hansa]]. She was captured by the [[Royal Navy]] in 1939, two months after the start of the Second World War. The UK [[Minister of Shipping|Ministry of Shipping]] renamed her '''''Empire Ability''''' and contracted [[Elder Dempster Lines]] to operate her. In 1941 a German [[U-boat]] sank her by torpedo.

==Building==
[[Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau|Deschimag]] built ''Lichtenfels'' at its "Weser" yard in Bremen.<ref name=LR31>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/31/31b1262.pdf |year=1931 |title=Lloyd's Register |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |volume=II |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |via=Plimsoll Ship Data |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> She was launched in January 1931 and completed in March.<ref name=Uboat>{{cite web |url=http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/1012.html |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur  |title=Empire Ability |work=Uboat.net |access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref><ref name=miramar>{{csr|register=MSI|id= 1167423 |accessdate=22 November 2008}}</ref> She was the last of four heavy-lift [[sister ship]]s that Deschimag built for DDG Hansa. The others were {{SS|Lichtenfels||2}} and ''Freienfels'' launched in 1929 and ''Geierfels'' launched in 1930. She carried heavy cargo such as railway [[locomotive]]s.<ref name=Hansa>{{cite web |last=Kiehlmann |first=Peter |title=Uhenfels |url= http://www.ddghansa-shipsphotos.de/uhenfels200.htm |publisher=DDG Hansa |access-date=18 November 2013}}</ref>

''Uhenfels'' was built with a Maierform bow with a convex profile, which was meant to improve both her speed and her handling.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.klaus-hoppe-homepage.de/Maierform.html |last=Hoppe |first=Klaus |title=Maierform: Historie und Leistungen |language=de |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> She had a three-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]] plus a Bauer-Wach low-pressure exhaust [[Steam turbine#Marine propulsion|steam turbine]]. Exhaust steam from the low-pressure cylinder of the triple-expansion engine powered the turbine. The turbine drove the same shaft as the piston engine by [[Gear train|double-reduction gearing]] and a Föttinger [[fluid coupling]]. The combined power of her piston engine and turbine was 672 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]].<ref name=LR31/>

==Capture==
When the Second World War began in September 1939 ''Uhenfels'' was in the [[Indian Ocean]]. She made a number of attempts to return home. On her third attempt she left [[Maputo|Lourenço Marques]] in [[Portuguese Mozambique|Portuguese East Africa]] disguised as the Dutch merchant ''Aagtekerk''.<ref name=Uboat/> Her cargo included [[opium]] worth £250,000, plus cotton and hides.<ref name=Jameson53>{{harvnb|Jameson|1957|p=53}}</ref>

Three of her crew deserted before she left Lourenço Marques. They made their way to [[Natal Province|Zululand]], where police arrested them and took them to [[Maritzburg]]. After being fined, they were interned in [[South Africa]] for the duration of the war.<ref name=Times231039>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=German Seamen's Arrest in Zululand |date=23 October 1939 |page=8 |issue=48443 |column=D}}</ref>

''Uhenfels'' reached the Atlantic, but there she ran into the [[Royal Navy]]'s [[Force K]], which had been deployed in search of the {{ship|German cruiser|Admiral Graf Spee}}. The force included the [[aircraft carrier]] {{HMS|Ark Royal|91|6}}, whose aircraft had spotted another German merchant the previous month, the {{ship|German tanker|Altmark}}.<ref name=Rossiter88-9>{{harvnb|Rossiter|2007|pp=88–9}}</ref> But ''Altmark'' had been disguised as the US tanker ''Delmar'', and so had escaped unmolested.<ref name=Rossiter88-9/>

[[File:Hereward first twin mounting.jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Hereward|H93|6}}, which captured ''Uhenfels'' in November 1940]]
On 5 November, two aircraft reported ''Uhenfels'', and the [[destroyer]] {{HMS|Hereward|H93|6}} was sent to intercept her.<ref name=Jameson53/> ''Uhenfels''{{'}} crew tried to [[Scuttling|scuttle]] her but a boarding party from ''Hereward'' prevented them.<ref name=Jameson53/> The Royal Navy brought her to [[Freetown]] the next day.<ref name=Uboat/> The 61 crew were marched to an internment camp ashore, defiantly singing [[Nazi]] songs.

