Evening star., 1946-10-14
German Liner Bremen
Now Is Rusiing Hulk
On Weser Sandbank
Bv Ellie Abel
North Am.riean h.w.pap., Ailiane.


proud liner Bremen, which twice
outstripped searching British war
ships in the first days OF the war
and came safely home to Germany,
now huddles, charred and rustingt
on sandbank In the Weser River.
With every week her hulk sinks
deeper into the sands. Unlike her
sister ship Europa, which recently
was turned over to the French gov
ernment, the Bremen has no fu-
ture. But the thrilling story of her
blue-ribbon past and her final game
OF hide-and-seek In Arctic waters
lives on in the memory of the men
who sailed her.
First Officer Herman Ricklef to-
day is employed in the American
port commanders Office here. His
recollection Of the Bremen's last
voyage begins in New York Harbor.
The date is last August. 1889. She
slipped moorings in the Hudson
without passengers as rumors of
war became persistent. Hours later
Berlin radio announced that war
had begun.
The captain set a course between
Greenland and Iceland and posted
lookouts Hugging the ice limit all
the way. his ship was snugly
shrouded In fog. Although lookouts
on the topmasts did spot other ships
several times, the Bremen was not
observed.
Once in the North Sea, orders
came through to make for Muir
mansk The weather cleared off
Spitzbergen and from there into the
Russian port, the Bremen was in
full view. Soon destroyer ap-
peared and signalled stop. You
are in Russian waters" Six Rus
sian officers then boarded the
Bremen, and advised the captain to
proceed into Murmansk as soon as
possible.
She lay tied up in Murmansk
from September 6, 1889, until De-
cember TO- Meanwhile, ISL of her
crew were ordered home across still
neutral Soviet territory.
Through the German embassy in
Moscow We eventually received per-
mission-not orders-to sail for
home" said Capt. Rickleff. There
were only 66 men left aboard, which
would have been for too few If we
had run into trouble. So We chose
the darkest night of the year and
slipped out of Murmansk.
Three days later we arrived in
Bremerhaven. 1t was a night
mare of a trip. Near Bergen, in
Norway, we spotted the searchlights
of what appeared to be British
patrol. 1t seems that again we
were unobserved, and the ships
speed never was more appreciated
We had painted her black and gray.
To evade the patrols, we went west
to within about rs miles of the
British coast. Then we swung back
into the Skaggerak and were picked
up by a submarine. Luckily, she
turned out to be Danish
! Three German aircraft hovered
protectively over the Bremen as she
steamed into the home port. Shortly
Iafterward, Capt. Ricklef Joined the
navy. The ship was once moved to
Hamburg and then ordered back to
Bremerhaven for fear that her pres
ence would invite British air at
tacks.
There were air attacks all right
Both ports got their share of in
cendiaries and high explosives. But
the Bremen, her career at a stand
still, escaped damage. One night
early in 1941, however, fire broke
out in the officers mess. 1t is re-
ported to have started in pile OF
mattresses.
According to the Bremen's chiei
! engineer, the fire was started by q
cabin boy who was angry at the
bos'n. Theories vary about the true
cause of the blaze but the wood.
work flared up Immediately. 1t was
/ impossible to control the flames
In short time her superstructurt
had become cherry red and the
plates began to buckle.
An attempt was made to save the
engine room by sending the Bremen
into midstream and sinking her. But
every inch above the water-line
was gutted and even the metal parts
were twisted out of shape by the
! heat.
| Some months later the hard
pressed Nazis tried to convert the
Bremen's hull into an aircraft car
rier. The attempt eventually wa.
| abandoned. While the engine room
was removed and even some of the
| great drive shafts taken out by cut
ting them into pieces, what remained
of the crack liner was not worth
salvaging.
/ Only a few months ago she wa.
towed upriver and beached. There
lies the Bremen today. having twice
won a race for her life and ever
-.