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| Kaiserliche Marine Auxilliary Cruiser 5,809 Tons 135m x 17.1m x 7.9m 6 x 15cm guns 3 x 5.2cm SK L/55 guns 4 x 50cm torpedoe tubes 465 mines FF.33e "Wolfchen"  AWM c1917 |
Ship History Built by Flensburger Schiffbau Gesselschaft during 1913 as Hansa freighter Wachtfels of 5,809 Tons. Commissioned on May 16, 1916 as Wolf, for service as a Hilfskreuzer (armed merchant raider) or auxiliary cruiser in the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy). As the fourth German Navy ship named Wolf and is sometime referred to as Wolf IV. Placed under the command of Captain Karl August Nerger. Armed with six 15 cm guns, three 5.2-cm guns and several smaller caliber weapons, four 500mm torpedo tubes and 465 sea mines. Aboard was a single Friedrichshafen FF.33 seaplane nicknamed "Wolfchen" (Little Wolf) with fuselage number 841. Piloted by Leutnant-flieger Matthaus Stein and co-piloted by Oberflugmeister Paul Fabeck who also served as the seaplane's mechanic. Although her top speed was only 11 knots, Wolf planned to use deception including a fake funnel and masts which could be erected or lowered to change her appearance plus false sides to keep her weapons hidden until the removed to open fire. The vessel had a coal bunker capacity of 8,000 tons with a range of over 32,000 miles. Wartime Patrol On November 30, 1916 Wolf departed Kiel with a crew of 348 men. Initially escorted by a SM UU-66 (U-66) submarine from Skagerrak to the North Atlantic, she passed north of Scotland, around Iceland and south down the Atlantic Ocean then around the Cape of Good Hope, where she laid some sea mines, then crossed into the Indian Ocean. She dropped mines off Colombo on Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Bombay in India. Next, operated off Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and the Netherlands East Indies then crossed the Inidan Ocean and steamed around the Cape of Good Hope back into the Atlantic Ocean then returned to Kiel. After intercepting a radio message, Wolf stalked SS Matunga bound for Rabaul. On August 6, 1917 captured SS Matunga and her forty-six crew and passengers became Prisoners Of War (POWs). Afterwards, the two ships steamed together for a week until reaching Fofak Harbor (Offak Harbor) on Waigeo Island where 500 tons of coal and liquor were transferred from the captured vessel. On August 26, 1917 the pair steamed a few miles out to sea where SS Matunga was scuttled. On September 26, 1917 after a short battle captured Hitachi Maru south of Maldives Islands. The captured ship and Wolf anchored together at the southern Suvadiva Atoll where the captured cargo was transfered over the next month. On November 7, 1917 the pair steamed to Cargados Carajos Islands were Hitachi Maru was scuttled. In February 1918 after 451 days at seas, Wolf returned to Kiel, completing the longest voyage without any support of a German warship during World War I. During the voyage, Wolf destroyed 35 vessels and two warships totaling approximately 110,000 tons. She returned with 467 Prisoners Of War (POWs) plus substantial quantities of rubber, copper, zinc, brass, silk, copra, cocoa, and other materials captured from captured vessels. Afterwards, Captain Nerger was awarded the highest German military, the Pour le Mérite. Postwar For the remainder of the war, the Wolf operated in the Baltic Sea. Postwar, she was ceded to France and sold to Cie. Messageries Maritimes of Paris. The refitted vessel was renamed Antinous. During 1931, scrapped in Italy. References Crew member Theodor Plivier, later became a revolutionary, Ccmmunist and famous author. In his first novel Des Kaisers Kulis (The Emperor's Coolies) he writes about his experience aboard the Wolf. The book was adapted into a theatrical play, but was forbidden after the National Socialist Party (Nazis) came to power. The Wolf: How One German Raider Terrorized the Allies in the Most Epic Voyage of WWI The Cruise Of The Raider Wolf by Roy Alexander Contribute
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