By the time she had been captured the ''Uhenfels'' was running short of food.<ref name=Jameson53/> ''Uhenfels'' was then taken to [[Gibraltar]] for [[dry dock]]ing and inspection, arriving on 18 March. She reached [[Port of London|London]] on 5 April 1940, the first captured German vessel to arrive in port in the Second World War. Her cargo comprised [[maize]], [[palm kernel]]s and other food from the [[West Indies]].<ref name=Times060440>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Captured German Vessel |date=6 April 1940 |page=6 |issue=48583 |column=G }}</ref> She was also carrying 122 [[Tanning (leather)|tanned]] [[sheepskin]]s, which were offered for sale by public tender "[[prize (law)|in prize]]".<ref name=Times090740>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Classified Advertising |date=9 July 1940 |page=1 |issue=48663 |column=C}}</ref>

==''Empire Ability''==
In April 1940, the UK Ministry of Shipping renamed the ship as ''Empire Ability''<ref name=Uboat/> and contracted [[Elder Dempster Lines]] to operate her.

On 23 October 1940, she was among the ships bombed and damaged by German aircraft while waiting in [[Gare Loch]] for a convoy to assemble.<ref name=Uboat/> In December 1940 ''Empire Ability'' left the [[Firth of Clyde]] for [[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]] via [[Freetown]] and [[Port of Durban|Durban]], reaching Suez in February 1941.<ref name=Hague>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ports/index.html?search.php?vessel=EMPIRE%20ABILITY~armain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Ship Movements |work=Port Arrivals / Departures |publisher=Don Kindell, Convoyweb |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref>

On 27 February 1941, the {{ship|Italian submarine|Michele Bianchi}} attacked Convoy OB 290 in the North Atlantic and claimed to have scored a probable hit on the ''Empire Ability''. In fact she was not there,<ref name=Uboat/> and was in the [[Red Sea]] at the time.<ref name=Hague/>

''Empire Ability'' returned via [[Port Louis]], Durban, [[Port of Cape Town|Cape Town]] and Freetown, where she waited for a fortnight for a convoy to [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool]]. She was carrying a cargo of 7,725 tons of sugar, 238 tons of rum, 400 tons of palm kernels and 35 tons of fibre, and her [[Master mariner|Master]] was Herbert Flowerdew.

{{location map|Africa|
|long= -21.166
|lat= 23.833
|relief= yes
|caption= Position of the sinking of ''Empire Ability''
}}
On 18 June 1941, ''Empire Ability'' left Freetown with [[Convoy SL 78]].<ref name=Hague/> On 27 June the {{GS|U-69|1940|6}} attacked the convoy<ref name=Uboat/> 200 miles southeast of the [[Azores]]. ''U-69''{{'}}s commander, [[Jost Metzler]], made several attacks, sinking {{SS|River Lugar||2}} at 0149 hours and hitting ''Empire Ability'' at 0237 hours with a single [[torpedo]].<ref name=Uboat/> ''Empire Ability'' caught fire and was abandoned, sinking at {{coord|23|50|N|21|10|W}} 21 minutes after having been hit.<ref name=Uboat/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/EmpireA.html |last=Finch |first=Ted |title=Empire – A |work=The 'Empire' Ships |publisher=Mariners-l.co.uk |access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref>

Two people were killed. A total of 107 crew, [[Defensively equipped merchant ship|DEMS]] gunners, military personnel and passengers successfully abandoned ship.<ref name=Uboat/> The steamship ''Amerika'' rescued survivors and transferred them to the [[corvette]] {{HMS|Burdock|K126|6}}. They were later landed at [[Milford Haven]].<ref name=Uboat/> Those lost on ''Empire Ability'' are commemorated at the [[Tower Hill Memorial]], London.

==Identification==
''Uhenfels''{{'}} [[code letters]] were QMLD until 1933.<ref name=LR31/> In 1934, they were superseded by the [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] DOKS.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0866.pdf |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |volume=II |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |via=Plimsoll Ship Data |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref>

When the UK Ministry of shipping renamed the ship ''Empire Ability'', she was given the UK [[official number]] 167423 and her call sign was changed to GQJY.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/40/40a0321.pdf |year=1940 |title=Lloyd's Register |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |volume=II |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |via=Plimsoll Ship Data |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{Cite book |last=Jameson |first=William |year=2004 |orig-year=1957 |title=Ark Royal: the life of an aircraft carrier at war 1939-41 |edition=2nd |place=Reading |publisher=Periscope Publishing |isbn=1-904381-27-8 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Rossiter |first=Mike |title=Ark Royal: the life, death and rediscovery of the legendary Second World War aircraft carrier<!-- Ark Royal: sailing into glory --> |orig-year=2006 |edition=2nd |year=2007 |publisher=Corgi Books |place=London |isbn=978-0-552-15369-0 |oclc=81453068}}

{{coord|23|50|N|21|10|W|display=title}}

{{Empire ships}}
{{June 1941 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uhenfels}}
[[Category:1931 ships]]
[[Category:Captured ships]]
[[Category:Empire ships]]
[[Category:Heavy lift ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in June 1941]]
[[Category:Ministry of War Transport ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Bremen (state)]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:Steamships of Germany]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Germany]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]