German Tanker Altmark - Subsequent History

Subsequent History

The ship, renamed Uckermark on 6 August 1940, then resumed in the role for which she had been built. During Admiral Lütjens' Atlantic adventure with the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau between January and March 1941, Uckermark (Captain Zatorski) was a supply ship and scout attached to the squadron. As the result of her reports the battleships were directed to various merchant vessels, which were then sunk.

On 9 September 1942 she left France for Japan with a cargo of vegetable oil and fuel, supplying the auxiliary cruiser Michel on the way, arriving at Yokohama on 24 November 1942. Uckermark was then intended as the replenishment ship for the German raider Thor, which was raiding merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean areas.

On 30 November 1942, Uckermark was anchored in Yokohama, Japan, next to Thor and the Australian passenger liner Nankin, which Thor had captured in March five days out from Fremantle, Australia, en route to Colombo, Ceylon. While the crew was at lunch, Uckermark suffered a huge explosion that ripped the vessel apart. Uckermark, Thor, and Nankin were sunk by the explosion. The cause of the explosion was thought to be a spark from tools used by a repair gang working near the cargo tanks. The Uckermark had delivered 5000ts of gasoline to Yokohama. It seems to be logical that the residual fumes and gasoline did explode. Diesel fuel does not explode the way the ship went up. 53 crewmen from Uckermark died in the explosion. The severely damaged ship was beyond repair and was scrapped.

A number of survivors of the ship were sent to France on the blockade runner Doggerbank and perished when the ship was mistakenly sunk by the German submarine U-43 on 3 March 1943 with all but one of the 365 strong crew lost at sea.