ingrid horn
Ingrid Horn
1928 - 1944


The Ingrid Horn was built at the F. Schichau shipyard, Elbing, West Prussia (now Elblag, Poland) for the H.C.Horn Company, Flensburg. The vessel was launched during October 1927 & completed by May 1928.

The ship had passenger accommodation for 30 1st Class and 42 2nd Class passengers. Cargo was handled by eight 5 ton capacity cranes and one with 25 tons.

For its maiden voyage the Ingrid Horn was on the Hamburg-Central America route. This included the West Indies ports and those on the north coast of South America.

In September 1939 the ship was sold (?) to Westindische Schiffahrtskontor, Hamburg and renamed 'Ingrid', however during 1940 it regained its original name.

The ship was seized by the Kreigsmarine on May 17th 1940 and became Hilfssperbrecher B, then Sperrbrecher B. On October 1st 1941 the ship's identification was changed to Sperrbrecher 25.

The Sperrbrecher concept was unique to the Kreigsmarine, with 58 ships ranging from 3,000 to 9,000 tons selected for conversion to a minesweeper ('pathfinder') role. Modifications included reinforced bows and cargo holds filled with bouyant material, many were fitted with electric spools in the bow to detonate magnetic mines. Armament added included: 2 x 1 - 105/42, 6 - 37mm, 14 - 20mm, 8 - 86 rocket launchers. The first twelve were converted in Hamburg and deployed in four groups: Baltic (1), North Sea (3).

In addition to its minesweeping role the Sperrbrecher were also used as convoy escorts, anti-aircraft batteries and to escort U-Boats to/from harbours.

A major allied bombing raid on the city of Kiel by 629 aircraft (519 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos) took place on the night of July 23rd/24th 1944. The raid lasted only 25 minutes and caused heavy damage to the city, the port, the U-boat yards and other naval facilities. Sperrbrecher 25 was hit by bombs and was sunk with three fatalities. The ship was later refloated during 1947 and scrapped.

Details

Built: F. Schichau, Elbing, yard number 1187
Laid down: 1927
Launched: October 22nd 1927
Completed: May 1928
Tons: 4,006 gross /5,200 dwt/ 8,222 displacement
Length: 95m
Breadth: 14.6m
Draught: 8.2m
Propulsion: 1 x 5S68 five cylinder Schichau/Sulzer diesel engine of 2,250bhp at 100rpm.
Screws: 1
Speed: 13 knots
Passengers: 1st Class 30; 2nd Class 42
Crew: ??

Resources:
The Gathering Storm, The Naval War in Northern Europe

Page added January 24th 2016

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