German auxiliary cruiser Hansa
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| [[Image:|300px|]] | |
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Type: | Auxiliary cruiser |
| Ordered: | Burmester & Wain, Copenhagen |
| Laid down: | 1939 |
| Launched: | |
| Commissioned: | 12 February 1944 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1971 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 9,138 tons |
| Length: | 153 m |
| Beam: | 20.1 m |
| Draught: | 8.7 m |
| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: | 20.5 knots |
| Range: | 65,000 nm (at 15 knots) |
| Complement: | 400 men (plus 400 cadets as a cadet training ship) |
| Armament: | 8× 150 mm guns 1× 105 mm gun 4× 40 mm AA guns 8× 37 mm AA guns 36× 20 mm AA guns |
| Aircraft | One catapult for one aircraft |
The Hansa was an auxiliary cruiser of the Kriegsmarine that was used during WW2. The ship was also known also as the HSK 3 (Hilfskreuzer XI - auxiliary cruiser 11), Schiff 5 and with the coded name N/A. She was the last German vessel to be converted into an auxiliary cruiser.
The Hansa was originally conceived as a cargo ship under the name Glengarry. The ship was taken over by the Germans during the occupation of Denmark, while it was under construction at Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen. The Germans decided to make use of the ship. It was temporary renamed Zielschiff Meersburg and served as a target ship for the 27th U-boot flotilla.
She was later sent to Rotterdam and to Amburgo where she was converted into an auxiliary cruiser under the name Hilfskreuzer Schiff 5.
From September 1944 to May 1945 she participated in the Baltic Sea evacuations, transporting over 12,000 soldiers and civilians at a time. On 20 May 1945 she sailed off to internment to Fehmarn. She was taken over by the British and sailed under different names until 1971 when she was scrapped.
Its commanders were:
- Kapitän zur See (captain) Hans Henighst, from April 1943 to August 1943;
- Kapitän zur See Fritz Schwoerer, from February 1944 to May 1945.
In February 1944 the ship became a Kadettenschulschiff ("cadet training ship").
| Nazi German auxiliary cruisers of the Second World War |
| Kriegsmarine |
| Orion | Atlantis | Widder | Thor | Pinguin | Stier | Komet | Kormoran | Michel | Coronel | Hansa |
